You Should Have Been Here Yesterday

But Then There's That Guitarist

"There's something I should tell you," Steven said. We were sitting on the steps of my front porch. He was staring down at his hands. "I was only mean to you because I... I liked you."

I turn a bright shade of pink, chuckling nervously. I'm so uncomfortable right now, yet I couldn't be more comfortable at the same time... "Joey and Mick said that," I say.

Steven laughs. "They gave me the idea, too." He glances up at me then sighs. "You still wanna hang out tomorrow?"

His lopsided grin is irresistible. "Of course," I say.

"I'll be over, then," Steven says. "But I should probably get home."

"Yeah..." I say. "See you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," Steven echoes, standing up. His knees pop loudly in the awkward silence, making him shake his head with laughter. I too stand up, and then we're just standing on the front porch awkwardly. I nod curtly, and so does Steven at the same time. "Bye," he says.

"Bye," I repeat. He skips down the steps and turns around at the foot of the driveway to wave goodbye one final time. He doesn't look back as he walks down the sidewalk with a little flounce in his step.

I smile and shake my head, dancing inside and up to my room, still floating on the night's events. I fall backwards onto my bed like a schoolgirl-in-love would do in a stupid chick movie. I close my eyes with a sigh, bringing my fingers to my lips and tracing them where Steven's had been just an hour before. It was late, maybe eleven or so. I was expecting to not be able to fall asleep for hours, but I actually drifted off almost immediately, with a smile on my face.

--

"Gin! What the fuck?!"

"Wait. Where'd you go?!"

"I'm in her room! C'mere!"

"Stop yelling, I'm com-"

"Joey, get your ass in here! Wake her lazy ass up!"

"You say ass too much... I said I was coming..."

Their voices were barely drifting into my consciousness. I keep my eyes closed. "Whoa, she looks like... Like..."

"Like, uh, that girl from the one movie..."

"Yeah," Mick said. "She looks like she's high or something... Like on acid, not..." He trails off again.

"Yeah," Joey breathed back.

"She's so hot," Mick whispered.

"I know," Joey said.

Wait, what? It's all I can do not to get up right now and beat their asses.

"Wait, shh, c'mere," Mick whispered, walking closer to me. I can feel them really close to my face. Somehow through the night I managed to turn myself a complete ninety degrees so that I was laying on the bed like a normal person, and I was also curled on my side. "On three yell her name," Mick said quietly, trying not to laugh. There's nothing funny about that. "One, two-"

But he never got to three. My eyes flew open and apparently scared the shit out of them because they both screamed like little girls and fell back. I sat up slowly, laughing. "Good morning," I said brightly.

Mick and Joey shoved their hands in their pockets, trying to act like they weren't scared. "She's not mad?" Joey asked. "Gin is actually ready to wake up in the morning? She's smiling? Where's Gin and what've you done with her?" he demands of me.