Chapter 9: Drunken Confessions (Or Are They?)

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"You said Jen..." Jennifer frowned. "Hey, I know you! You're the guy I like!"

I choked. "Wait, what? You like me?"

"Did I say that out loud?" She gasped.

"Yeah..." I said slowly.

"Oh, shoot!" She facepalmed.

I grabbed her hand. "Well? Is it true?"

She hesitated, biting her lip. "I can't tell. I already said too much," She told me with complete seriousness. I bit back a laugh, knowing it would offend her in her drunken state.

"C'mon let's get you home," I offered.

Jennifer's eyes opened wide. "No! My mom can't see me drunk! I can't go home now!"

"But midnight..."I protested.

"Damn it, she said midnight?! Gosh, if only she had said twelve. Then I could have told her I thought she meant noon!"

That time I laughed.

I put my arm around Jen's shoulders to keep her steady, and she stiffened at first. I started to take my arm away, but Jennifer grabbed my hand and pulled it back down around herself.

"No, keep it there, I like it," She said, then slapped a hand over her mouth. I smiled, and a laugh escaped my lips. "I mean, I'm gonna fall over if I try to walk."

"Here you go, princess," I said, opening the car door and helping her inside. I locked the door and shut it, crossing to the driver's side. Jennifer was trying to buckle, at least she still had the sense to do that, but the buckle and the seatbelt weren't clicking, weren't touching. I reached over and did it for her. "There."

"Thanks, prince," Jennifer said, a wide smile on her face.

"Prince?" I asked, bewildered.

"Yeah, you called me a princess. So you must be my prince," She reasoned. I raised my eyebrows but turned to the steering wheel.

"So where do you want to go, then?" I asked her. "My house?"

She bounced in her seat. "Okay! I like your house!" She acted really strange when she was drunk.

I laughed, turning the key in the ignition. "Glad to hear that." I pulled out into the street and turned through the streets that led to my house. Parking my car in the driveway, I looked over to Jen, to find her asleep. I smiled at her innocent face. I stepped out of the car and around to Jennifer's side, but she was a deep sleeper. I undid her seatbelt and picked up, carrying her to the door. About halfway up the walkway, her eyelids fluttered sleepily at me, a small smile crossing her face.

"Am I flying?" She asked dreamily.

"Yeah, Jen, you are," I lied, walking to the door. I put her feet on the ground and fished out my keys, opening the door. Jen had gone back to sleep, so I picked her back up and carried her inside, down to my room. I set her down on my bed, planning on crashing on the couch in the other room. I started to get up, but Jennifer grabbed my wrist.

"No don't leave me!" She cried. A couple tears dripped down her cheeks. "I'm scared of the dark. Stay here with me," She kept crying, and I panicked. I had no idea what to do with a crying girl. And my mom might hear and get the wrong idea.

"Okay, Jen, please don't cry, c'mon, I'll stay here," Just until she falls asleep. I added to myself.

She wiped her tears and sat up. "I need a hug."

...Okay... I scooted forwards and wrapped my arms around her, and she immediately responded, squeezing me a little. My heart pounded against my rib cage, and I almost let go, but heard my mom's voice in my head. Never be the first to let go, you never know how much they might need it. So I kept my arms around her, until she at last pulled away, kissing my cheek gently. Tingles shot through my spine, and I stared at her, open mouthed.

"Hey, I wanna go to sleep," She said, making puppy dog eyes at me.

"Okay, go ahead," I told her, smiling.

"Don't leave," She whimpered. "You promised."

I did?

She lay down and closed her eyes, but every time I moved to get up, she would open her eyes or roll over, and I would have to sit back down next to her.

I guess I eventually fell asleep, because I woke to sunlight glaring in my eyes, sprawled across the foot of my bed. Jennifer was awake, too, groaning and holding her head.

"Where am I? What happened?" She asked, wincing. Then she caught sight of me. "I was drunk, wasn't I?"

I nodded. "Don't worry, you're just at my house because you didn't want your mom to see you drunk, nothing happened, really, you were dancing at the party so we left, then you fell asleep."

"Did I do anything too dumb?" She asked worriedly.

Sugarcoat it? Eh. "Not really, although you did call me your prince. And then when I put you in the bed, you begged me not to leave. You cried." I smirked. "And then you asked for a hug. You act really dumb when you're drunk, like a little kid. Cute."

Jennifer smacked her leg with a fist. "Damn! Callie always says I get really clingy when I'm drunk!"

"Hey, it's almost time for school. Want me to grab you some clothes?"

"Something I can go to school in, if possible. And maybe an aspirin?" She asked, wincing again. I nodded and went upstairs to get her some clothes out of the closet.

I walked back down the stairs, clothes in hand. And two aspirin with water.

"Here," I said, handing them to Jen. She looked over the clothes then up at me with a confused look on her face.

"They're my cousin's. She gave my mom some of her old clothes because my mom wanted to try fashion design or something. Needless to say, she never got around to it."

Jennifer nodded and picked up a pair of ripped light wash jeans and a forest green top.

"I'm gonna go change," She said. "And, hey, thanks for taking care of me when I was drunk. Like not leaving me at the party."

"No problem," I said. When she had left the room, I changed into jeans and a navy blue t-shirt.

"I'm ready," She told me, coming out of the bathroom, hair in a ponytail. I nodded.

"Alright, we'd better go if we don't want to be late."

We ran up the stairs and into my car.

"You don't have your bag," I pointed out. She shrugged.

"I'll be okay, nothing I really need is in there, anyways."

I nodded, and she turned on the radio. It was a short drive, eight or so minutes, so we made it in plenty of time.

"I should go." Jennifer said.

"Okay. See you in math class!" I called after her.

I sat back in my car and sighed. Why was she acting so weird? Did she think I had left something out when I told her what happened when she was drunk? Did she think... did she think I had done something? Or maybe did she hope something had happened?

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