Where the Willows Weep

Late Night Thoughts

Chapter 11: Late Night Thoughts

Noah

I hate myself. I hate my friends, but I really, really hate myself. I never should have brought her to this party. I never should have introduced her to my friends. And I definitely never should have left her alone with Ryan. I might actually kill him when this is all over.

Avery's head is pressed against my chest and I absentmindedly run my hand through her long hair. She's never going to talk to me again. She finally let someone into her life and I just completely let her down. I should have watched out for her. I shouldn't have left her alone for so long. Maybe then we would be talking and laughing somewhere instead of sitting on a bathroom floor.

"Hey, I got the water!" Ryan announces and then notices Avery slumped over, sound asleep in my arms. "Oh."

"I have to call her mom," I say and nervously start feeling in her pockets for her phone.

"What the fuck? No! Don't do that," Ryan exclaims looking horrified at the thought.

"I have to! Her mom thinks she's coming home tonight! If she just doesn't show up she'll probably call the cops or something."

 "Oh man, this is bad. Her mom is gonna hate your fucking guts, man," Ryan tells me.

I don't bother with a response and just glare. Then I scroll through Avery's contacts until I find the one labeled Mom and hit dial. It rings three or four times before she answers.

"Gracie?" a sleep-filled voice asks and I know I must have woken her up. This is bad. So, so bad.

"Umm," I mumble nervously.

"Oh, is this...is this Noah?" she asks. Avery told her about me?

 "Uh, yeah. Avery fell asleep and I didn't want to wake her, but I didn't want you to worry...," I trail off and Ryan offers a sympathetic look. I still want to kill him.

"Oh, how thoughtful. She's okay then?"

"Yes, she's fine."

"And you're just going to take care of her then? I wouldn't want you to wake her to bring her home. She hasn't had a good night sleep in days," she says in a way that makes it all too clear she knows exactly what's going on and that it's okay. She must really trust Avery to not be freaking out right now.

"Don't worry. I'll look after her," I assure her and she responds by saying to call her if anything changes and then we hang up.

"That went strangely well," I mutter feeling a little confused.

"You need me to do anything else?" he offers.

"Nah, I think you've done enough. I'm gonna take her back to my house."

"Your parents are gonna be cool with that?"

"Nope. But they'll be asleep so they'll never know. And besides it's not like I care what they think anyway," I say dryly. "Do you need me to take you home?"

"Naw. I'm gonna crash at Lacey's house," he replies and I nod. Lacey's parents are almost never home and so her place is usually where we go when we can't stay the night at the person who throws the party's house.

I shift Avery's weight so that she is cradled beneath both my arms and then rise to my feet. She doesn't stir at all as I walk from the bathroom and through the house. Lacey's still dancing, but when she sees me she comes running over.

"Hey. Is she...is she okay?" Lacey asks looking doubtfully at Avery's inert figure in my arms. She does sort of look a little dead. The only thing keeping me from freaking out is listening to her even breaths, in and out.