Locked Doors

The next morning I woke up with a warm body next to me. It took me a minute to open my eyes, and when I did, I nearly jumped out of bed.

“What the fuck!” I yelled as I drew the blankets around my body.

“Please don’t yell,” Rian practically groaned as he buried his head in the pillow.

“This is worth yelling,” I snapped at him.

He finally picked his head up from the pillow and looked at me with tired eyes. He noticed that I was wrapped in the covers, and opened his eyes a little more.

“You don’t remember last night do you?” Rian asked as he sat up next to me.

“Not after I lost in beer pong against you,” I said sheepishly looking down, “Do you remember last night.”

“Most of it,” he said causing me to look up, “And before you ask, no we didn’t hook up. We almost did, then something stopped us, and we just went to bed.”

I muttered a ‘thank god’ under my breath, before looking at the clock on the nightstand. The time read 10:30, and I inwardly groaned.

“I guess we better get up and start cleaning up downstairs,” I said still clutching the blankets.

“Yeah, that would probably be a good thing,” Rian said standing up and grabbing his clothes off of the floor, “I’ll leave so you can change.”

“Thanks Rian,” I said as he walked out of the room leaving me alone.

I glanced around the room, and smiled when I saw my survival kit bag sitting in the corner. I got up, and walked to it before pulling out the outfit I had shoved in there before leaving yesterday. I quickly pulled my alcohol smelling hair into a messy ponytail, before making my way out of the room.

I padded down the stairs, and grabbed a trash bag, like the others had, and began picking up the cups, cans and bottles strewn around the house. It surprised me that it was so quiet, but I guess it was just because we all had drank way too much.

Once everything was cleaned up, we all plopped down on the couches and let out sighs.

“I could really go for some Starbucks right about now,” I said leaning back.

“Me too!” everyone else said as loud as they could before wincing.

“Let’s make a run,” Rory said standing up, “Come with me Gabby.”

I said I would, and before long we had everyone’s orders written down and were in the car on the way to Starbucks.

“So how was your night Gabby? If I remember correctly I saw you disappear upstairs with a certain Mr. Dawson,” she said sending me a wink.

“Yes, I did go upstairs with Rian. And no we didn’t do anything,” I said causing her to laugh, “He had to inform me of this all this morning.”

“Oh, one of those nights,” she said laughing and earning a nod from me.

In a matter of minutes, we were inside Starbucks, and waiting for the barista to take our orders.

“Hi, welcome to Starbucks, what can I get started for you guys?” the cashier asked smiling.

“Well Miranda,” I said reading her nametag, “I would like a Venti Iced Vanilla Latte, and she has the long list of what else we need.”

“We can just take the list and make them if you’d like,” Miranda said still smiling.

“Oh, thank you, that would be awesome!” Rory said grabbing the list from her purse and handing it to Miranda.

“No problem,” Miranda said before her and her co-worker started on our drinks.

“Not to sound creepy or anything, but you look kind of familiar,” Miranda said as she mixed my drink.

“I only moved here last Sunday, so I must look like someone here,” I said laughing a little.
“That’s it! You were the new girl in my Film Study class!”

“Really? Awesome! I kind of know at least one person in that class now!” I said giving her a high five.

“Same! All of my friends that took it got it a different hour than me,” she said giving a pout, “But now we can become friends!”

“Hell yes,” she said finishing up our final drink, “Here’s your final drink guys. See you in class….”

“Gabby,” I said smiling, “Thanks again.”

“Yeah thanks a bunch,” Rory said grabbing one of the drink carriers, “Hey! I have an idea. How about you come over to Alex’s house later and we can all hot tub it up!”

“Yeah, that would be fun!” I said looking towards Miranda, “What do you say?”

“Sounds fun!” she said smiling, “And you mean Alex Gaskarth’s house right? I think I remember where it’s at after being to a few parties there.”

“Yeah, that’s the right Alex,” Rory said laughing.

“Alright sweet,” she laughed along, “So what time should I head over? My shift ends at 5.”

“Uhm, we’ll ask the boys when we get back. Here, put your number in and I’ll text you letting you know,” I said handing her my phone, “You’ll know it’s me because the area code is 303.”

“Okay, I’ll remember that,” she said smiling, “Crap, more customers. See you guys later!”

“Bye Miranda!” both Rory and I said as we walked out of the shop.

The two of us hopped into the car, and started the short drive back to Alex’s house. The ride was relatively silent, minus the radio that was barely audible.

“In a little while, do you think you could drive me home so I can go shower and stuff?” I asked Rory as we pulled into Alex’s driveway.

“Yeah, that’s fine. I need to go home and shower and stuff too,” she said hopping out of the car, “And I have to check on those stupid dogs again.”

“Okay, thanks,” I said as I balanced the carrier of drinks.

“Bitches, we bring Starbucks,” Rory semi-yelled through the house after she opened the door.

Soon enough 6 bodies were racing towards us, and grabbing the coffee from our hands. They all muttered quick thanks, before running back into the living room, causing me and Rory to burst out laughing.

“Handy Manny? Seriously?” I asked as I took a seat next to Rian on the couch.

“I felt the need to brush up on simple Spanish phrases,” Jack said turning to look at me.

“Dora is way better for that,” I said matter-of-factly.

“Both shows are for 5 year olds,” Rian said causing us to send him fake glares.

Everyone in the room laughed at Jack and I, causing both of us to slightly pout, causing even more laughter.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Rory said jumping up and bumping Alex’s jaw, “We invited this girl Miranda over later to go hot tubbing!”

“First off, ow,” Alex said rubbing his jaw, “And alright, I’m in.”

“Me too,” Rian and Zack said at the same time.

“I have work tonight so I’ll miss it,” Josie said with a frown.

“Me and Kimmy are out too,” Jack said, “We already have plans for dinner with my parents.”

“Looks like it’s just the 5 of us, well six with Miranda,” I said laughing, “Which reminds me, what time should I tell Miranda to come over?”

“How about 7:30?” Alex said waiting for our approval, “That gives us all time to go home, shower and rest a little bit.”

We agreed that 7:30 would be fine, and I quickly sent Miranda a text with the details.

“Alright, we better get going Gabby,” Rory said standing up, “Those dogs are probably going crazy.”

“Alright, see most of you later,” I said standing up, “Oh wait, I have to get my bag.”

“It’s by the door, I brought it down for you,” Rian said shooting me a smile.

“Awwh thank you!” I said giving him a quick hug.

He returned it, and I quickly ran out the door behind Rory. The ride was short, and when we pulled up to the house, I noticed that my dad was home. I let out a sigh, and unbuckled my seatbelt before grabbing my bag from the back.

“Alright, I’ll see you later Gabby,” Rory said giving me a half hug, “And you do remember how to get to Alex’s Right?

“Yeah, it’s simple. And if I get lost, I’ll just call,” I said hopping out of the car, “Peace!”

I closed the car door, and walked up to my front door slower than normal. As I reached the door, I heard Rory pull away, and I sucked in a deep breath. As soon as the door opened, I heard the hideous yell of my father.

“Where the fuck have you been you little bitch!”