It was 2:00am when Annette finally found her way up the ladder to the narrow window of her room, stopping one step under the window when she heard the sound of Beth's laugh. She looked around to try and find where the sound of laughter was coming from because surely it wasn't coming from her bedroom, to her knowledge, Beth was in there alone and sleeping. After spinning her head in every direction, the only place to look was through her window which Annette dreaded, she knew Joe was in there and she knew Beth was too pleasant and lenient to kick him out. She climbed up the last step of the ladder and tried to see past the smudges in her window to make out what was happening. There was Joe with his stuffed giraffe sitting about 4 feet from her bed in the sleeping bag he brought to summer camp and never washed. Beth was where she left her, on Annette's bed, sat crisscrossed, perfect posture, hair in a neat ponytail and her glasses lied perfectly on her face.
"What the..." Annette whispered to herself, why was her annoying little brother (who, on top of that, was a freshman) with her perfect pleased best friend (not to mention she was a senior)? Annette listened carefully to make out what was being said to try and figure out what the hell was going on but it was futile. Beth was already making Joe leave the room and pretending to go back to sleep, she had heard the branches on the tree that Annette was next to. Even though she was still extremely curious as to what was happening, she couldn't show it when she climbed the rest of the ladder into her room. Annette tapped on the glass quietly, knowing Beth was awake but also knowing her parents were asleep, to get Beth to open the locked window.
Although Annette laughed upon Beth's lying skills, she envied her acting skills. If she hadn't just seen Beth wide awake with Joe, she would've actually believed that she was just waking up, she portrayed the situation too well for Annette's liking.
"I thought we agreed on keeping the window open." Annette interrogated while she wiggled through the window, chipping off another layer of paint when she got in. Her window pane was no longer the baby blue she had painted on when she was 13, it was now all wood from sliding in and out of it and she wouldn't paint it back to get her parents off her tail. ("Too many memories." She would claim.) "It was too cold." Beth said without stuttering because it did get too cold, that wasn't a lie. At one point, she and Joe had squeezed into his sleeping bag together to keep warm but it got too uncomfortable for both of them and they resorted to shutting the window. "I have a heater." Annette mumbled, annoyed that Beth had spent some of the night with Joe and wouldn't admit to it, but she was even more annoyed that she didn't know what happened.
"I have to get home," Beth broke the pause between them and looked over at the clock, 2:07am. "I guarantee my parents are going to check my room tonight." Annette wiggled off her mini skirt and took a deep breath. "Damn I hate that skirt, I forget how to breathe in it." She grabbed her sweatpants off the side of her bed. "They will by the way, I saw Andy at the party." She said as she stripped of her crop top. "You went to David's party? I thought you were going to drive around with Tom." Beth asked, David was ranked low on the popularity chart but could easily get higher if he tried. "Yeah, but there was no one cool there so we ditched it." Annette said and turned around to unclip her bra. "T-shirt?"
"How did Andy get in? He's a sophomore." Beth questioned and threw Annette her torn up Beatles t-shirt that she slept in practically every night. "What can I say? You have a cool brother, but it was a loser party so don't be too impressed." Annette shrugged and put her hair into a bun before rushing to take off her makeup.
Andy is only accepted into the popular jock group because he is the younger brother of the mpgis of the school. You could tell he wasn't comfortable with the jock boys because he never snuck out and when he did, it's in the least affective way possible. When he managed to find his way back through the front door, he sets off the door alarm that not even a dead person could sleep through. Andy might be the coolest in his grade but it's no secret that he is not the brightest.
"Where did I put my cream?" Annette asked, tossing the used tissues off her makeup table after she had cleaned off her face. Beth handed her the bottle off the floor and Annette smiled and put the pink lotion on her pimples. "Thanks for everything, see ya Monday." She said and rolled onto her bed. "Yup, text me everything that happened tomorrow." Beth said and climbed out the window, using the ladder this time. Once her feet hit the ground she immediately turned on her phone, twenty texts from her friends, three from her brother and two from the only person that interested her, Joe.
"i c netty."
"r u out yet"
"I just got out, which window is yours?"
"the one 2 the left of nettys room"
"I took the ladder down, I need you at your window to catch it before it hits the wall when I drop it."
"wut"
"Just open your window."
Beth picked up the ladder and moved it to below Joe's window.
"Are you there?"
"ya"
"I'm letting go, catch it before it hits the wall."
Beth let it go and waited to hear the slam, but instead saw Joe when she looked up waving his hands for her to climb up.
She was greeted by Joe for the second time tonight but this time it was her choice to see him. "Give me a hand." She said and Joe lifted her from under her arms and gently helped her into his room. "Nice room dork." Beth half joked when she saw the Star Wars collection Annette warned her about and endless Minecraft games and toys everywhere. "Thanks, I take pride in it." He said without thought.
Out nowhere a wave of fear and anxiety washed over Beth. "We shouldn't be doing this, I'll- we'll get caught." She tried to dissuade him with a shaky voice so her reputation wouldn't be ruined but he knew this would happen, she had every right to be worried. "It's fine, we won't." Amazing how fine has a completely different meaning has now than it did a few hours ago. "Now where were we?" Joe's voice never raised above a whisper. "You were complaining about sherbet." Beth's photographic memory took over and swept away her fear. "Ah yes, the sad excuse for ice cream." Joe joked, Beth kept her laughter to a minimum but let her comfort shine through her smile.
A door she passed everyday suddenly had a story behind it.
