Your Love Will Be Safe With Me

I sat on the couch in the living room late that night, doing homework. The TV was on; some movie was playing on HBO, but I wasn’t paying any attention to it. Instead, my iPod was turned up almost as high as it could go, blasting into my ears. I was absorbed in the work in the packet that sat on my lap. This month the classes I was taking were Physical Science and English IV. I had finished the English over the weekend and had half a packet of science to do. I was beginning to regret not doing anything in the actual class when I took it freshman year.

I was deep in thought, trying to recall what the differences about the three different types of clouds were when suddenly I felt one of my ear buds being pulled from my ear and someone’s fingers grazing my cheek. I jumped almost all the way off of the couch and stared at the culprit, my heart thudding in my chest. I glared as Nick stood at the side of the couch where the arm rest was, trying to contain his laughter.

“I should beat your ass right now.” I said, angrily. That’s when he started busting up laughing. I rolled my eyes as I paused my music and tore the other bud from my other ear.

“I’m sorry, but you should have seen your face.” He doubled over with laughter, clutching his stomach.

I continued to glare, “What do you want, Nick?” I practically growled.

I waited for him to catch his breath after standing up right. “I got up to go to the bathroom and heard the TV on, so I came to see who was still up. I was saying our name for, like, five minutes.” He said, still laughing slightly.

“Well I obviously couldn’t hear you, Jerk.” I grumbled.

He stopped laughing now and looked at me sincerely, “Look, I’m sorry for scaring the crap out of you. I honestly didn’t mean to.”

I shrugged, “Fine.”

He smiled then sat down next to me, “So what are you doing?”

His pajama clad leg was touching my bare one (I was only wearing pajama shorts and an oversized t-shirt). My heartbeat suddenly picked up as he leaned over to try and look at the packet in my lap.

“U-uhm, homework.” I said quickly.

“Oh, right. You’re in school.” He said then leaned back.

“Yeah.” I said slowly, relieved he put some distance between us.

“Wait!” He exclaimed. “Don’t you have school tomorrow? It’s, like, three in the morning.” Had it gotten that late already? I looked at the digital clock on the DVD player. I didn’t have school in the morning, but I decided to joke with him.

“Unless you want to get up at 7:20 in the morning and take me.” I smirked.

His eyes widened, “You don’t have to go.” He said quickly.

I laughed out loud, “I don’t have school tomorrow, Nick.”

He looked at me confused, “What do you mean?”

“I only go once a week. I’m on an independent studies program called Options for Youth. I basically fail at school, so I go there instead to make up credits I missed out on because I failed basically both freshman and sophomore years.”

His jaw went slack, “How do you fail both years?!”

I shrugged, “Laziness.”

He snorted, “Wow. That probably doesn’t look good on transcripts.”

I sighed, ‘Yeah I know. I just hate school.”

“You graduate this year, though, right?”

I nodded, “I’ll be done with my credits next month.” I told him.

“Next month? It’s only January.” He said confused.

“Well I get two classes a month which means that I get ten credits a month.” I explained.

“What? No fair!”

I laughed, “How old are you, anyway?” I asked.

“Twenty.”

I nodded, “I thought you were older.” I admitted.

He shook his head, “Nope. Not even legal to drink.” He pouted.

I chuckled, ‘Hey! I’m not even legal at all so stop whining.”

He chuckled, “But it’ll change on Friday.” He pointed out. “Speaking of, what are you going to do for real?”

I shrugged, “Nothing at all. Probably just school work; I only have a week to do two packets.”

He frowned, “But that’s not fun at all.”

I shrugged again, “If you think of something, let me know.”

He nodded and it was quiet. I went back to my work as Nick began watching the movie on TV (which I realized was Fight Club). I moved to sit crossed legged while he brought his left knee up to rest his chin on, becoming fully absorbed in the movie. I smiled to myself at how cute he looked.

By the time the movie ended, I had a majority of the packet done. All I needed to do was the review portion and I’d be done. As the credits began to roll, he looked over at me. I was just sitting there with my book, packet, and iPod in a neat stack next to me.

“Are you done?” He asked, astonished.

I shook my head, “I have the review to do. I’ll most likely do it tomorrow night.”

“So you just do it at night?”

I nodded, “Most of the time, yeah.”

He nodded and was quiet for a few short seconds, “Why?” He finally asked.

“I think better at night; there aren’t too many distractions.” I replied simply.

“Yeah. I understand that.” He started flipping through the channels.

I noticed it was nearing five thirty in the morning. I wasn’t tired, but I had work at three.

“Hey Nick?” I asked softly.

“hmm?” He replied with his eyes focused on the screen.

“Do you think you, Justin, or Halvo can take me to work tomorrow... or more like today?” I asked then chuckled lightly.

“Holy shit, it’s five thirty already? Why aren’t I tired?” He asked himself shocked, as he looked at me with wide eyes and an open mouth. I shrugged.

“Damn.” He said and I snorted.

“But anyways, yeah I can take you. What time?” He asked.

“Three to nine.”

“Okay.” He went back to looking for something to watch. “Where do you work?” He inquired.

“Sephora at the Hollywood and Highland mall.”

“Oh, so not that far from here?”

I shook my head, “Not far at all.”

He finally settled on a channel and leaned back on the couch as an old episode of Roseanne appeared on the screen.

