Please note that we are also still accepting questions for the Q&A chapter, so feel free to send those in to Nat and I!
William's Point of View
After a week of grounding my mother had finally decided to let me off of the hook. Though instead of hanging out with Ronnie, I had decided to remodel my room. I had changed my old comforter out for a new quilt that was much to large for my twin-sized bed. Compared to the comforter, the quilt was softer and warmer. I had moved my desk to sit beside my bed and pushed my bookshelf so that it rested next to the window. Exhausted from moving furniture, I plopped down on my bed and began to reminisce. I thought back to what mom said when she dismissed the grounding.
She said something along the lines of, "Will, you've been taking this punishment much better than your father and I expected. Since you have been acting so mature about it, your father convinced me to take away the grounding. However, there are some catches. Your curfew is now eleven, no texting friends after midnight, no karaoke, no clubs, no going to parties until I deem them fit for a young boy. Not to mention that you're still grounded from; Facebook, Twitter and every other social media site."
'Look on the bright side William,' I told myself, 'she gave you back your Pokemon and Call of Duty.' Knowing my mom, it probably took dad the entire week to convince her that I had learned my lesson. I loved my mother, but she was stubborn when it came to her decisions. According to dad, "It's mom's way, or the highway.'
"Meoowww!" I jumped back in surprise and ended up falling off of my bed and cracking my head off of the desk.
"Artemis!" I yelled at the black cat that had caused my pain, "I swear if you ever do that again, I will never ever sneak you tuna again! Understood?" I winced as I rubbed the back of my head. I was beginning to see that the stars that had been dancing in my vision were fading away.
My cat hopped off of my bed and chose my chest as her landing pad. I grunted as she landed on me. Artemis may appear small, but she weighs a ton! (Of course though, that is my fault. I feed her constantly and often too much) She nimbly hopped off of my chest made her way to the wall outlet where my phone was charging.
"Why do you want my cell phone?!" I asked Artemis. My cat was officially nuts. Then I noticed that it was vibrating. Artemis must have noticed and thought it was a play toy for her. I sighed and crawled over to pick it up and check my messages.
I had a new text from Grell. "Isn't she on a date?" I murmured out loud. I hastily opened it and read the text out loud. "I've had a rough day and need a friend. Please come over, Will. I need you"
I quickly began to think. She's had it rough, what will make her feel better? Then it hit me. I ran to dump various horror and Disney movies in my backpack. Then I ran to the kitchen and pulled out three bags of microwavable popcorn. Then I hustled to my mom.
"Hey mom," I asked cautiously as I walked in the living room, "would it be okay if I spent the night at Ronnie's house?" Mom looked up and her eyes narrowed.
"Will you behave? Will you be responsible? Will you stay at Ronnie's house? No sneaking out, no partying?" She drilled me with more than the usual questions. I weakly nodded to her. "I'm giving you another chance William, don't mess it up."
I gulped and thanked her before running back to my room to dump every Kit-Kat that I had hidden in my nightstand drawer into my pack. I quickly texted Ronnie the plan.
-I'm going to Grell's house to cheer her up. Mom thinks I'm spending the night at your place. Do me a favor and cover for me.-
Then I headed off in the direction of Ronnie's house to throw mom off of my trail. After I was three-fourths the way to Ronald's place, I doubled back to get to Grell's house. After a grueling fifteen minutes of cutting through backyards and sneaking past ferocious family pets, I made it to Grell's house.
I snuck up until I was directly below Grell's window. I reached down to pick up a smooth pebble, then tossed it to Grell's window. She opened the window and looked down before giving me the 'All Clear' signal. I nimbly climbed up her tree and tossed my pack through her window. Then I stretched out to hop safely on her window sill and drop into Grell's room.
Grell's eyes were red, most likely from crying. She was dressed in fluffy red and white kitten print night pant. She wore a Black Veil Brides t-shirt that was obviously too big for her. I glanced a little closer and noticed that it was the t-shirt of mine that had gone missing in tenth grade. I tried to hold back a smile. After two years, she had still kept my favorite band shirt.
"Don't smile and tell me 'I told you so'!" Grell cried as she clutched a teddy bear in her pale arms. I realized that the smile had slipped out. I mumbled an apology as I held my arms open. She sniffled and dove into my hug. "Thanks, Will," she said through small tears.
"It's okay, Grell," I said petting her hair. "It'll all get better soon." Then I slowly separated us and reached for my bag. I pulled out Hercules and a couple Kit-Kats. "Doctor William has prescribed Kit-Kats and a movie marathon."
Grell laughed a little. It almost reminded me of the twinkling of tiny bells. Then she set down her teddy bear to grab Hercules and put in the DVD player that was connected to the TV in the corner of her room. Grell had saved up the money for her own TV in ninth grade. According to her, it was the best investment she had made.
