STICKS AND STONES ↝ S. HARRINGTON

[20]

Steve nodded. "It makes perfect sense. If I was in your shoes, I'd probably do the same thing, honestly. But come on, it's late, and we've got school tomorrow."

Steve turned the light on the desk lamp back off as Anna climbed back into his bed, and he followed suit, the two once again lying back to back in the dark as a silence settled between them. At the feeling of his presence, Anna began to feel a sense of calm wash over her, knowing that, if she were to sleepwalk again, she at least wasn't alone, and had someone to keep her safe. She finally began to drift off, sleep rejoining her as an old friend, rather than the enemy she'd been running from for months.

Anna wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep, but as the sound of knocking pounded against Steve's bedroom door, her eyes flew open, the sunlight streaming in through the still-open blinds. "Steve!" Becca yelled from the other side of the door, causing the boy to sit up quickly in bed as Anna hid under the covers, not wanting to be seen in case the blonde girl opened the door. "First day, let's go! I'm leaving in twenty minutes!"

"Shit," Steve hissed. "Yeah, yeah, I'm up!" he yelled back to Becca, the sound of her retreating footsteps fading away as she walked back to her room.

"I need to go," Anna said, popping back up from the covers as she jumped out of bed, reaching for her shoes. "But thank you, seriously."

"Don't mention it," Steve assured her as she slid the window back open, precariously climbing back outside onto the roof and making her way back to the trellis.

Anna paused outside Becca's window, glancing at the glass briefly to gauge if the coast was clear. On her to-do list for that morning, having to explain why she was sneaking out of her best friend's cousin's room just before they needed to pick up his girlfriend on their way to school was nowhere near the top. To Anna's relief, Becca's blinds remained closed, and the Blondie song playing from Becca's stereo was enough to muffle the sounds of Anna crawling the rest of the way to the trellis.

As she climbed down to the ground, she hit the grass running as she sprinted back to her car, still in the same place on the side of the road as she had left it the night before. She sped back to her own house, hoping that Claudia and Dustin hadn't noticed her absence, parking her car in its usual spot and sneaking under the living room window on her trip back to her bedroom.

She climbed back through her bedroom window, finding her belt undisturbed around the doorknob, the rest of her belongings just as she'd found them the night before. Breathing a sigh of relief, she closed the window behind her, quickly changing into the jeans and purple shirt she'd laid out the night before in anticipation of her first day of junior year.

As she quickly applied a coat of mascara and grabbed her backpack, she undid the belt from the doorknob, coasting into the kitchen to find Dustin munching on a piece of toast while Claudia watched the morning news with Mews in her lap, purring contentedly.

"Good morning, Annie," Claudia greeted. "You better hurry, you don't want to be late for your first day of school."

"I'm ready, I'm ready," she assured her mom, grabbing an apple from the bowl of fruit resting on the counter. "Dusty, you're riding your bike with Mike and Lucas, right?"

Dustin nodded. "I'm ready," he smiled, flashing his new front teeth. "Ready to show off these bad boys."

To punctuate his point, Dustin began to purr, showing off his teeth further, and Anna chuckled, shaking her head as she went to put her shoes on by the front door. "Well I'm out of here." she announced, quick to grab the rest of her things before either of them had a chance to point out her absence from the night before. "Have a great day, Dusty. Mom, I love you, bye."