He Left Sparkles in his Wake

Sleepovers and Sunrises

(This chapter comes directly after Dude Looks Like a Lady. And she's a long chapter. Hooray!)

Richard suppressed all of the emotions that tried to sway him, although he was crying, and quickly cleaned his room. The Shane Hates Us Club had planed to have a sleepover that night; there was no way that he was going to tell Cake about what happened with the Normal Boots Club. She would probably injure people. At least, if that had happened to Cake he would have gone and attacked them. A pleasant sounding knock startled Richard out of his cleaning spree. He dried his eyes and forced a smile while letting the girl in. Her smile was sweet and appeared honest; her eyes sparkled with joy. As soon as the door was closed and she had set her things down, she noticed how red his eyes were.

"Bean, what's wrong?" She asked and cracked her knuckles preemptively. Richard rubbed his eyes and tried to think of something that wouldn't get Jon or Shane killed.

"I got some dust in my eyes!" He exclaimed emotionally. Cake seemed to buy it as they sat down on the floor to start the first ever Shane Hates Us Club sleepover. It started with some terrible jokes that got Richard a few punches in response. He would probably never tell her, but Cake hit hard! After the tension in the room, and Dingus' shoulder, had dissipated they started asking each other questions for the fun of it. "Name of your best friend on three." He finally decided to state.

"One. Two. Three. Jimmy Whetzel!" They cheered in unison. Their chuckling was disrupted by Richard's phone going off.

"Ah! Sorry! Sorry about that. I should have turned it off before the meeting started." He apologized and bowed his head to read the screen.

Jared- Hey. Sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have raised my voice.

Rich- It's fine. I'm just a doofus.

Bedazzled Booty- You are not. So, do you have plans tonight?

Richard- I'm in a club meeting now, but I can sneak out and see you later?

Richard- I mean, if you even want to meet up later.

Jared- Of course. I want to show you something, but it will have to be pretty late.

Jared- Meet me in front of Bluebell at 12:15

Wonder bread- But you need your beauty sleep! It can't be THAT important.

Jared- I won't take no for an answer! I don't have class tomorrow; It's a "study day"

Richard- ok. Me too, so I guess I'll see you then Dream Boat.

As soon as Richard typed the last two words, he shut his phone off and covered his hot face with his hands. "Are you ever just...dumb? You know when you do something and immediately regret it type of dumb?" He asked through his hands. The look he managed to get from Cake was one of confusion and interest.

"What happened?" She asked slowly and sat her own phone down.

"I said something really embarrassing to a friend and I feel like a huge idiot." He groaned and messed with the beads of his bracelet to try and distract him.

"What did you say and to who?" She inquired with a grin and scooted closer. Richard couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth; last time he had mentioned Jared, Cake had gotten really upset. She looked pretty all the time, even when she was upset or angry, but he didn't want her to be sad. The Shane Hates Us Club is about good times only!

"My friend Leo. I was telling them about the time I fell down the stairs as a kid and it was so humiliating!" Richard lied. His mouth was starting to taste sour from the lies, but it was worth it to him if it ment that Cake was happy. The night continued on with laughs and pleasent conversation until they decided to call it a night as the clock crept past 11:45. Richard turned off the lights and snuggled under his blanket while Cake nestled into her sleeping bag.