I Spun the Bottle

I Spun the Bottle: Chapter Ten

Song for this chapter: “Invincible” by Hedley

The vibrations of from a dull buzz woke me up from my deep sleep. Groaning, I turned on my side and shoved my hand into my right pocket, fishing for my cell phone. I pulled the old, scratched phone from my pocket and flipped it open, pressing the speaker to my ear.

“Hello?” I spoke into the phone, still half-asleep. My voice sounded dry and scratchy, hardly recognizable.

There was no reply. Frowning, I pulled the cell away from my ear to look at the bright screen. I squinted, letting my eyes adjust to the bright light before I could actually read what was on the phone. Once they adjusted to the light, I realized I had gotten a text, not a call.

It was from Landon, my brother.

A new sense of fear welled up within me, as I pressed a button, letting me read the message itself. My eyes hovered the slang words that Landon texted to me.

From Landon: Lyn where the hell r u?

As I read the words, any drowsiness that I had only a few seconds ago vanished instantly. I hoped he didn’t tell Mom or Dad that I wasn’t home. If he did, I’d be in huge trouble. I quickly replied back to my brother with shaky hands.

To Landon: I’m at a friend’s house. Please don’t tell Mom and Dad. I’ll be home soon. Promise.

I clicked the green send button on my phone, and stuffed it in my pocket, waiting for a reply from my brother. I tumbled off the bed and stood up, but immediately fell back to the floor when a feeling of electricity shot through my swollen ankle.

“Oh, shoot!” I groaned, grabbing my ankle.

Muttering a few incoherent words under my breath, I managed pulled myself up on one foot. I settled on sitting on the bed, rather than attempting to walk. Another buzz came from my phone, sending the vibrations through my thigh. I pulled the phone out of my pocket again, and flipped it open, scanning through the message just as soon as I opened it.

From Landon: U r so lucky I woke up early 2day. U better explain this when u get home

I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath until a relaxed sigh left my tightly shut lips. Landon was definitely one of the best brothers of all time. I managed to fix one problem, but new ones blossomed in its replacement. I needed to get home, but I couldn’t do that alone. I’d have to wake up David.

Yet another problem presented itself to me. How was I supposed to wake up David when he’s in the living room? Groaning, I lowered myself onto the floor, my tummy facing the carpet. I then began crawling to the living room, where he was. I dug my nails into the carpeting, pulling out tiny strands from it as I continued on my way. I made sure my right foot never touched the ground by lifting it up about an inch into the air.

It took me about three minutes to get to the living room, where a silent, sleeping David was. His arm hung limply over the side of the couch, while his other one was tucked under his head. David’s chest moved up and down in a slow, constant rhythm. I shifted into a sitting position in front of his couch, examining the sleeping teenage boy.

His dark brown hair stuck out in random places, and surprisingly it didn’t look bad on him; in fact, it only added to his already handsome looks. I liked this David more. This David couldn’t speak obnoxiously and rudely. This David couldn’t tease me with his annoyingly attractive smirk. This David was peaceful and could almost be considered almost cute. My face instantly heated up as soon as my own thoughts registered into my mind.

Cute? David is cute?

Well, it wasn’t like I couldn’t deny his looks. David had been one of the cutest guys I’ve ever seen, since about middle school. Not that I’d ever tell him that. His ego was already big enough for both of us. His looks fitted the description of cute, well more than cute, and his body just intensified that.

I almost felt bad to wake him up now. He had spent the whole night taking care of me, even though most of the time included him teasing me until I eventually just ignored him all together. He woke up just about every hour, even when he thought I was asleep, to see if my ice-pack was still cold, and if my foot was elevated correctly on the pillow he gave me.

This was a new side I never knew David had in him, and I had to admit that I kind of liked it.

I let my eyes hover over his face, examining his long, dark eyelashes that any girl would envy. His lips were slightly chapped, but that didn’t stop his lips from looking plump and full. I sat there quietly for a few minutes, still unsure if I should wake him or not. Finally, I made my decision, knowing that I had to get home somehow.

