Ch.2 Tired out

Ben looked over at me. "Can we go for a walk?" My dream shattered as the ringing of a phone broke my unconsciousness. Groggily I sat up and reached for the cordless.

"Ello?"

"Allyson."

"Hola, Ben."

Ben chuckled. "You sound…sleepy?"

I checked my watch. "Yea, actually, I guess I fell asleep on the couch when I got home. Wow, that was like, 2 hours ago." I yawned. "What about you, what have you been up to?"

"Ah…homework, like usual."

"Sounds exciting."

"O yes, it's incredible."

"You know, I think I'm going to watch a movie….Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings?"

"Definitely Harry Potter. Speaking of movies, do you want to see one this weekend?"

"Followed by dinner at Max and Erma's afterwards?" I asked excitedly.

"If you pay."

"Ha. Nice joke."

"Er…yea, ok, Max and Erma's."

"Yea."

"So I'll pick you up, say, 4:00?"

"Great." I replied. "YOU CAN DRIVE!"

"HaHA, very funny. Just cause I get a ride home everyday DOESN'T mean I'm helpless."

"Ok."

"Well, ok. And I do really need to go."

"Ok."

"So I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Ok."

"Um, could you say something other than 'Ok'?"

"Ok."

"Stop it. Stop it now."

"NO, never. So I'll let you go."

"See ya."

"Bye."

Allyson heard the phone click on his end before turning her phone off. "And I could SO fall asleep again."

At about 7 that night, I heard a knock on my door. Warily, I walked to the door and opened it a crack.

"Ben? What are u doing here?" I asked in surprise.

"What I'm not allowed to visit all of a sudden?" He smiled. "I have a gift for you."

"Really?" I peered around him, feigning childish delight.

"Bad child," he said, playfully slapping my hand. He turned me around. "Close your eyes," he ordered.

I complied and felt myself being pushed back into my house and guided to my family room. He set me down on the couch.

I heard a rustle of paper and then it was quiet.

"Open your eyes, " he said.

I opened my eyes, and Ben drew a DVD case around from his back.

"Oh my gosh! You shouldn't have!" I took the DVD from his hands. "National Treasure! You have no idea how much I wanted this!" I looked up at him. "Speaking of which, how did you know?" I raised one eyebrow.

Ben shrugged. "I'm psychotic."

I smiled. "I bet. So then you would know what I'm thinking right now?" I stood up.

"Um…give me a second."

I walked over to and put my arms around his neck and drew him into me.

He bent his head towards mine. "Now I know." We smiled, our foreheads pressed against each other. Ben lowered his head, and I felt the pressure of his lips on mine. I gently ran my hands through his hair. Gosh, his tongue. Slowly he maneuvered us over to the couch. He gently laid me down. The DVD lay completely forgotten on the floor.

I woke up in my bed to the sound of my alarm. I groaned. "10 more minutes, pu-lease." The alarm was untouched by my plea, and continued to resound in ever increasing volume. I sighed, and sat up, hitting the alarm with my arm, though I really wanted to hit it with a sledge hammer. I climbed out of my bed, and stumbled to the shower.

30 minutes later, I left the bathroom feeling totally refreshed and ready to face the day. I waltzed over to my closet and picked out a blue-patterned tank with a green trim, cream colored capris, a green belt and flip-flops to match, and finally, blue earrings. I blow-dried my hair so that my light brown hair cascaded down my back. For the final touch, I added light blue eyeshadow, with a light green eyeliner, brown mascara, and a touch of lip gloss. Pleased with my appearance, I walked back into my room to grab my bag.

I loaded my stuff in the car, and hopped in the drivers seat and turned the key. I waited for 5 minutes, and then honked the horn. 5 minutes later, I was still waiting. After another 5, I turned off the ignition, fuming, and walked inside to find my sister, still in her pj's and slowly eating a piece of toast.

"Um, I'm leaving."

Erika looked at me. "No your not." She gulped down some milk.

"If your not out there in 2 minutes, you can catch the bus sweetheart."

Erika waved me away, uncaring.

I sighed and walked back out to the car. Amazingly, she was out to the car two minutes later, though her hair was still a mess and she still had breakfast in her hand. I pulled out of the driveway and hurried to school. Arriving about 10 minutes before the warning bell, I parked the car and then made my way to the band hallway.

Chaz, the senior drum major greeted me. "And how are we today, my lover?"

I looked around me. "Who are you talking to, cause I KNOW you aren't talking to me."

Chaz smiled indulgently. "What don't you know? Drum majors share their women."

I snorted. "In your dreams maybe."

"That's what you think, sweetheart." He walked over to me.. "You know deep inside, your just dying to see ole' Chaz…" His face was inches from mine.

I looked at him and then patted him on the shoulder. "Have a good day, Chaz." I walked around him to Brittany on the other side. "Hey girl."

Brittany looked at me. "What was that about?"

"Oh, I think he just tries to play with what he can't get."

Brittany nodded. "Yea, he's a bit full of himself that way."

"Just a bit. Not that he's NOT hot though. Cause he is. He's just…"

"Cocky," Brittany finished for me. "Shall we go, Lady Allyson?"

"Yes, I do think so, Lady Britiana." We glided out of the band hallway and down to the gym.

"I hate having gym first block," Brittany complained.

I pulled my lock and it released. "Yes! On the first try!"

Brittany looked over at me. "Ok, don't get too excited there."

"You know me. I excite over small things."

We changed into our PE clothes and walked out to the gym and grabbed a volleyball.

She threw it to me and I bumped it back to her, and she returned it, etc.

"Hey, were doing good today," I called as I bumped it to her.

"Yea, there are some days…" She replied as she set it to me.

"…That we can't hit anything." I spiked it to her.

"OW! Bruise!" she walked over to me. "Kiss it."

I kissed my hand and put it on her 'bruise'. "Wimp!" I called as she walked away.

She turned and hurled the ball at me. Caught by surprise it hit my finger and rebounded into my face. "OW! That was a double whammy!" I moved my fingers. "You jammed it!"

"Let me come over there and I'll unjam it for you."

"No thanks. Really."

After a while, the whistle blew, and we sat down in our respective rows so the we could stretch and the teachers could take roll.

"Okay. So, um… we're running the mile today," our teacher, Mr. Vivicqua said.

The class, as one, groaned.

Mr. V raised his hands. "I can't do anything about it; It's required."

We reluctantly stood to our feet and followed him out to the track.

"I hate the mile," I stated sourly as Mr. V began the time. "Hate it, hate it, hate it."

After the bell rang for gym, I walked to my study hall on the other side of the school. On the way I stopped at Ben's locker and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hello, Allyson," he said without turning around. The he turned and smiled at me.

"How'd you know it was me?"

"I'm psychotic, remember?"

"Oh. Riiiiiiight…"

He kissed me lightly on the mouth. "How was gym? Did you run the mile?"

I glared at him. "You knew that, you evil creature, and you didn't tell me on purpose."

Ben tried to look innocent. "Slipped my mind. And how do you know if I did it? Just because we have the same teacher doesn't mean we always do the same things. Besides, I thought you needed the exercise."

"We usually do the same things….and are you implying I'm fat?"

"No, I just noticed that you got really tired out last night." He smiled behind his hand.

"OOOO. That was bad. Personally, I think I tired YOU out."

"Then I guess we should EXERCISE more so we don't get tired."

"You just want an excuse to make out with me."

"Hey, what can I say, I'm a pimp."

I laughed loudly. "Whatever you say, dear, whatever you say. I gotta go to my class now, ok?"

He nodded. "See you at lunch."