Everytime I Look for You the Sun Goes Down

Callie arrived at Jack's house around eight-thirty. Yes, purposely late. She was hoping by now Alex had already gotten enough alcohol in him that he would have already started to prey on some other girl.

She slowly pulled herself through the throngs of drunken teenagers that were crowded in front of the door. Though the people bumped into her as she made her way into the house, they were too busy being drunk to extend to her the simplest excuse me or sorry, only dirty glares and some snickers. Drunken people were very rude.

After quite a struggle, she finally managed to get inside the house in one piece. The house already smelled of alcohol and sweat. She contorted her face as the stench of sweat only increased as she passed by the rather large group of dancers. You could hardly consider that dancing. Mock sex is more like it.

Once passed the group in the living room, she made her way through the kitchen and out the sliding glass door into the back yard. Fresh air was her friend. She was about to take a seat on a faded green lawn chair when her name was called.

“CALLIE CAT!” An obnoxiously tall, skunk-haired boy screamed and engulfed her into a hug.

“Oh, hi Jack.” She was clearly surprised. Jack released his embrace and allowed her to catch her breath. “Thank you for giving me a heart attack.”

“You're welcome. Now, I will warn you this time. I'm going to scream and hug you. Ready?” She nodded and took a deep breath. “CALLIIIIIIIE CATTTTT!” He screamed once more and encompassed her into a bone-crushing hug. He picked her up and twirled her around, not letting his grip loosen one bit in the process.

They heard a small cough in the background and Jack carefully set her down.

“Go forth, and breathe, young padawan.” Jack said and skipped off into his house.

Her gaze went up to the person who emitted the cough earlier. He looked off, smiling, as Jack skipped off. His stare went from Jack to Callie, his smile turning into a smirk. He stepped closer to her and looked down upon her.

“You, my dear, are late.” He said and lightly poked the tip of her nose. “Care to explain?”

“I lost track of time is all.” She said looking at the floor, shifting her feet trying to create more space between them. It didn't work.

“Oh, well, that's alright then. Uh, you want me to get you something to drink?” He inquired, picking her head up so she was facing him once again.

“Um, yeah, sure.” She said as he walked back into the house. Truth is, she really didn't want anything to drink. She wasn't in the mood to have her better judgment be impaired. She just wanted to be alone for as long as possible.

She looked back into the house to see Alex at the counter. She walked around to the side of the house to evade him when he was to come back outside. She stood against the house and slid down the wall, letting her head fall into her hands. She let out a deep sigh and looked up to the cloudy sky. There was nothing in the sky besides the thick clouds. No stars. No moon. Nothing.

“Oh, there you are. You scared me for a second there.” Alex said as he took a seat next to her and handed her a drink. “Why're you over here?”

“Get away from all the people. I'm not really in the mood to be around a lot of people right now.” She said quietly and set her drink down beside her. They were both quiet for a while, something Callie was very thankful for.

Alex cleared his throat and set his drink down. “Well, do you want to go home, then? I mean, you don't feel up to being here, then you shouldn't.” He said and toyed with his hands.

“Yeah, I guess.” Callie said and hoisted herself up, then wiping off her jeans.

“I'll drive you.” Alex said and stood up as well. “Come on.” He said and began to walk toward the gate.

“Alex, really, you don't have to. My house isn't far. I walked here, I can walk back. And you should stay and have fun. Don't let me-”

“Hey, I'm driving you home. No arguing.” She did as he said and did not object any further. She knew she'd lost this battle.

They both walked to his car in silence and got into the car with the same silence lingering. He started the car and slowly began backing out of the driveway.

“I'm actually really glad you didn't want to stay.” He mumbled, quietly, and scratched the back of his neck quickly before returning his hand to the wheel. “Becky was there, and she was all up on Trevor. That's why I wanted you were there earlier. Jack was wasted before the party even started, so I was pretty much alone. It kinda sucked.” He chuckled at the last sentence.

Now Callie felt terrible. She wasn't there for her best friend when he needed her. She was a terrible best friend. “I'm sorry. I wish I was there earlier.”

“It's okay, Cal.” He said and ruffled her hair with a laugh. They rode in silence until Callie realized they were nowhere near her house.

“Alex, um, this isn't my street.” He laughed.

“Yeah, I know.” He continued driving.

“Would you mind explaining why?”

“It's Thursday, silly.” He said with a smile.

Thursday. Thursday was their day. Every Thursday they would always sleep over at Alex's. Always. No matter what happened, they'd always be there. They'd stay up and watch movies, eat junk food, talk a whole bunch of shit about random people they didn't even know. It was always fun. But this time, who knew?

They pulled up Alex's driveway and got out. “My parents aren't home, so you don't have to be quiet, you know.” He said to her as the climbed up the staircase.

“Just in a quiet mood.” She said, entering his room after him.

“You've just got a bunch of different moods tonight, don't you?” He said, laughing and turning to face her. “Let's get you in another one then, shall we?” He whispered with a smirk then crashed his lips onto hers.