I stretched my index finger out in front of me, aiming for his bicep. I almost touched him, when his body stirred. Immediately, I retracted my hands and waited to see if he was going to wake up. Within a few seconds, his eyelids twitched and then his eyes fluttered open. David’s hazel eyes looked wildly around the room for a moment before they settled on me.

A tired, lazy grin spread across his lips then. “Watching me while I sleep? Kinda stalkerish, Lyn.”

“Wa—no! I was just going to wait you up!” I declared, feeling my cheeks burn from his accusation.

“Right. You stick with that.” He winked, letting a yawn leave his lips.

“I will.” I muttered, scooting my body to the side so he could put his feet down without stepping on me.

Realizing that my foot was still in pretty bad shape, he frowned. “You’re supposed to be in the room sleeping. Did you walk out here?”

“No, I didn’t walk out here. I crawled. And I need you to drive me home.”

“A crawling Lyn? I wish I saw that. And why? It’s like six in the morning.” He said, glancing at the clock.

Purposely ignoring the beginning of his comment, I said. “My brother knows I’m not home.”

“Right, well I’ll take you home after breakfast.”

“No,” I started. “I need to go home now. My parents are going to wake up within the hour. David they’re going to kill me if I’m not home. Can you take me home? Please?” I added, giving him a very inexperienced puppy dog face. I felt ashamed that I resorted to begging for just a ride home.

David watched my expression for a second before he began laughing hysterically. “Don’t make that face! It’s hilarious.”

I felt my face drop, but soon after a glare replaced it. “You’re so mean.”

“I know.” He replied, the last of his laughter leaving him.

“Can you please take me home now?”

“Fine, but I still want my breakfast.”

I felt an irritated sigh build up in me. “Do you really have to do this now? Okay, how about we make a deal? If you get me home within thirty minutes, I’ll…uh,” I paused thinking of a good proposal.

“You’ll make my lunch for the entire month?” David suggested.

“Yeah,” I agreed, without really paying attention to his suggestion until it finally sunk in. “Wait? What? A whole month! That’s a long time!”

“You already said yes, so I’ll be waiting.” He grinned, running his hand through his unruly hair.

“Fine, whatever. Now can we go?”

“Yup, let me get my keys.” David stood from the couch and started heading towards his room, mumbling something along the lines of, “free lunch, free lunch for a whole month.”

A few minutes later, David emerged from his room with a new set of clothes, his keys twirling around his index finger. He started heading towards the front door when he noticed me still sitting lamely on his carpeted floor. Shooting a smirk at me, he walked around his couch and held a hand out to me.

Making sure my eyes didn’t connect with his, I grabbed it, letting him pull me up on my foot. Like I did last night, I began hopping towards the front door, letting most of my body weight lean on him. As soon as we were out of his door, David lifted me up again. This time I didn’t protest, mostly because I wanted to get home as soon as possible, but I was also sort of getting used to his arms around me.

The trip to his car didn’t take very long, and before I knew it we were off.

“How’s your ankle? It looks pretty bad still.” David said, eyeing it.

“It’s okay. I’ll make up an excuse to make my parents take to the doctor’s today or something.”

He grunted in agreeing with my idea.

I played with my fingers nervously, glancing up at David every other minute. “David?”

“Hmm?”

“…Thanks,” I finally said, my voice barely audible.

Surprise seemed to shoot through his features before it disappeared all together. “For what?”

“For taking care of me last night. I know you woke up about every hour to check on me.”

“You were dreaming. I didn’t do that.” He said dismissively. I was sure I could see a faint tint of pink shade his cheeks.

Was he embarrassed?

We didn’t say anything else to each other on the way to my house. I knew he didn’t need any directions on how to get to my house since I lived next to Taylor. For a moment, I wondered briefly about her. Does she know I didn’t take her home? Does that mean she’s going to expose my picture to the whole school’s population? What am I going to do if she does?

