Bail | LRH

chapter 21: sledding

Adrian Casey

I had been sleeping for about two hours or so when I was woken up by the sound of my phone ringing. I grabbed the device from my nightstand and squinted my eyes as I read the glowing screen in my hand that was the only source of light in my room, finding that I was on the receiving end of a call Luke was trying to initiate.

"Hello?" I croaked out with a dry throat, still somewhat disoriented from being woken up. I wasn't sure if I was in a dream or if this was real life.

"Adrian, meet me outside your house in five minutes" Luke said quickly. I could hear the rustling in the background along with some faint voices and some commotion happening which sounded like he was moving around a lot for some reason.

"Luke?" I asked, still unsure what was happening. "What? What are you talking about it's–" I paused as I yawned into the phone and rubbed my eyes trying to readjust them to the darkness. "It's like two in the morning."

"Okay and? Please just come meet me outside, you won't regret it. I promise."

I won't lie, I was intrigued at what this boy was conjuring up at this hour, though I wanted to desperately drop my head back into my fluffy pillow and close my eyes for the rest of the night, I found myself throwing my comforter off of my body and heading over to my dresser to grab a pair of socks, and sliding my vans onto my feet before pulling an orange beanie over my head.

I had to quietly tiptoe out of my room to make it over to the stairs. I would have to pass my parent's room on the way to the front door and I would never hear the end of it if they caught me sneaking out. I was never one to break the rules, and I had never been grounded before because there was just nothing in my life to ever really get me in trouble, but I was not about to break that streak now.

The entire house was dark, and I could only make out the outlines of objects in my surroundings like picture frames or the furniture in the living room. I walked down the stairs slowly and carefully trying not to put my full weight down since there was an off chance that the stairs would creak beneath my feet and blow my cover. I held my breath the entire time, and finally made it to the front door.

I stood at the front door for a minute or so with my hand glued to the doorknob. I hesitated opening it as my head turned to look back at the stairs contemplating whether I should just walk back up to my room and go back to sleep, or if I should find out what this night has in store for me.

"Live a little Adrian, what's the worst that could happen?" I encouraged myself as I took a deep breath and pulled the door open and walked out into the cold winter night.

I stood outside wrapping my arms around myself trying to create some warmth after I realized I was only wearing a long sleeve shirt and some sweatpants. I turned back to head inside and grab a sweater or zip-up jacket when I was stopped in my tracks by the sound of a car pulling into my driveway with the headlights off.

I couldn't tell who was driving the car, and I knew for a fact that it wasn't Luke's, so I skeptically took a step backward trying to create some sort of distance between me and this car when the driver rolls their window down.

"Adrian!" Michael whisper-yelled, sticking his head out of the window.

I cock my head to the side and stroll over to the side of the car, laying my arms on the base of the window frame and looking into the car to see Luke sitting in the passenger seat, and Ashton and Calum comfortably situated in the back. "What's with the late night rendezvous?"

"We're going sledding!" Ashton yells as he lunges forward, appearing in between Michael and Luke to make eye contact with me. The three other boys shush him and tell him to keep it down before he wakes someone up. "So get in the car, let's go" he continues, whispering this time.