Joe's point of view
I wake up and roll over on my side to examine my digital clock on my nightstand. It reads 6:53 A.M. Are you serious? Why am I up this early? I groan and pull the covers off of me. I might as well wakeup now. I need to assess the damage of Nick's party last night. I don't even bother to get dressed, I just go downstairs in sweatpants and no shirt. I look in the kitchen first and it is a huge mess. There is beer bottles, beer cans, empty plastic baggies and even clothes all over the place. I cringe my nose in disgust. I make my way around the house until I get to the living room. Nick's whole group is passed out on the couches and on the floor. How typical.
My eyes search the room until they land on the girl I bumped into last night. She looks really pretty even when she's asleep. I watch her for a minute and then come to the realization that she must be a bad girl since she's a part of Nick's group.
I turn on the T.V. and blast it as loud as it can go. The whole room awakens in a panic.
"What the hell dude?!" Trace yells as he covers his ears.
The rest of the room looks equally as pissed at me. I laugh. "You guys need to pick this mess up, now."
Nobody moves but that one girl. She gets to her feet and starts picking stuff up. The rest of the group just stares at her like she's crazy.
"What are you doing Demi?" Trace asks with attitude, "Stop."
"Trace, he just said to pick the room up."
"Yeah?" Trace says, "And I'm telling you to stop."
The way he talks to her pisses me off so much and I don't even know why. Well for starters you can just see it in her eyes that she is afraid of him. He must've done something to her to make her seem so frightened by him.
She immediately stops what she's doing and plops down on the couch. She looks at me with an apologetic look and I just nod.
"Nick," I address him, "if you don't pick this up then I'm telling mom and dad about the party."
Nick gets to his feet slowly and looks at everyone else. "You're all helping so get your asses up."
Everyone gets to their feet with groans and moans. They all stomp their feet like little two year olds except for that one girl—Demi. Demi works much harder than the rest of them. In fact she basically does all the work.
The house is completely spotless by 9 and I'm satisfied.
"Thanks for the party Nick," Demi says, "I need to get going home now."
"Wait uhm Demi can you come here for a minute?" I ask as I go into the kitchen.
She gets up and follows me but it's clear that she's confused as to what I want.
"Here's 50 dollars for cleaning up," I say as I hold out two 20s and a 10.
"I can't take this."
"Why not? You basically did all the work."
"It's alright really."
"Fine but at least take this."
I grab a small piece of paper and write my number on it. I don't know why I'm doing this but I'm genuinely worried about her. I don't want to see her get hurt by this Trace guy. I hand it to her and look her deep in the eyes.
I clear my throat and make my voice as compassionate as possible. "I can see the way that you're frightened by him. If you ever need me for anything, don't be afraid to text or call. You don't even have to need me. You can text me anytime you want."
Demi doesn't say anything. She just shoves the piece of paper down her bra and goes back to the living room.
I sigh and run my fingers through my dark brown hair. What am I doing? I don't even know this girl. I want to know this girl. Maybe she isn't just a bad girl.