I gulped down a dry lump in my throat, shoving the revolting thoughts to the back of my mind. I didn’t want to dwell on that subject right now. I had more important issues to deal with at this moment. Like getting home.

I stared out the window, eyeing the sky sleepily. The sun was rising higher and higher every minute. The blue sky had strips of pink, red, and orange in it, creating a very beautiful sunrise. I let myself lean my head against the window as I closed my eyes, feeling the smooth movements of the car beneath me.

Realizing that I was beginning to fall asleep, I opened my eyes, fighting the feeling, and glanced at David. I thought I could feel his eyes on me as I looked out the window again. More the most part, I ignored it until I realized he kept watching me. I could feel myself twitch nervously from his eyes.

Finally, I turned my head to him and snapped. “Could you stop staring at me?”

Another grin crossed his lips after receiving my look. “I wasn’t staring.”

“Really?” I inquired dubiously.

“Yep.”

The end of our conversation was clipped short as I noticed my house at the end of the cul-de-sac. Relief and worry spread through me like wildfire. Hopefully, my parents weren’t awake yet. If they were, I was going to have a hard time explaining this whole situation to them, and I bet they’d get a kick out of the part out the story when I ran away from the police.

David’s car rolled to a gentle stop in front of my house. I let out a sigh and realized that last night had been the longest night of my entire life. It was like my life had been completely flipped over from the events that happened in just twenty-four hours. I had literally just snuck out of my house, went to a high school beach party, played a game of Spin the Bottle, and ran away from the police.

I felt so guilty, but at the same time exhilarated. Despite the negatives, I kind of had fun last night.

As I wrapped my mind into my thoughts, I didn’t realize David had gotten out of the car, until my door opened. I jumped from the sudden movement, but relaxed as I saw David stretching out his arms toward me. It was almost weird how I let him carry me without a moment’s hesitation now.

He began walking towards my front door, but I stopped him. “Can you take me over there?” I asked, pointing to my open bedroom window.

“Why there?”

“That’s my bedroom. I don’t want to wake my parents up if they aren’t already awake.” I replied.

He shrugged heading off in that direction instead. David set me down on the grass as he hoisted himself up the window sill.

“Here, give me your hand.” He said, lowering his hand down so I could grab it easily.

I did as he said and let my pale, small hand slip into his tan, larger one. In one swift movement I felt my body being lifted off the ground. My foot touched the floor of my bedroom and I smiled. I was home, finally.

“Thanks,” I smiled at David.

David watched me for a second before he returned the smile. I felt something in my tummy flutter when I saw that new look on his face. His smile was genuine, it wasn’t teasing or irritating. It was just a simple, plain smile.

I cleared my throat, awkwardly, catching myself staring at him. “So, uh, you can go now.” I gestured towards the window.

I limped to my bed and sat down on the fluffy mattress, expecting David to leave any second now. However, as seconds ticked by, David didn’t move. Instead, a smirk met my gaze.

I groaned, already becoming used to the feeling that came with the curl of his lips.

“What now?” I inquired, giving David a flat look.

He shrugged. “I don’t want to leave yet.”

“What? Why not? You have to leave. Like now.” I added, when he began walking around my room.

“I will in a few minutes.”

“No, not in a few minutes now—Hey! Stop looking through my stuff!” I demanded my face flaming as he began rifling through my underwear drawer.

“Calm down, Lyn.” He shushed me, closing my underwear drawer with a sly grin. “You don’t want to wake up your parents now do you?”

I glared at him, pointing to my window. “Get. Out. Now.”

I knew another remark was going to come from David, but the sound of my creaking door opening stopped us dead in our tracks. I shot a panicked look to David, when another figure entered my room.

“Lyn is that you? Where th—“ My brother stopped mid-sentence when his eyes landed on David.

Landon’s eyes narrowed in on David. A scowl filled my older brother’s features, his harsh glare reaching his eyes.

I could swear my heart stopped.