God Knows You're on My Mind.

The morning birds chirped, the daily sounds echoed, and Piper opened her eyes slowly. Her sleep was a dreamless sleep. Looking over at the black clock on the wall, Piper squinted. Morning eyes always sucked when it came to reading the damn mechanical clock. The minute hand was on the four, the hour hand was on the seven and the second hand was ticking by slowly. It was 7:20 A.M.

"Derek.." Piper said quietly, almost mouthing it. Scooting over to the edge of the bed towards the side Derek had fallen asleep on. Seeing writing on her arm, she rubbed her eyes and let them adjust. It was Derek's handwriting. It said

Didn't want you to get caught. Call me. Mornin', Pip.

Piper laughed, finally looking at the now spotless space Derek slept in. Itching her head, she reached over to her side-table and picked up her home phone, dialing Derek's cell phone number.

"Hello?" His voice spoke through the phone, Piper smiling.

"I'mma be really lame and quote Juno- Do you have any bones that need collecting?" Piper giggled, biting her bottom lip as she switched her white phone onto her other shoulder.

"Just the one in my pants." Derek chuckled, adding more, "Hey Pip."
"Hey, Derek." Piper replied, smiling still.

"Sorry I left earlier than I would've liked to... Didn't want you to get in trouble," Derek replied. Piper could hear the sorry tone in his voice.

"Oh its fine, I understand. I would've done the same thing you did- just, instead of writing my note on your arm in sharpie it would've been written on a piece of paper with sharpie." Piper replied, laughing quietly as she finished.

"Yeah, I had to write that quickly by the way. So that's why it looked bad, and plus- I couldn't find any paper." Derek replied. She heard a loud click, then a small grunt from Derek.

"Derek what're you doing?" Piper asked him after listening for a few seconds. She fiddled with her fingers.

"Oh nothing, just... Yard work." Derek replied. Piper heard more rustling, then the start of a garden hose.

"I'll go, Derek. Sorry I didn't mean to-"

"You're not goin' anywhere, Pip." Derek interrupted her as she was about to finish her sentence.

“But you’re busy, Derek.” Piper replied, gripping the phone with her hand.

“So? I don’t care. Its just watering my mom’s plants, then digging a hole for her.” He said. Piper heard the sound of, what she assumed, Derek getting out a shovel.

“But.. I’m not even goin’a bother arguing with you, Derek.” Piper sighed, smiling as she let out a small giggle. “My toes look funny when they wiggle. Have you ever noticed that?” She added.

“They don’t look funny-” Derek cut off.

“Derek...?” Piper asked, focusing on the phone.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry, my mom came by. I didn’t want her to think I wasn’t doing work.” Derek finally spoke, the sound of his shed door closing.

“Oh, its fine- I’ve got to go make my parents know that I’m still alive. I’m sorry, Derek. I’ll come over in an hour and a half- I promise. I’ll talk to you then, peace out cub scout.” Piper said.

“After a while, crocodile.” Derek replied with a chuckle. Piper hung up the phone, sighing. Getting off of her bed, she headed down the stairs.

“Mom!” Piper called. The house was silent. It was the first Monday of summer, and Piper would spend it walking around town with Derek. Pushing each other around in shopping carts, buying a whole bunch of licorice and Jones soda, and running through the high school’s football field sprinklers. Piper didn’t hear a response, so she walked further into the kitchen. On the tea canister was a note. The note read;

Going to the store then to that eye-glasses place to see about getting your dad some glasses. Love you Piper, call if you need anything. You can go to Derek’s, just be back home before six o’clock tonight.

XOXO, Mom and dad.

Piper’s hand moved to her forehead, rubbing it gently. She hated it when her mom used ‘XOXO’ when she wrote letters to her. It wasn’t necessary. Walking away with a skip in her step, Piper headed to the fridge to grab out the carton of orange juice. It was almost gone, so she figured ‘why the hell not just drink the rest out of this?’ and she did. Unscrewing the blue cap, Piper took a sip, then put the cap back on.

“I feel so pretty, oh so pretty and witty and gay!” Piper sung in a high-pitched voice, giggling as she grabbed a banana from the banana holder set upon their island. Pulling the yellow peel back, Piper bit into the banana and smiled. Bananas and Oranges were Piper’s favorite fruits. She loved the bitter sweet taste of the orange and the smooth, creamy-like texture of the banana. Gulping down the rest of the orange juice, Piper threw the empty carton away and shoved the banana peel into the garbage.

“Hey, Roxie.” Piper cooed to her black and white cat, Roxie. Picking her up, the red head walked into her room and set the cat down onto her bed. “You’re so adorable, Rox.” Piper giggled, scratching the black cat’s head. Piper walked over to her closet and grabbed out her blue mini-summer-dress and a pair of blue jean, cut off shorts.

Going into her bathroom, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She needed to shower- her hair looked dirty. Shaking her head, Piper almost immediatly turned on the shower, taking her shirt off as she did. Climbing into the shower, Piper washed off all the memories of the grass from her body, her hand wandering over her stomach gently. The butterflies came back just as her hand left her belly button. Giggling a bit, Piper finished showering.

~~*~~

After Piper got out of the shower, she brushed her hair, patted Roxie on the head once, then walked down her stairs. Smiling, she walked out of the door, locked it, then headed the direction towards Derek’s house. Derek was waiting outside of his home on his porch swing-- but waiting for what? Piper didn’t know.

“Stranger danger!” Piper yelled, running over to him from where she stood.

“Oh no! Call the police!” Derek laughed, standing up to catch Piper in a hug.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist. So, what’s up butternut?” Piper asked, standing back to look up at him.

“Oh nothing much, squash.” Derek replied, running a hand through his hair.

“Ready to go to the store to shop-lift a cart?” Piper asked him, holding out her arm like he had did to her at the church dance.

“Ready as a-”

“As a nine-month-old old baby on his due date, I know.” Piper laughed. Derek nodded and smiled proudly, linking his arm with her own. The two headed down the sidewalk, the way to the one and only grocery store in Harlow.