No Regrets

chapter 7

"Isa!" A voice whispers next to me. My eyes fly open to see Reggie above me. 

     "Reggie?" I blink. "What are you doing? What time is it?"

     "It's like 3am. Come on, hurry and get up!" He grabs my arm and drags me out of bed. I stumble after him, still half-asleep.

     "Reggie, where are we going?" His feet don't make sound, but I'm worried my footsteps will wake up my family. 

     Reggie drags me out to the garage where all the lights are on. I see Alex sitting on the couch and Luke tuning his guitar on the piano bench. 

"Isabella!" Alex shouts. He picks something up off the table and throws it to me. I barely catch it.
"Julie's phone?" I pinch it between two fingers. "Where did you get this?"

Reggie shrugs. "It may or may not have been in her room. But you haven't even heard my idea!"
Luke stands up and walks over to Reggie, resting an arm on Reggie's shoulder. "He's been planning it ever since we eavesdr- uh, heard your conversation with Julie."

"You can delete all the blackmail she has on you!" Reggie shouts. I can't help but laugh at his childish energy. Rather than being immature, it's endearing. He reminds me of Carlos.
"That's... not a bad plan." I smile. I look exactly like her, so getting into won't be hard. I quickly scroll up in her camera roll, find the video, and delete it. "Thanks, Reggie!"

"What were her demands, anyways?" Alex asks from the couch. I plop down next to him.
"She had two. She didn't tell me what the second one was, but she wanted me to set her up with Nick."

Luke furrows his brows. "Who's Nick? Is he your boyfriend?" 

"He's Carrie's boyfriend." I laugh. Was that jealousy in his tone? "I don't actually have a boyfriend."

I don't miss the way Reggie nudges Lukes arm, or the smile Luke tries to hide. I'm about to comment on it when a huge yawn comes out of my mouth.

     "Reggie, was she asleep when you brought her out here?" Alex frowns. Reggie smiles sheepishly. 

     "I couldn't wait! I wanted to show her my plan."

     I laugh through another yawn. "It's fine, guys. Really. I'm just a little tired. Do you guys even sleep?"

     "We can sleep if we want to." Alex shrugs. "We don't need it like you people do."

     "I should probably get back. I have school in a couple hours." I say. I turn to leave, but Reggie grabs my arm.

     "Uh, you could sleep on the couch. It's super comfortable. Luke slept on it all the time when he- 

     "You don't have to if you don't want to." Luke adds quickly. 

     "But you also could!" Alex chimes in.

     I grin . "I guess I could, but you guys would have to wake me up for school in the morning. I cannot be late tomorrow."

     All three boys exclaim their agreements. 

     "I haven't had a sleepover since I died." Alex quipped.

     "I was supposed to sleep at Carrie's the other night." I realize sadly. "I've barely gotten to spend any time with her since... well, since you guys showed up."

"I'm sorry." Reggie hangs his head like a dog. 

"It's not your fault! There's just been so much going on, with Dirty Candy, and Julie's band-" I cut myself off, suddenly remembering I'm mad at them. "Hey, why did you guys make a band with Julie?"