Tiring Mornings

chapter eighteen

Terrance King

"We're here!" Amber says, exclaims once we pull into the driveway. I lift my head from the window, blinking a couple of times to focus on the scene of Amber's house outside. I straighten in my seat, undoing my seat belt.

Lethargically, I eloquently manage, "Oh."

I slowly get out of Amber's car, rubbing my eyes to try and get myself more awake. If there's one thing I know about Amber's family is that I can only really handle them if I'm super awake, because they're kind of, well, a handful. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, after all; just as Amber is unbearably sarcastic and wild, so are her parents. I've spent too many nights to count at her house, and although Amber has changed throughout the years- mostly just her hitting puberty, really. I'm pretty sure she's been telling people off since the day she popped out of her mother's stomach- her parents haven't.

Ever since my freshman year, Amber's mother has made it her goal to stuff me as much as she can whenever I came over. I was a pretty scrawny kid, which she found a curse. Her cooking hasn't changed- not that I would ever want it to. Every time I would spend the night, she'd make sure to make vanilla cupcakes, because those were my favorite. If Stiles came over, however, he'd beg a red velvet cake out of her, which was always funny to watch.

Amber's dad is and always has been a ripped dude. His muscles are actually pretty frightening- he works as a professional fitness instructor, with a little body building on the side- 'a little' being an enormous understatement. Despite his rugged image and voice as deep as the Pacific, he's one of the kindest men I've ever met. He's constantly asking the right question, laughing at the weakest attempts at jokes, and blasting the best songs. He's not exactly as outgoing as Amber's mom, who with her hairspray, heavy perfume, loud laughs and wild gestures is always overwhelming- he's pretty calm. Unless he's drunk. But that's a whole different story.

A hand slaps my back, and I turn to Amber, her red lips spread into a smile. "Don't forget your bags."

I open the trunk and grab my gym bag I used to pack for the weekend. Midterms had just finished, and Stiles, Amber, Hannah and I have made sure to get as far away from campus as possible. Hannah has headed home, and since I don't have a home to go to, I'm staying at Amber's. Luckily, Stiles is just a couple of blocks away- we all went to the same high school, after all- and he's going to be coming over Saturday. Amber has already been looking for some crazy parties for us to go this weekend, and although I don't want to admit it, I'm excited. It's hard being home, but I'm around my friends, so it's okay.

Not all of them, though, I think, shoulders slumping slightly. I still remember saying bye to Hannah- even though it's just a weekend, we've been hanging out every day, and I didn't want to say goodbye to her. I look down at my bag, remembering how I had been throwing it in Amber's trunk, Hannah standing by. When I had finished, I had turned around, engulfing Hannah in a hug. She had smelled like a mixture of bananas and vanilla; a strange combination, but it fit, somehow. She had been wearing my sweater, her hair tied up in a bun, and when she wrapped her arms around me, I couldn't help myself but snuggle into her warmth.

"Have fun," she had smiled at me. "I'll see you Monday."

I leaned back and tugged on one of the drawstrings on my- no, her- sweater. "You too. See you then. Call me, okay?"

Hannah had given me a small smile, quick hug, and then she was gone. I had climbed into Amber's car with a dampened mood, watching her go without a single glance back at me, even though I found myself unable to look away from her. When Amber began to drive, even when she was long out of view, my head didn't turn away from the window for a while.

The ride hadn't been too bad. Stiles had been moping about leaving this new girl he's been crushing on lately- Kayla- until I hung up on him, only to find he's been right behind us the whole ride. When we stopped for lunch, Stiles had pulled up right beside us, and the minute he was out I had just jumped on his back and forced him to piggyback me around, since my legs were asleep. Needless to say, we got a lot of stares, and not just because Stiles had ordered a Big Mac with pickles on the side.