CalPal

-29-

Chapter Twenty Nine

Pulling into Clay's driveway and parking next to his Toyota put Sam to shame. Their dull silver was no match for my car's metallic blue that glimmered in the moonlight. It was nearing the end of summer, meaning that it was getting cooler in North Carolina. However, it seems as though Florida was a bubble and their weather hadn't changed at all. It was dark out and the stars were beginning to twinkle in the sky in the pattern of connect the dots worksheets I'd do as a child. It was peaceful and the sound of crickets hymned me to sleep.

In the dark, it took me a solid three minutes to figure out how to turn my car off. When I finally remembered how, I leant my head against the rest on my seat and sighed contently. The serenity was interrupted when knuckles knocked against my car window. I jumped so high that my head hit the interior roof. I held my chest and glared at the culprit. Only being able to catch sight of what the moon shone, I could still see Clay hunched over presumably from laughing.

I grabbed my phone and electronics bag from the passenger seat, but left my car keys in the cupholder. Clay opened the back door and grabbed the remainder of my bags. Then, I used the Tesla app on my phone to lock my car up.

"Ooh fancy," he cooed, looking back at the car, "How're you liking it?"

"It's too boujee for me. I'm always so used to having junker cars that'll break down in a few years. It's just an odd feeling to have something nice."

"You wholeheartedly deserve it though. I'm serious."

I smiled, "Thank you."

When we entered the house, it was quiet and the only light on was in the kitchen. He flickered the hall light on with his elbow and started down the hall of the bedrooms. I followed after him.

"Did you wanna sleep in the guest room or my room?" He asked gently, hovering on the middle ground between his gaming room and his room.

"That depends. Is Patches going to leave me room on the bed?"

He laughed, "She usually sleeps on the pillows. I think it'll be fine."

I nodded my head and walked into the bedroom after him. Patches was laying on the corner of the bed contently sleeping until Clay dropped all the bags right by her, startling her awake. She seemed to throw the nastiest glare at her owner, before licking herself and trotting off toward the living room.

"She's mad at me for waking her. She'll probably sleep on the tree in the living room to spite me."

I laughed, "Cats hold grudges for so long."

I bent down to my bags and started rummaging through one of the duffels for a bedtime outfit. My mind was exhausted from trying to stay focused for hours straight, so while I was fairly awake, my brain was screaming at me to fall asleep. I grabbed a pair of Adidas mid thigh running shorts and an oversized college tee shirt before heading to the bathroom to the right. By the time I had finished changing and performing my night routine, Clay was gone from his bedroom and I heard faint yelling coming from the closed door of the guest room.

After lightly knocking, I heard rustling around. There was a bang, then the door flew open. He nearly toppled over, almost taking the door off the hinges in the process. Clay crossed his legs and propped one arm on the side of the door as he stared back at me. I stifled a laugh and looked to the side of his body to see minecraft loaded up on his screen.

"Everything okay dear?" I questioned sarcastically.

"Yup, just tripped and banged my knee on the desk—" he looked at the quizzical face I was giving him, "You startled me! I thought you went to bed!"