Author's Note:
Hey guys, please do me a favor and vote and comment! It helps me out a lot, good or bad or even if you have ideas. Thanks! Enjoy it.
Valerie's POV:
My eyes fluttered opened slowly as sunlight brightened the bedroom. I felt contentment; something I wasn't used to. I also felt the warmth of another body next to me. I looked down, seeing Lyndsey sprawled out on my bed; her arm wrapped tightly around my ribs as her head rested on my chest. I smiled, loving the feeling of her so close to me. My fingers dug through her beautiful locks, earning a small moan from the sleeping beauty next to me. I rested my head against the headboard, glancing at the clock. The joy I once had was sucked out of me the instant I noticed the date. I felt as if I was rear ended by a horse. It was officially a full year after my mother had passed away. Memories were overwhelming me quickly and I wasn't sure how to handle this.
"Do you have a minute. honey?" I looked up from my drafting table to see my mother standing in my doorway. I smiled, placing the pencil down.
"Of course. What's up?" I said as I watched her take a seat on my bed. She was playing with her necklace, worry etched on her brow. "Everything alright?" I asked, noticing that she was uneasy. She looked up at me with a sad smile on her face.
"It's just that. My baby girl is growing up so fast. I wish I could attend the show with your class today. But, my boss just won't allow me to." She had a teary look in her eyes that she obviously was fighting. I gave her a smile, walking over to her and taking a seat next to her, laying my head upon her shoulder. She wrapped her arm around me, laying her head on mine. "Soon you'll be graduating... I just wish I could be there for something so important to you. I hope you know this. I really wanted to go."
"I wish you could come too. You should just quit." She laughed along with me.
"I wish it was that easy. If only bills weren't a real thing." She sighed, letting go of me and standing. "Well, I guess I should get ready for work." She added, heading for the exit. I walked back to my drafting table. "I'm so proud of you." Her voice rang through me. I looked over to the door to see her smiling at me. "I love you, Honey, Have a great trip to Los Angeles. I'll see you when you get home later tonight, okay?"
"Okay, I love you."
I felt a tear slowly run down my cheek as the last memory of my mother faded. That was the last time I saw her alive. The last time I heard her voice. I grit my teeth as anger ran through my veins. But, my emotions disappeared as I felt Lyndsey twitch in her sleep. I wiped my eyes, looking down at the beautiful girl before me. Her eyes were open slightly as she looked up at me. "Good morning."
"Good morning..." She yawned, her accent somewhat heavy. "What's the matter?" She asked, pulling away from me to roll onto her back. I frowned as I lost the warmth of her body.
"Nothing, how'd you sleep?" I countered, hoping that she would take the hint. I watched as she looked over to me with a knowing look. Thankfully, she let it go though as she stretched.
"Good I suppose." She groaned out, stretching her arms above her head. As she did, her shirt went over her stomach, exposing the skin to me. I felt myself blush stupidly, turning my head away. "Fuck..."
"What...?" I asked, now confused. I looked back to her to see that was looking at the clock.
"It's six. I should uh... leave your room..." She frowned, sitting up.
"Oh, yeah you should," I answered shortly. She stood up and headed for the door; leaving me alone in my bed. She looked back to me for a moment. I rose my brows at her, confused by her actions. "What?"
"Uh... Nothing." She said, before opening the door and leaving me confused even more.
------
"How are you-" I gave Randy a look that he hopefully understood; He frowned. As fucked up as this day was, spending it with Randy meant a lot to me. He had picked me up and drove to a nearby ice cream shop; a perfect decision for the both of us. He went up to the counter as I took a seat. I looked out the window, watching the cars drive on as if nothing bad was going on. I sighed, resting my head in my palm. "Here." He motioned, handing me my favorite treat; A chocolate dipped Vanilla cone. I mean, who could resist this beauty?
"Thank you. I needed this." I half smiled towards him, taking a bite. He gave me a small smile in return as he munched on his. Things between us felt highly awkward right now, and I obviously knew why. He didn't know what to say. It was that shitty moment when you wanted to be there for someone, but had absolutely nothing to say to them to make them feel better. "This doesn't have to be so awkward you know. We can talk about whatever."