“I hope this is okay.” He said as he set the remote down on the coffee table.

“It’s fine.” I said quietly.

We both sat there and watched the dysfunctional family from Illinois on the screen. Once a commercial break came on, I stretched out my legs and arched my back as I wiggled my toes. Next I spread my arms, feeling the knots throughout my body unwind. Nick watched on amused. Once I was done, I collapsed on the couch, my body falling over to lay on it, behind my stack of things.

“Do you feel better?” He smirked.

I smiled lazily, “That felt so amazing.” I said then gently moved the books to the floor as he laughed. After another thirty or so seconds of just the TV’s commercials, I began to speak.
“So Nick, tell me about yourself.” I said then laid against the opposite arm rest, legs flat out in front of me, barely reaching his thigh.

He turned and looked at me as I did so then looked down at my short legs, “Damn you’re short, Sawyer.”

I fake glared at him because let’s face it: I was used to short jokes. “I know that. You don’t have to remind me.”

He chuckled, “Anyways, what do you want to know?”

I shrugged, “Whatever you’re comfortable with telling me.”

He took the same position I was in, except he dug his feet to go under my back because he was too tall. “Well my name is Nicholas Santino and I call Braintree, Massachusetts my home. I still live at home with my parents. I have a bulldog named Angus. I sing and play guitar in a band called A Rocket to the Moon. I really like Taylor Swift and country music. I tour most of the year, so I don’t really get into relationships because I don’t think it’s fair for the girl.” My heart sank the slightest bit. “My hair is naturally brown. My birthday is July 28. I get homesick easily which sucks since I’m always on tour.” He trailed off and shrugged. “I don’t know what else to tell you; I’m not that interesting.”

I smiled lightly at him. “Tell me about your band.” Roseanne had come back on a couple minutes prior, but we didn’t care.

“Well I started it for fun in my room in 2006, but got some positive feedback, so I kept with it. It was only me until last year. We got signed to Fueled by Ramen and recorded an EP. The sound was different and we lost some fans, but we gained a lot more. We’ve been touring with that since the summer. This is the first vacation we’ve had since. I’m pretty happy because touring in a van is exhausting.”

I frowned at this, “Then you should go to sleep.”

He shook his head, “I’m not tired, plus I like talking to you, Sawyer. I feel like I’ve known you my whole life, honestly.” I grinned at this because, honestly, I did, too. “So what about you? Tell me some facts about yourself.” He urged.

I sighed, “Well my name is Sawyer Adelaide Thomas and I’m the youngest of three girls, but my dad’s only child. I was born on January 16, 1991. I see my parents once a month, if that and my sisters almost every other week. I try to see them when I’m in town every Wednesday, but sometimes it just doesn’t work. I try going to dinner every other Sunday with my grandma, aunt, uncle and sisters, but I haven’t lately because of work. The last time I saw them was Christmas.” I frowned. “I miss them, but living out here has given me more opportunities-“

He cut me off, “How come you didn’t move in with any of them?”

“I more or less refused because I wasn’t really talking to them at the time. Our family had kind of broken up over a fight my eldest sister caused. She can be kind of ridiculous and self centered most of the time. My grandma took her side and my other sister was living with some friends and going to college." He nodded, telling me he was still listening. “When the fight blew over, I was already settled in out here and my parents were watching their house being built in Arizona.”

“So how long have you lived out here?”

“A year and a half.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah I was, like, sixteen. I had to grow up real quick.” After I said that we were quiet. I couldn’t really think of anything else to tell him.

“So,” He began, almost sounding embarrassed.

“hmm?” I looked over at him.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

I laughed out loud. One loud “HA!” He looked taken aback almost. “I haven’t had one of those in a while.” I laughed again.

“Why not? I’m sure a beautiful girl like you could get with anyone you want.”

I looked away as I felt a blush rise onto my cheeks. Thankfully the lights were off. “Yeah? Well then I’d like William Beckett right here right now.” I said softly.

“I’ll call him if you want me to, but I don’t think his girlfriend would appreciate that too much.”

My head snapped back to look at him with wide eyes. “You have his number?!” I squeaked out.

He laughed and nodded, “Yeah. I’m supposed to be heading out with them on their acoustic tour, so he could help me write some songs.”

I almost wanted to shout at him to take me with him, but that would be rude and embarrassing. “Man! I would kill for that. I love The Academy Is..., they’re my favorite band.” I gushed, “One time, my friend and I drove out to Vegas to see them and Cobra Starship. That was the best weekend of my life-“

“That’s what we can do!” He cut me off with an almost yell.

I looked at him, startled “uh-what?” I asked cautiously.

“This weekend we’re going to Vegas for your birthday.”

I just stared at him, “Uh, Nick, I don’t have the money for that.”

He waved his hand at me. “I have a little extra money. I’ll talk it over with Justin and Halvo tomorrow. Call off work, okay?” I just stared at him still. He looked so excited.

“I’ve only been there on tour and didn’t see passed the venue. This will be so much fun.” He rambled.

I just met this guy and he’s already trying to take me out of state. I don’t know what it is about him that already has me hooked to him. Maybe it was the fact that he was so easy to talk to.

We ended up talking until around seven in the morning then proceeded to watch Nickelodeon (he claimed that Drake and Josh was his favorite show). I don’t remember much after seven thirty because I started nodding off.