"Do you want me to some stuff to sit on?" I asked her. She nodded. I grabbed the pillows off of her bed as she rummaged through her closet for spare blankets. After building two small nests of pillows and blankets, we collapsed. The movie began to play, but I was too distracted to watch it. All I could focus on was Grell.
She would be unconsciously moving her hand up to wipe tears from her cheeks every other minute. Grell would bury herself under blankets and cuddle with her teddy. She even snuggled up to me for a minute. Then she would realize whose arm she was cushioning her head on, and mutter an apology while shuffling away.
After 90 minutes of pure awkward, we decided to take a short break. Then I asked the question. "Hey Grell," I started, "did you want me to stay with you? Or do you want me to leave?"
She looked a little shocked at first. Then a small smile reached across her face. "If you're staying, you're sleeping in the bathtub. I really don't want my parents finding a boy sleeping on my floor." I nodded to show that I was on the same page as her.
"I have a bunch more movies in my backpack," I said, nodding to my pack on the floor. "You wanna choose one while I make my bed?" She got up to choose the next movie as I took my nest of blankets to her bathroom.
Luckily for me, Grell had her own bathroom. She was an only child after all. What's even better is, to get to the bathroom, you have to go through Grell's room. It's private.
I was lost in thought as I tossed blankets on the floor of the tub. I layered one carefully and then tossed my pillows on next. Lastly I laid a small quilt over top of the stack. I then hastily made my way back into Grell's room.
"How do you feel about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre?" Grell asked as she held up the older horror movie. I shrugged, I wasn't fond of the movie, but hey, it was Grell's pick. She wasn't having the best day, and I was sure that I wouldn't make it any better by denying her.
We both went to sit on the floor and Grell noticed my lack of pillows and blankets. "Hey," she said nudging me, "where's your nest?" I pointed to the bathroom. "Oh yeah!" She said hitting herself lightly in the head. "I'm sorry, Will. I'm kind of out of it today."
She stood up and spread her blankets out a little and then plopped back down on them. "Here," Grell said as she pulled me closer, "we can share. Just promise not to try anything funny."
"I promise," I said, holding up three finger, "scouts honor."
"You were never a boy scout," Grell said bluntly. I shrugged and cuddled up to one of the pillows. I generally liked horror movies, but The Texas Chainsaw Massacre scared me to death.
Halfway through the movie I was hiding behind a pillow as she watched in utter awe. I peeked back from behind the pillow and screeched in terror. Without thinking I dropped the pillow and lunged to hide behind Grell. However, I kind of tripped over her teddy bear and fell on her lap.
"Does this scare you that bad?" Grell asked. She then laughed, really laughed, for the first time that night. She pushed me off of her lap and got up to take out the movie.
I sighed in relief as she chose a Disney movie. She chose one of my favorite ones from the stack, The Aristocats. She sat back down and we giggled as we watched the three little kittens cause trouble.
The movie was almost over when Grell had fallen asleep. I maneuvered her so that she was pillowing her head on my lap. Sighing, I began to stroke her long, red hair. Then, I fell asleep too.
-
"No," I heard Grell mumble. My eyes shot open to see Grell. She was curled up into my chest. What was she saying 'No' about? Grell began to claw at her arms. Her long nails were drawing blood. It was smearing on her upper arms, staining her pale skin.
Instantly, I began to panic. "Grell, wake up!" I said loudly. I jerked her up and pulled her hands out away from her. She opened her eyes and looked dazed for a minute. "Are you okay?" I asked softly.
"What happened?" Grell asked as she looked at her hands. Her eyes widened, staring at the blood. She covered her mouth so suppress a scream and I shushed her.
"You were having a nightmare," I said as I picked her up off of the floor. "Now let's go get you cleaned up." I carried her to the bathroom and set her down on the counter.
"What time is it anyway?" She asked as I riffled through her cupboard for Neosporin and a washcloth. I paused to glance at one of the clocks.
"About 2:30 in the morning," I replied as I got the washcloth wet. I slowly wiped the blood off of her arms and cleaned the small, but many scratches. She hissed in pain as I began to spread Neosporin on the tiny caw marks. "Man, you must have been having one bad dream," I muttered.
"It was terrible," Grell said. She hopped off the counter and landed lightly on her feet. I put away the Neosporin and threw the washcloth in the hamper next to the toilet.
"Do you want me to wait with you until you fall asleep?" I asked her. Grell nodded and I followed her. She jumped up in her bed and I tucked her in.
She rolled so that she was facing me. I watched her until she fell asleep, then I softly kissed her forehead. "Love ya, Grell," I murmured into her red hair, smiling to myself.
Then I made my way to her bathroom. I crawled into my makeshift tub-bed, and fell asleep. It was cramped, but it would have to do. I let weariness overtake me, and I fell asleep.
-Nat