Sing For Me

Chapter Twenty-Four: Surprise!

I'm not completely unaccustomed to being woken by the sound of screaming. I mean – I live with practically the most excitable human on the planet – but something about the tone of this one has me jumping out of bed faster than I've ever moved before.

I snatch up the tangled bed sheet from my floor and throw it around me to cover myself before sprinting to my bedroom door.

"Ummm, hi?"

The first thing I see when I open the door is Tim, wearing only boxer briefs and emerging from the bathroom. He has his hands placed over his crotch, protecting the little dignity he has left.

The second thing I see is Abbey. Her face has gone sheet white and she opens and closes her mouth like a fish. She's mumbling something that sounds like oh my god over and over under her breath, and her eyes are as wide and as wild as the ocean.

I clear my throat, putting my hands up in a calming gesture between the two. "Um... okay, now.... Nobody freak out."

"F-f-freak out?!" Abbey squeaks. "Is that – is he – is you? Did... how...?"

Because my room is closer to the bathroom than Abbey's, I'm standing like a barrier in between the two. I inch slowly over to Abbey and Tim inches behind me up the hallway, heading for the safety of my room.

"Words, Abbey. Words." I say, patting her shoulder. She still hasn't looked at me, her gaze tracking only Tim.

Hot damn this is tense and awkward.

"Did he... Did he stay the night?" Abbey looks at me, her eyes practically bugging right out of her perfectly flawless face. She looks like a spooky, bugged-out porcelain doll. I bite down on my lower lip, trying hard not to giggle.

Of course – as if on schedule, it's at that exact moment that Trix emerges from the other end of the hallway – supermodel as ever. Her eyes go wide for a second before she recovers her composure and rolls them. She snorts air out her nose before turning right around. "Nope. Not today, Satan," she says, "I have too much shit to do. I don't have time to deal with – just whatever is going in in that hallway." She flails her arm behind her, indicating to the three of us, before she heads right back into the kitchen.

Tim slowly opens my bedroom door and sneaks in. He clears his throat and speaks before he finally finishes his retreat. "Um, good morning, Abs. Meg." He nods, acknowledging the both of us before he slowly closes the door behind himself.

As soon as he's out of view, a high-pitched squeal escapes from Abbey. "Oh. My. God! He did stay here last night!"

I put my hands up defensively. "Okay, yes maybe he did but, just, like, calm it down about a bajillion levels before he runs out of here, okay?"

I feel butterflies starting to pool in my stomach. Because, yes. Tim did totally stay here last night – but now I feel like I'm completely out of my depth. I've never spent the night with anyone at the apartment.

And what was appropriate early-morning, post-staying-the-night dialogue with a worldwide superstar? Thanks, I had a great time, see you, like, probably never seeing as you're leaving town tomorrow?

Sheesh, this whole situation was crazier than words – and Abbey was only making it worse.

Abs jumps up and down excitedly beside me. "Oh my god I can't believe"—she stops abruptly—"Oh, no. No, no no. I think I'm going to pee myself! Or be sick! Or both!"

She rushes toward the bathroom, but turns when she gets to the bathroom door, her legs crossed over each other. She's jumping up and down in what could only be a motion to keep the liquid from spilling out of her bladder for a few second longer.