Ch.5 Another love?

I woke up on Sunday morning and lay for a while thinking about the events of the past night. Ben had driven me home close to eleven, because we both had church the next day.

My reminiscing was interrupted by my evil alarm clock. Reluctantly, I sat up and hit the off button and then slowly climbed out of bed. I suddenly heard a pounding of footsteps running down the hallway.

Immediately, my lethargy was forgotten as I sprinted to grab the shower before my sister. She pushed past me, ran into the bathroom, and shut the door in my face.

I heard her loud raucous laugh echoing from the bathroom. "You suck, Erika," I yelled at the closed door.

I walked to the kitchen and poured myself a large bowl of cereal.

My dad walked in the room and glanced at me. "Need a little milk with your cereal?" He said as he poured himself an equally large bowl.

I snickered. "Sure, dad."

After I finished my bowl of cereal, Erika still wasn't out of the bathroom, so I went into my room and picked out my outfit for the service. I waited a few more minutes and then walked to the bathroom and banged on the door.

"Just a minute," my sister yelled.

So I waited. And waited. I banged on the door again. "Erika! I need the bathroom too!"

"Give me a sec! Gosh!"

So I waited. Just as I was about to use parental authority to get myself in the bathroom, Erika emerged. I glared at her.

"What?" she asked me, acting like she was the victim. She walked by me and into her room.

I walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. After my shower, I put in my contacts and brushed my teeth. Then I got dressed, and then added make up.

At 8:30, I was ready to leave. I walked out of the door and into the car, where my Dad was already waiting. A few minutes later, my mother walked out. And then we waited.

"I think we should leave her," I said after 10 minutes.

Dad sighed and glanced at his watch. "She's going to make us late." He honked the horn a couple times.

A few minutes later, Erika walked out, opened the side door, and climbed in. "What are we waiting for?" she asked cheekily.

I walked into the church and was immediately recruited to sing alto on worship team by Mr. Edward. During the sermon, I sat with the rest of the youth in the right front pews. My friend, Katherine (Katy) Edwards tapped my hand to get my attention. She passed me a note.

I looked at it. Then I sat back, confused. It was from Peter. Peter had been my crush at the beginning of the school year. It hadn't worked out, and he hadn't been interested in starting a relationship. Not that I had ever let him know my feelings; but if he had been interested, he would have made a move. So I had moved on.

I opened the note and the read it. It said:

Hey.

How was your week? Mine was…erm, ok.

I was curious, are you going to Katy's house after church?

Peter

I chuckled quietly. He sounded uncomfortable. I grabbed a sermon note paper and wrote a reply.

Hey.

My week was fine. Nothing exciting; just usual.

Yes, I am going over to Katy's house after church. Y do u want to know?

Allyson

His response came a few minutes later.

Like I said, I was just curious. Nice outfit by the way.

I got this reply and I was utterly confused. What is he trying to do?

I sat back and fixed my eyes back on the preacher. Then Katy tapped me.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"I really don't know."

Katy came up behind me and poked me after the service.

"Ready for the usual?"

I poked her back. "Yes."

She smiled. "Then let's GO!"

She and I skipped out to her car and drove to her house. This was a usual Sunday afternoon activity. Katy and I changed clothes and then made ourselves a huge batch of popcorn. We hurried down the stairs of her basement for our weekly movie session.

Katy stood by her movie selection. "So what shall it be today? Romance? Comedy? Action?"

I thought for a second. "Let's go with a romantic comedy….say…Miss Congeniality?"

Katy nodded her consent and slipped the DVD into the DVD player. The she flopped onto the couch beside me.

In the middle of the movie, the doorbell rang.

Katy groaned and paused the movie. "I'll be right back."

I watched her go up the stairs and then I laid back on the couch and relaxed.

A few minutes later, Katy clomped down the stairs. And then I heard a whole lot more clomps following her.

I looked up and the whole youth group was coming down the stairs.

"What's this?" I asked Katy.

"Oh, they just felt like dropping by," she said, smiling in a way so that I didn't believe her.

Those coming down the stairs included….Cindy, Jordan, Rebecca, Corey, Jeremy, other nameless people, and…Peter.

The people settled themselves down where they could. Peter came and sat on the couch next to me.

I glanced sideways at him. WTF? He made it pretty clear he wasn't interested, or he would have done something.

After the movie, the youth took advantage of the Edwards' pool in their backward. They even had a barbecue set up, and I knew that this wasn't a random youth-drop-over.

During the party, Peter brought me over to the side.

"Hey," he started. Then he breathed. "Look, I….I'm sorry about the beginning of this year."

I raised my eyebrows.

"And, I really do like you."

My eyebrows went up another inch.

"So, I was wondering…would you like to go out sometime?" He held my gaze beseechingly.

I looked away and sighed. "Peter, I'm really very flattered. Really, I am. And if this had happened earlier in the year, then maybe I would say yes. But as it is, I have a boyfriend, and I'm am attracted to him."

Peter looked down.

I grabbed his hand, forcing him to look at me. "Please don't take it personally. You're a great guy, and any girl would be lucky to be with you."

Peter gave a small smile and shook his head. "Thanks, Allyson. But I can't be with just 'any girl'."" He stood up. "I'll be waiting for you Allyson." He walked away.

When I got home from the party, I walked over to the answering machine. I pressed the button.

The machine chirped. "You have one message. Message one:…"

"Hey, babe. It's me. Just calling to see how you are. I'll catch you later, ok? Bye."

"…Sunday, 5:04 PM. End of messages." The machine finished.

I sighed and decided to go to bed. I climbed into my bed after performing my usual get-ready-for-bed routine. I fell asleep quickly.

"Can we go for a walk?"

I nodded and Ben guided me out of the hallway and through the school doors.

I was abruptly jarred to consciousness as my alarm clock went off. I groaned and sat up, hitting the off button.

I climbed out of bed and groggily chose my outfit for the day. Then I had breakfast and got ready for school. I walked out the door and stepped into the car, throwing my crap into the back seat.

I sat down in the driver's seat and started the car. After I few minutes, I revved the engine. I was not in the mood to wait for Erika today. After a few more minutes, I had had it. I put the car in reverse and started to pull out of the driveway.

A frantic Erika shot out the front door and hopped into the passenger's seat.

I looked at her hard-breathing form in amusement. "Maybe I should do that more often?"

Erika stopped in mid-breath and glared at me. "How about….no? Let's go."