"It's just... I feel bad, you know? I don't really know what to say." 'Well, I called that.' I thought to myself. I looked at him, noticing the solemn face. "Are you okay?"
"I told you, I didn't want to talk about it," I answered with a stern voice. But, his face fell even more.
"I know... but you're my best friend, Valley. I need to know if the most important person in my life is okay. I know it's a stupid question, but as your friend, I must ask. You don't have to lie either, just be honest." He spoke so quickly that I wasn't even sure if I heard the whole thing. I sat there, eating my ice cream though. "Valley..."
"Randy..." I sighed, not wanting to look directly towards him. "Not right now. I really don't want to talk about this in public, okay? Can you please just respect my wishes?" He didn't say anything else after that, even though I knew he wanted to. "So..." I said after a few moments of silence. "What's been going on with you? I haven't seen you in a while." He looked at me, shrugging his shoulders.
"I don't know... I just have uh... been around I suppose." His demeanor was odd, but I didn't ask him about it. "How was the trip? We never got to talk about it." The memories of Lyndsey kissing me were now front and center. And boy, my body was on a tightrope today. "What's with the face?"
"It went really well. I met a lot of interesting people." I admitted. Why didn't I just tell him what really happened? Randy quirked his brow at my odd behavior. He was about to say something when my phone started to ring. I looked down to see Ana calling me. "Hello?"
"Hey, what are you doing right now?" Her voice sounded far away for some reason. I looked across the table towards Randy; who looked interested. I could hear what sounded like wind hitting the phone.
"I'm just relaxing with my friend Randy. Why?" I asked with curiosity. Then it clicked in my head as to where she was when I heard a seagull screech; the beach.
"I wanted to have a little bonfire tonight. Do you want to come? You can bring whoever you want. Just let me know how many people so I buy enough stuff for smores. I love me some Hershey's Chocolate." She laughed, causing me to smile. I looked up to see Randy who seemed interested in the adventure.
"I'm game." He said with a thumbs up.
"Yeah, that actually sounds really nice. What time?" I asked, grabbing my backpack as we headed out the door.
"How about in a few hours so I can run to the store?" she asked, the sound of her sliding glass door opening and closing in the background. I smiled, getting into the passenger side of his car.
"Okay, see you in a bit." We said our goodbyes as I hung the phone up.
"Who was that?" He asked, driving back to the apartment. I looked out the window, resting my head against the headrest.
"Ana, she's a coworker."
"Cool, should we invite Emalie and Lyndsey?" I shifted my eyes for a moment as I thought about that. Without answering him, I called Lyndsey. The phone rang for a few minutes before she finally picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Do you want to come with Randy and me to Ana's house for a bonfire? She just called me and invited whoever wanted to come. So, I wanted to know if you and Emalie wanted to tag along with us?" I blurted out, almost out of a breath. I watched Randy out of the corner of my eye give me a strange look, but I ignored it.
"A bonfire-." She started, but next thing I knew I heard Emalie's voice.
"That sounds lovely. We should go. It'd probably be good for you, Lyn." Emalie commented, her words seeming to have some sort of meaning behind them. I heard Lyndsey sigh over the phone. I bit my lip, my fingers running over the necklace.
"So... what do you say?" I asked, sounding pathetically hopeful.
"I guess so. Can I drink?" Randy laughed at that.
"Hell yeah!"
"I guess so then. Can you pick us up though? Because I have no idea how to get there." Lyndsey's voice didn't sound happy with this decision. Which of course saddened me.
"Yeah, see you in a bit," I said, hanging up before anything else could be said. I put my phone in my back pocket. I looked back to Randy, who was looking at me. "What?"
"Uh... nothing. Want to get some alcohol?" I rose my brow.
"Randy, we are eighteen. How the hell are we going to get Alcohol?" I asked. He smiled at me as we stopped at a red light, pulling his wallet out and handing me a card. I looked down at it, nearly dying in laughter at this pathetic looking fake I.D.
"Hey! Desperate times call for desperate measures. We need a drunk night full of bonfires and hot women." I shook my head, handing his I.D. back to him. As we drove towards whatever store of his choice, I realized two horrible things now. One, I was more than likely going to be drunk off my ass... and two... I was going to be around Lyndsey and Ana...