Wild Thing

-5-

A few weeks later, it was nearing midnight, and Kasey was sitting up in her bed typing away on a journal assignment that she had forgotten about that needed to be submitted before 11:59 pm. 

As she clicked the submit button at exactly 11:57 pm, she was relieved and exhausted. She began the process of shutting down and putting stuff away, heading into the bathroom to complete her nighttime routine and then getting comfortable under the covers. Before her head even hit the pillow, she heard her phone beep with a new message. Normally, she would have just have ignored it or slept through it, but she decided to take a look at this one. 

New Message

Jen: Are u awake? I really need to talk!

Kasey: Yeah, wassup?

Jen: Can I come over? Leah and I just got into a huge fight and broke up, and I don't want to be alone.

Kasey: I'll see you soon. 

Jen: Thanks.

20 minutes later, there was a soft knock on the door. Kasey opened it to find Jen completely overcome by tears; she grabbed the younger woman and pulled her in tight. Holding her there for several minutes before leading her over to the couch to sit down. 

"I'm going to make some herbal tea. Would you like some?" 

Jen nodded and sniffled away as Kasey passed her a box of Kleenex before heading into the kitchen to put the kettle on. 

After she brought the tea over, she sat beside her friend and wrapped her arm around her; she could feel the energy draining off her. They were no words needing to be spoken, only comfort, so Kasey allowed Jen the time to drink her drink and process everything. As she battled to keep her own eyes open, she looked down and noticed that her friend had already fallen asleep on her shoulder, grasping her sweatshirt in her hand. 

Although she felt bad about waking Jen back up, Kasey knew that it wouldn't be good for either of their necks and backs if they slept in their current positions on the couch and suggested they move to the bedroom. 

Kasey collected some shorts and a shirt for Jen to sleep in and told her that she could have her bed, she would climb in with Kylie. When Jen softly asked if she could please stay with her as she didn't want to sleep alone, Kasey didn't have the heart to deny the request and climbed under the covers while Jen finished up in the bathroom then joined her.  

The next morning Kasey woke up with a start, realizing that there was daylight creeping into the room and the alarm hadn't gone off. Looking at her phone to see the time, she realized that it was Sunday and definitely didn't need to be up yet. Hearing snoring beside her, she turned over to look at Jen and moved some hair away from her face while she continued to sleep. It had been a long time since Kasey had woken up with someone besides Kylie or her Mom in bed with her and she felt comforted by it. 

Growing up as an only child, Kasey had often longed for a sister or close friend to share her thoughts, hopes and dreams with and always felt like that connection was missing in her life. In the little over a month since she had known her, Kasey felt a deep connection with the younger woman. Seeing the way that Jen interacted with and included Kylie in everything and the way she made her daughter smile and laugh, Kasey couldn't help but think that there was a reason the two had met on that fateful day at school.  

A little while later, Kasey's bedroom door opened, and Kylie walked in, "Mom, I'm hungry. What's Jen doing here?" 

Kasey put a finger in front of her mouth, indicating for her daughter to be quiet before climbing out of bed and following her out of the room.