Love Like This

I shivered a bit as the temperature began to drop, wrapping the damp towel I took from the house closer around my shoulders. The only sounds that could be heard as John and I walked away from the party were the sounds of out soaked shoes squishing as our feet hit the pavement.

“I can’t believe you made me leave the party.” John groaned after a few more moments of silence.

“I did no such thing.” I huffed defiantly, “Your brother is the one who said you need to come with me.”

“Only because you’re the only one who wanted to leave and you couldn’t go alone.” John argued. I looked up at him and if I wasn’t so angry I would have laughed. His hair was an absolute mess as it was drying, the curls were going wild. It was no wonder he always wore a beanie, his hair had a mind of its own.

“Let’s not forget the only reason I was soaking wet in the first place is because of you.” I smirked triumphantly as silence resumed between us on our walk back to my house. I was still smiling to myself as a soft fabric flew over me and landed on my head, “What the hell?” I shouted as I untangled myself from it, “What’s wrong with you John?”

“You’re cold.” He shrugged as he folded his arms over his chest and continued walking forward. I looked down at the mess of cloth in my hands and realized it was his hoodie. It was still relatively dry since John only put it on after we got out of the pool, and it was really warm so I graciously pulled my arms through the sleeves and zipped it up as I caught back up with John.

“Thanks.” I muttered quietly. Even if I couldn’t stand the boy, I thought I might as well be polite since he let me borrow his jacket.

“Don’t mention it.” He snapped as we rounded a corner and headed up the road to my house on the corner.

“I won’t.” I retorted dryly. Our moment of being nice to each other was brief as we both wanted to forget about it as quickly as possible.

“Good.” He rolled his eyes as we walked onto the front steps of my house. It looked as if he was going to say something, but before he could the door whipped open.

“SIERRA NICOLE DALES!” My mother screamed as she pulled me into a huge hug. She didn’t even seem to notice I was wet, “It has been far too long, honey. Come inside.” I was pushed inside the house and was expecting her to turn around and continue talking, but she walked further outside and began yelling down the driveway, “John, get your scrawny ass in here before I call your mother and tell her you’ve been drinking underage!”

I rolled my eyes knowing that my mother was going to force John and I to spend quality time together with her, so I hurried down the hallway to my room and stripped out of my wet clothes, throwing them into a pile on the floor next to my bed. I opened my suitcase and began fishing around for some comfortable clothes and finally settled on a pair of yellow shorts and a tie-dye sweatshirt that said “California” across the front.

Accepting my hair as it was, still damp but starting to dry into its naturally wavy state, I ventured out into the living room where my mother and John were both sitting and drinking coffee.

“There she is!” My mother squealed as I sat down on the couch across from them, stretching out my legs, “So tell me everything about Detroit with your father!”

I shrugged my shoulders and bit my lip as I thought about my life back there, “Umm… I didn’t really do much, just school and work mostly.”

“Any boys?” She winked suggestively as she leaned in closer, ready to soak up every word I was about to say. My eyes flickered to John who looked away quickly when I looked in his direction.

“There was for a while… but we just sort of broke it off because it wasn’t really working out.” I admitted.

“Why not?” My mother asked, “Was he not good in bed or something?”

“Mom!” I shouted as my face turned bright red. John choked on his coffee as we both looked at my mom in shock.

“What?” She grinned, “It’s a legitimate question.”

“He just wasn’t exactly the kind of guy I was looking for.” I closed my eyes and leaned further back into the couch.

“So the sex was good?” My mother raised a brow.

“Yes, the sex was good!” I shouted as I covered my face with a pillow, “Stop asking now please.”

“That’s all I needed to know.” She smirked and winked at John whose face was as red as a tomato.

"And with that traumatizing conversation, I think it's about time to call it a night." I said as I stood up and smoothed out my wrinkled sweatshirt, "Goodnight everyone."

"Goodnight." They both replied in unison, one voice certainly more welcoming than the other.



I awoke with a sharp pain in my stomach. I let out a gasp as my eyes fluttered open to see a very concerned and very hungover brother sitting on top of me.

“Brian, get off of me.” I demanded as I tried to push him away. I was not strong enough obviously as he barely moved.

“No.” Brian shushed me, “And stop being so loud, my head is throbbing.”

“OH YOU WANT ME TO WHISPER?” I shouted. I burst into a fit of giggled as Brian winced and grabbed his head, “BRIAN LOGAN DALES WANTS ME TO BE QUIET WORLD!”

“SIERRA!” I heard Jess groan next to me. I looked over right as she threw a pillow at my head, “Stop yelling at start making that hangover remedy you were so famous for in high school.”

“Oh, so that’s why you let me hang around all you older kids in high school.” I laughed as I sat up and got out of bed once Brian finally decided that it was okay for me to get up. The only reason he did probably was because I was going to help cure his hangover.

I walked out of my bedroom and down the hallway to the living room and let out a short gasp. Bottles of alcohol were everywhere, on the coffee table, the floor and even in between couch cushions. In the midst of the mess were three boys I recognized passed out and wearing barely any clothes at all.

“I don’t even think I want to know.” I shook my head as I stepped over Stephen’s head and continued to the kitchen. I went to the fridge and grabbed a few eggs, some spinach, oranges, hot sauce, and a few other ingredients to put on the counter. I went into the cabinet and pulled out the blender and saw a very groggy looking John sitting on the counter next to my food.

“Good morning.” John yawned before he let out a long belch.

“You’re disgusting.” I sneered as I began to put all of the ingredients into the blender, “What happened here after I went to bed?”

“They all found a ride home or called a cab or something, I don’t really know. But after they got here we all just kept drinking and partying until we all passed out.

“I’m sorry I missed it.” I said sarcastically before I turned the blender on. John hopped off the counter and covered his ears in pain until I stopped. I couldn’t help but to laugh as he scowled at me and muttered about how much of a bitch I was before he left the room.

I got out five glasses and poured the mixture into them just as Josh and Jess walked into the room.

“What is this?” Josh asked as he stared into the glass that Jess had already almost finished.

“Only the best hangover remedy to ever exist.” Jess answered as she put down the empty glass, “Just drink it already and quit asking questions.”

“It smells disgusting.” Josh said as he stuck his nose into the glass, “Are you sure this is even safe to drink?”

“You won’t know until you try it.” I shrugged, “What’s life without a couple of risks?”

“Cheers.” Josh grinned before he began chugging the drink down. When he finished it, his face was green, “That was the grossest thing I have ever ingested, and I have drunk my own pee before.”

“But you feel better already, right?” Jess asked just as Brian, Stephen and John scrambled into the room to drink theirs as well.”

“Surprisingly… I do!” Josh cheered, “You’re a miracle worker Sierra. Thank you!” He grinned and pulled me in for a hug. I laughed as Brian complained about boys touching his sister again.

“Brian chill out or I will have sex with him right in front of you.” I threatened lightly, just trying to get a reaction out of Brian.

“Brian please don’t chill out.” Josh pleaded with a grin as I hit his chest playfully.

“I’m going to go get ready for the day.” I scowled, “When I get back you better all be ready to show me a good time, because so far Scottsdale has sucked.”