Troubled

19: Memories.

Megan Crawford.
Friday, July 31st 2015.
00:19.

Kyle had not gone to The Book Escape in the morning, but I still got a chance to see him that night.

He called me at around midnight, when I was in my room, under the sheets of my bed and with earphones in, listening to soft music as I went through my phone. I was wearing pink pajamas with sheep on them, I was about to go to sleep. But then my ringtone went off, and his name appeared on my screen with a red heart beside it.

I replied with a smile on my lips, talking into the speaker of my earphones in a quiet tone, "Do you know what time is, Norwood?"

"I sure do, Crawford," he said, the sound of his voice made me grin, all alone, in the darkness of my room. I took my bottom lip between my teeth to hold back from screeching from how amazing it was to be speaking with him. "Don't tell me you were asleep."

"Not really," I admitted, but it was still strange that he was calling at this time, since he knew I had to work in a few hours. I was actually supposed to be sleeping in that moment, but I had not been too tired, which was the reason I had been listening to The Beatles sing All You Need Is Love. Of course, that was before Kyle interrupted me.

He was quiet for a moment, and I took this as a chance to tease him for leaving me alone in The Book Escape in the morning. I said in a defensive manner, "You know, you never showed up at the store earlier. I had to deal with Olivia on my own and she would not shut up."

"Sorry, princess," he said, seeming to really feel bad for the fact that he had not spent time with me, which I found quite sweet of him. He explained, kind of embarrassed, "I woke up at noon and I assumed you had already gone home by that time. But I am about to make it up to you."

"And what makes you think I will forgive you just like that?" I wondered, wanting to push his buttons as much as I could just to bother him for a bit. "I really was looking forward to seeing you, but you stood me up. What a terrible boyfriend you are."

"I know, I know, I wanted to see you too," he confessed to me, making my smirk turn even wider, if that was possible. And then, when he spoke up again, I could not hold back a squeal of excitement. He said, "And that is why I'm outside your house."

"Really?" I exclaimed.

"Really," Kyle said, sounding as if he was holding back from laughing at how glad I was to know that he was there, and to be honest, I was not even ashamed to admit that I really thought it was wonderful that he was outside, because I had missed him all day.

"You know, I was going to throw pebbles at your window and be all romantic. But I cannot seem to figure out which one is your room," he said. I lived in quite a small house –white and blue, with a kitchen, a living room, two bathrooms, and four bedrooms– and mine was the last one down the hallway.

I rolled my eyes, standing up from my bed as I held my phone in my hand and kept my earphones on. I started to tug down the sleeves of my sweatshirt as I walked towards the light switch. Then, I made my way towards the window above my white wooden desk and in front of my bed. I said to him, "Last one on the right. I just turned on the lights."

I pushed the curtains open and looked out at the street. I was surprised to find that Kyle really was there. He had parked his red car in front of my house, the headlights were off and he had his back pressed against the hood. He had a cigarette between his fingers as he kept his phone close to his ear. I watched him turn to my room, and when he saw me standing there, his lips twisted into a smile. He walked forward, towards my front yard, and soon, he was below my window.