Love By Our Side

“I gotta get outta here, Delaney. I’ll be kicked out of this house so fast if they come in,” John whispered, quickly getting out of Delaney’s bed and collecting his clothes from the floor.

“Oh, you’re fine. Mr. Cleary’s already at work, and Mrs. Is probably watching TV or something,” Delaney stated, sitting up. The two decided to push their luck on Delaney’s first night in town, and though they had been successful before, all the rules were different now that she wasn’t just a guest in the house. “Besides, do you really think they’d kick either of us out? It’s not like we’re doing anything terrible.”

“I don’t wanna find out what would happen, so I’m leaving. I’ll see you later, kay?” John asked, already knowing the answer. He gave his girlfriend a quick kiss before heading out the window, onto the side roof, and finally leaping the ten or so feet to the ground.

Delaney was lucky and got put into the room with a window facing the backyard, complete with roof access. She had been hesitant at first about letting John jump from the roof, but when they first started having their sleepovers a few visits previous, he showed her that he, being both fearless and an idiot, could successfully make it to the ground, all bones intact. When Delaney wanted to sneak out, however, she opted for the overused quietly sneak out the front door tactic. She had perfected this motion her freshman year, so she doubted that it would fail her now.

Delaney glanced at her clock, saw that it was only 8:23, and groaned because of how early John had woken her up. It was sweet, really, because he didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye, but in the end it just pissed her off. She was the sort of person that once she was awake, she was up for the day. Unless she was deathly ill, she was generally unable to fall back asleep.

Instead of idly lying around, she decided to start her day a lot earlier than usual. She knew no one would be up for hanging out until at least noon, so she took a long shower before retreating to the basement with a bowl of cereal and the remote control. Nothing of interest was on, so she settled on Nickelodeon for the time being. While she only meant to watch TV until she was finished eating, but three hours had passed before she realized that she was still sitting in the same spot.

“Shit, is this what my life will be reduced to here?” she muttered to herself, quickly getting up so she could get ready for the day. When she reached her room, she saw that she had three new texts, one from Mrs. Cleary telling her that she was at the store and wouldn’t be home until later, one from her mom telling her that she was already missed, and one from Jess, telling her to get her “lazy ass outta bed before we all leave without you!” Confused, she went to check Sophie’s room to see if she was still there which, sure enough, she wasn’t. Delaney angrily dialed her cousin’s phone, and when she didn’t answer, she left her a heated voicemail about not being a reliable family member. She dialed John’s number as she threw a pair of jeans on, and was told to be at his house in five minutes. She rushed to put her hair in a ponytail and brush her teeth, omitting the beautifying stage from her morning routine. As she started to run out the front door, she stopped and flipped off the car waiting in the driveway.

“You guys suck!” she yelled at Josh, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of his van.

“It wasn’t my idea! Besides, we just got here,” he answered. The rest of their group was piled into the back of the car, and John beckoned his girlfriend to join them.

“I look like shit, where the hell are we going?” Delaney forcefully asked as she climbed into the car, returning hugs from many outstretched arms.

“Chill out, we’re just going to lunch,” her cousin answered. “Also, I didn’t appreciate the message you left me.”

“I was pissed! I thought everyone left without me!”

“I called your name from the top of the basement steps like twenty times, you seriously didn’t hear me at all?”

“Wait, really? No, I didn’t. Rugrats must’ve really pulled me in…” Delaney garnered a chuckle from her friends as she revealed what she had been watching. “Laugh all you want, there’s some good shit on that channel!”

“Don’t worry, John and I both watch Nickelodeon almost everyday,” Stephen said from beside her. She smiled and gave him a hug in response.

Delaney gave as many hugs as she could from her seat, but was too trapped to reach everyone. Once the van parked in the Applebee’s parking lot, and she was out of the car, everyone was more than ready to receive proper hugs. Sophie laughed as her friends pulled her cousin into their arms multiple times, though she scowled and tried to get away. Finally, John picked her up, signaling the end of her misery. He carried her towards the front door of the restaurant, speaking near jibberish as he cursed his friends for touching what was “his.” Delaney rolled her eyes and pushed away from his as soon as they reached the door, to which John started pouting.

“I’d like to visit with the other people here, babe, they’ll be more time for you later,” she told him with a wink, causing groans from everyone else.

“Look, if Sophie and Stephen are nice enough to wait until they’re alone, I’m expecting the same from you,” Jess said pointedly, while the rest nodded in agreement.

“Sorry! We’ve missed each other, that’s all,” Delaney exclaimed.

“Were you catching up in your room last night, or were those other noises I heard?” Sophie said with a laugh. There were several “oohs” from the rest of the teens, while Jjohn and Delaney went red in the face.

“I, uh, I-I mean, um, well-“ John stuttered, unable to make a coherent sentence.

“Did you really need to bring that up? I thought last night ended our talks about my younger brother’s sex life…” Stephen trailed.

“Why don’t we talk about yours, then, since Sophie was so quick to bring up mine?” Delaney shot, knowing her cousin would kill her later on. It was Stephen and Sophie’s turn to blush, while everyone else laughed.

“Couldn’t say I didn’t see it coming,” Stephen said after a quick recovery. “Let’s just get off the subject of sex for awhile, it’s not appropriate lunch conversation.” As he made this point, their hostess came by to seat them. The group shoved into a booth-they always insisted on having the big corner one- and still ended up having to pull up two chairs. They picked up right where they had left off the last time Sophie and Delaney had visited, as if no time had passed at all.