Be a Good Girl, Sandy Jones

I ran around the house like a mad person, collecting movies, snacks, extra pillows and blankets, and everything two girls would need for a sleep over. I looked at the door of my mom’s ‘hidden’ alcohol stash, then thought against taking any; Dani didn’t drink.

I went upstairs and flew everything on the floor, before collapsing onto the mound of blankets and pillows, crushing a bag of pretzels. I rolled onto my back to see Dani looking down at me from her perch on my bed, smiling.

“I’ve got everything. Some movies, snacks, stuff like that, though I’m sure you wont let us stay up for long,” I smirked, my lips trying to make the gesture nice, but it was probably a mix between charming and ugly. I usually didn’t do nice. It seemed that Dani was changing me.

I got up lazily and started making the nest of pillows and blankets we’d be laying on for the movies, setting the snacks and drinks to the side. I sat in the middle of the mound once I was done, looking up at Dani.

“Good enough?” I asked and the smile flicked back onto her face as she nodded at my work-well-done. I could tell she was thinking a lot about what I’d said before. I bit my lip, as my thoughts finally caught up to me.

Why didn’t I just keep my mouth shut? Of course I wouldn’t be able to trust her, she was Dani. She part of the back-stabbing popular crowd. She’d always choose that Taylor-chick over me. I was the dirt beneath her feet; the splinter in her finger that she couldn't get rid of. Then why did she agree to stay, a small voice in my brain asked.

We didn’t talk or move for a good amount of time, our thoughts consuming us. I heard boots on the stairs and my heart sank to my stomach as my eyes widened. I shot up faster then I should have, my head spinning, but I lurched toward the door and slammed it before Dani could see Rob and Rob could see Dani.

“Sandy, open up,” he slurred, the sound of his forehead hitting the wood rang into the room. I narrowed my eyes as I locked the door.

“Go to bed, you're drunk,” I growled, my body tensing as he kicked the door, the whole hunk of wood jolting with the force. I didn’t look at Dani, but I knew that she was staring at me. She was beginning to question the relationship between Rob and I. Now she was probably wondering why she had agreed to spend the night with me, when just a week ago we were hating each other.

“Sandy, let me in,” he growled, a deadly edge to his drunken voice. A deathly anger began to make my fingers tingle.

“Go to bed Robert,” I said, hearing his grumbling as he stumbled down the hall, then the slam of his bedroom door as he went to bed.

I turned around and leaned my back against the door, sliding down the smooth wood to the floor and sitting against it, Dani’s eyes on me the entire time.

“Rob?” Her question was simple, but she wanted more than 'he's my stepfather'.

“That's the guy who I nearly hit the other night, remember? My mom’s boyfriend; wonderful guy isn’t he?” I joked dryly. She raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything else about the subject.

I climbed to my feet and went over to the TV that was secured to my wall, turned it on, then powered up the DVD player and held up two movies to Dani: The Wolf Man or Interview With The Vampire. She pointed to the second movie and I smiled, popping one of my favorite movies into the machine.

We laid down on my bed after I turned off my lights, getting settled down for the movie. We ignored the mound of blankets and pillows on the floor, comfortable on my bed. About half way through Interview With The Vampire however, I discovered Dani had already fallen asleep. She was on her side, her back to me, her mouth hanging open slightly. I got up gently and turned off the TV and the DVD player, putting the disc back into the case and standing in the middle of the dark room, wondering if I should just sleep on the mound of pillows and blankets, or climb into my bed with Dani. I bit my lip again, realizing I was doing that a lot lately, and I was grateful that I hadn’t broken the soft skin. It would happen if I kept at it.

I walked quietly over to my bed and brought a blanket from the mound with me. I got in next to her, and put the large blanket over both of us. I stayed on my back, a good few inches of space between our bodies.

Before I knew it, I was jolted awake by my alarm clock. I reached over and slammed my hand down, silencing the annoyance. I looked around, unsure of where I was at the moment, and who I had my arms around. Then I remembered. I was sleeping in my room, Dani was beside me and I had somehow convinced her to spend the night. Sometime during the night, I had curled my body around hers and wrapped my arms around her so we were practically cuddling. I liked it. I laid my head down and breathed in her sweet scent. No matter what, she smelled like strawberries and sugar, and it was a nice smell.

I pulled my arms back to myself, making sure not to wake Dani. I got up and went to the bathroom. I hopped into the shower, took a quick shower, and went back to my room I got dressed in jeans and graphic tee, then I went over to Dani’s sleeping form. Her face was smoothed out, making her look relaxed and younger. I laid a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. Her eyes fluttered open and I saw a slight confusion on her face as she looked up at me. I smiled gently.

“Time to get up Dani. You can use the shower if you want, towels are in the cabinet next to the shower, and you can use any of my clothes. I’m going downstairs to make us breakfast, okay?” I said gently, slowly so that her sluggish brain could understand. She nodded as she stretched and I went downstairs, my mom sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and the newspaper.

“Is there a reason that you have your door locked?” She asked, and my happy mood dropped through the floor.

“Well, Rob was drunk last night, and I needed sleep, and I didn’t want him to come in and wake me up,” I said quickly.

“And why is there another girl here?” She questioned, and I knew that she was catching onto my feelings for Dani. My face turned into a void of emotion.

“We were working on the project late last night, and I just told her to stay the night, since we both go to the same school, and we’re both girls. I have clothes for her and stuff.” I trailed off as her eyes lifted from her newspaper to look at me. She nodded, believing my lie, and lowered her eyes to the newspaper between her hands. I made toast for the both of us: two with butter, the other two with peanut butter. I didn't know what Dani liked on her toast. When she came into the room yawning with her hair still wet, she took one of each. She sat across from my mother, I sat next to her and we ate in silence.

“See you after school,” my mother mumbled as she went back to bed, signaling that I had been released from her investigation.

“Did you have a good sleep?” I asked Dani. She smiled sheepishly.

“Yeah, it was really good. It's the best I’ve had in a really long time.” She said, and I noticed she wasn’t wearing any make-up. She was beautiful without it.

“That's good,” I said, my heart skipping a beat. I remembered how we'd woken up this morning, and there was a slight tug at my insides. I realized that I wanted to wake up every morning like that.