Drowning

Chapter 4:

Within a few minutes, Aiden bounded out of the house towards my car. His baggy jeans were blowing in the wind as he ran towards us. I was amazed he could move his legs that fast and not lose his pants. He moved to the passenger door and opened it, leaning down inside the door with his perfectly white smile. His auburn hair was styled perfectly in his usual spiked messy way that looked like he just got out of bed. Aiden always dressed like he was ready for a photo shoot for a rock album.

"Geez." He said, looking down at her. "She's smashed."

"I know." I sighed. "Can you carry her upstairs to the spare room to sleep it off?"

"Our new guitarist is staying there now, no spares left in the house. You two can crash in my room and I can take the couch tonight." He offered.

"Thanks." I smiled at him.

Aiden was a charming guy. He was my absolute favorite out of JD's friends. I had known him for as long as I could remember. He used to sleepover at my parent's house when JD still lived at home. JD would fall asleep and Aiden and I would stay up all night watching movies and telling stories. I used to have a little crush on Aiden when I was around twelve. He was handsome and kind. He never made it feel like I was a burden when I was tagging along. I grew out of the silly little crush a few years ago, but he still was fun to be around.

Aiden moved in to slide his hands under Brynn's passed out body. He lifted her thin body from the car seat effortlessly. I turned off the ignition and hopped out of the car. I went to the trunk and pulled out my bag to bring it into the house with us. When I closed the trunk, I looked over at Aiden and caught him staring at me. His eyes looked my tight white lace dress up and down before turning his head to do the same to Brynn. I rolled my eyes. I didn't need a reminder of how much hotter Brynn was than me. Even if it was just Aiden doing the assessment, it made me feel self-conscious about my appearance.

"What's up with the dresses?" He asked quizzically. A small smile began to form on his face.

"Graduation." I rolled my eyes at him again and wished I had changed before coming here. The house was a ripped-up jeans and holey t-shirt kind of place. I would have been better off in sweatpants than formal attire.

Aiden laughed at me. He had probably seen me dressed up only once or twice since we had known each other. I didn't think I looked funny in my dress. Aiden was killing my self-esteem tonight. I thought I had looked nice. The white lace was delicate and hit my curves softly. I was going for sophisticated and maybe a little bit more mature. I felt so flustered that I wanted to turn around and climb back in the car.

"Why are you laughing?" I asked him, starting to grow more agitated by the second. "Is it that bad?"

"No, no. You look incredible." He said, still laughing. I felt a small blush on my cheeks when he complimented me. "I'm just imagining her on one of my shoulders, the devil in the red dress and you on the other, the innocent angel in white."

"How did your brain come up with that?" I shook my head and started to laugh with him.

"Not sure. I bet it would make a great album cover." He laughed again.

I hurried around the car and shut the passenger door as he carried Brynn up the steps to the house. I ran up past him and pulled open the screen door for him. He stepped inside the old house and started walking towards the stairs. He cut the corner to the stairs too sharply and bumped Brynn's head hard against the wall. She grumbled something about potatoes and bacon bits and immediately went back to sleep. Aiden and I both stopped and looked at each other. We were cracking up by the time we got to the top of the stairs.

I made my way down the hall to Aiden's room. I had spent many nights in Aiden's room when I had stayed over here. None of those nights were actually with Aiden, of course. Our relationship was not like that. I felt completely at home here. I turned on the light and crossed the room to pull back the covers on the unmade bed. Aiden placed Brynn's limp body on the bed gently like he was afraid she would break.

I looked around his room and shook my head. His room was messy, which was normal for Aiden. His clothes were thrown around everywhere in piles. Half of his room was still in boxes like he had never really moved in. For someone who always looked so put together, Aiden was a slob.

"Nothing changes." I whispered as I bent down and began taking off her heels. The straps were giving me a fit. Why did she always have to buy these complicated shoes?

"Huh?" Aiden asked, looking at me in confusion.

"You still don't know how to clean your room. I thought your Mom taught you better than that." I stood up with one shoe in my hand and shook the heel in his direction.

"Cleanliness stunts my creative artist soul." He said, batting his eyelashes. He placed his hands on his chest like he was offended.

I rolled my eyes at his comment. "We wouldn't want to harm your chance for stardom by folding your clothes and putting them in a drawer."

"Not a risk I am willing to take." He smiled at me and looked down at his feet like he was kicking an imaginary rock on the floor. I covered my mouth with my hand to stifle the giggles. I didn't want to wake Brynn up from laughing too hard at the silly boy. I always found myself laughing at Aiden's jokes, even if they were not that good.

I finished taking off Brynn's other shoe and pulled the covers back over her. She was sound asleep and it was probably best if we left her to sleep the intoxication away. I made sure she was propped up on her side in case she would happen to throw up.  I would have to come back up and check on her in a little bit. I started to walk out of the room and Aiden followed behind me, pausing briefly to shut off the light. He closed the door and we headed back down the stairs to go see the rest of the band.