When He Leaves - R. Cameron

20 𝑖 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟

𝑖 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑢𝑡
𝑖 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟

summer of '20

                 Rory woke up in a sweat— her hair was sticking to the back of her neck and she had to kick the blanket off of top of her. She huffed and rubbed her hands down her face, looking over at her phone that was buzzing on her nightstand. She looked at the time, seeing that it was midnight and Lily had called her three times in the last couple minutes. "Hey. What's wrong?" She asked after answering the call.

              "What are you doing at the moment?" Lily asked in a way that made her nervous.

                She cleared her throat and sat up, pulling her hair off the back of her damp neck. "Nothing. I was sleeping. I went to bed early." She explained and covered her mouth through a yawn. She was still exhausted and wanted to lay back down, but she knew her body and mind would fight the sleep.

              "There's a party. A college guy invited me and said I could bring friends. He even gave me his number and texted me the address. He actually seemed really nice." She laughed and then was silent for a moment. "Would you come with me? I don't want to go alone."

                "I don't know—"

               Lily groaned. "We can go swimming after, or you could come over and spend the night. We can do anything you want after as long as we stay for at least thirty minutes."

                "Okay. Sounds good. I can drive us. Just let me get ready and then I'll be over there." She said and then they ended the call after her fiend thanked her over and over.

                  Rory stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom and sighed, looking at the prominent dark circles and the redness in her eyes. She groaned and closed her eyes before turning on the shower and washing the sticky sweat that clung to her body. She felt more refreshed after and changed into a plain bikini before throwing a brown cropped tank on and a white midi skirt that clung to her hips. She quickly brushed her teeth, knowing she was running late and towel dried her hair before running a brush through.

              She had finally got to that tan where she felt pretty enough without makeup, so instead of wasting anymore time, she shoved her feet in sandals and walked out the door to get in her jeep and head to Lily's house. Her hair had halfway dried with the windows being down by the time she got there, curling messily around her face. She finger combed through it as she waited for Lily to come out which was fast, the girl practically sprinting to the passenger side with a grin.

              "Well, didn't you just have to outdo me? I look like I rolled out of bed compared to you." Lily remarked and crossed her arms over her chest, looking her up and down as she backed out to the driveway.

              Rory rolled her eyes. "Well that's pretty much what I did, besides from the shower I had to take. And you look beautiful, you alway do, Lily." And she wasn't lying. The girl always looked made up, even in pajamas. The tank top and expensive cut off shorts she had on were anything but dressed down. "So where is this place again?"

             "It's in Figure 8. I'll tell you which house it is when we come up on it." She said and looked at the Maps on her phone, responding to a text, most likely the guy that invited them to the party. "Apparently John B's dad is missing. Have you heard anything about it at the restaurant?"