Several hours after our eyes had finally closed and we settled into the warmth of each other a tapping entered my sleep-fogged brain.
"Reilly?" Someone called, miles away. "Reilly, are you alright? Why is this door locked?" My father, I realized, was now jiggling the door handle only seconds away from picking the lock. I quick unwrapped myself from Billy's arms and mad my way to the door. I pushed my fists into my eyes and prayed for good dramatic effect as I opened the door a crack. My dad was standing inches from the door with his head tilted. I rested my head against the frame and did my best to look sickly.
"I don't feel well, I already called Meghan, she's gonna get my work." I turned my head and coughed.
"Ok, well get some rest, call me if you need anything." He looked worried but headed for the stairs anyway. I watched him go, not turning back to the snoring mass until my father's car had disappeared from sight. I retrieved Billy's pack of cigarettes and lighter from the inside pocket of his jacket and climbed out the window to the small overhang on the back of the house. I sat and rested my feet on the gutter, lighting the cigarette and taking a long drag. Billy seemed to have an ever growing presence in my life, I knew personally he was nothing to worry about, but that wouldn't fly with my dad. My father, Geoffrey McEagan, wasn't overly protective, but he wouldn't hesitate to pull out the shotgun either, especially if he knew who I'd made friends with. I took one last inhale and stubbed the butt out on a dirty shingle, wiping off my backside as I climbed back into my room.
Billy was still out cold, a snore escaping his mouth ever other breath. I proceeded to let him sleep and headed downstairs to make something for breakfast. I stopped at the bottom of the steps and locked the door incase my father decided to double back and check in on me. I filled the coffee pot and poured the grinds, starting the machine and waiting for the aroma to fill the kitchen. I banged around for a while, getting out the pans I need for the bacon and eggs, as well as the ingredients before turning on the stove. I heard the toilet flush upstairs and wondered what had woken him, the noises from the kitchen or the smell of the coffee. I didn't have to wonder long as the gangly teenager bounded down the steps.
"What smells so good?" He asked as I poured him a glass of orange juice and set it in front of him along with two Tylenol.
"Coffee," I replied. "But take those first, I'm sure you're working on a good hangover." He didn't say anything and I turned back to the butter melting in the pan in front of me. "How do you like 'em?" The glass of OJ nearly shattering on the counter as it fell from his hands. I turned my head and chuckled, he was beet red.
"How do I like what?" He asked, his voice an octave higher than normal.
"Your eggs. How do you like your eggs?" I felt rather than heard the sigh exit him; I knew he'd had something else in mind.
"Umm…sunny side up, I guess."
"Good, 'cause that's the way I'm making them." I put the lid over the eggs and turned to see him shaking his head.
"What?" I asked pouring him a cup of coffee.
"Why did you ask, then?"
"I was curious, besides I suck at flipping them and there's not enough milk for scrambled." I put the half-and-half and sugar beside him where he was seated at the breakfast bar. The toast dinged and I moved into action, you couldn't be slow when you were making eggs. I checked the stove and removed the pan, splitting the four eggs in two and sliding them onto plates. I buttered the toast and divvied two slices to each dish before grabbing the bacon from the microwave.
Billy watched in silent adoration, he'd never had a mother around to do this type of thing for him and he found his fondness for Reilly growing. She moved from spot to spot like lightning doling out the food and catching each item as it finished cooking. Soon after she slowed to a normal pace again and placed his plate on the counter in front of him before grabbing her own OJ and coffee and sidling into the stool next to him.
"I didn't know you could cook!" He said popping a piece of bacon into his mouth.
"There's a lot you don't know about me Billy Darley."
I continued to stare ahead of me, through the window looking out to the back yard. I could feel his eyes on me, he wanted to ask what he didn't know, but he had secrets too. I knew the kind of people he hung around with, the trouble they caused when they were together. It was a phase, something he'd grow out of. I blinked and saw his eyes dart back to his plate, as he ran a hand through his uncontrollable locks. I finished and put my two uneaten pieces of bacon on his plate before heading to the sink. I carelessly rinsed off the dish in my hands and mechanically put in into the dishwasher. I felt him come up behind me following my motions at the sink.
"So, are we gonna talk about last night?" I asked taking the plate from him and putting it next to its twin in the machine. I closed it and pushed myself up onto the counter.
"I was drunk," he shrugged not making eye contact. "'Nough said."
"That's not what I meant and you know it." I scolded.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He said, looking at me face to face with my added height.
"Bullshit!" I spat. He only laughed and came to stand between my knees. He smiled and pushed a stray hair away from my eyes. He took my hands in his and twined our fingers together pulling me closer in the process. His lips brushed mine ever so gently and I was no longer upset. I hadn't a care in the world other than the boy who wanted to kiss me.
"Is that what you wanted to talk about?" He said resting his forehead against mine.
"Mm-hmm." I pushed my hand around his neck and curled my fingers into the fine hairs at the base of his head pulling his lips back to mine. I tasted bliss and I wanted more.
Billy's hands snaked to my back and scooted me closer, and I wrapped my legs around his middle. I couldn't think, our mouths and bodies and a hormonal frenzy like sharks to blood. I did know I needed to breathe and came up for air sometime later. We were both panting slightly, our lungs craving oxygen. That's when he said it, the thing that would change the course of my life forever. Good or bad? At that precise moment I didn't care.
"Go out with me. Be my girlfriend." I nodded several times; I'd become a bobble-head on the dash of a car. He kissed me again and I was lost. I was no longer Reilly McEagan, girl-next-door, straight A student, daddy's little girl, no I was Billy Darley's girlfriend. Never would I be the same again.