I woke up late to my phone buzzing with missed text messages.
Twisting uncomfortably to grab it, I realised that I had slept in my clothes. I rubbed my face, forcing my eyes to fully open and grab my phone.
"Hey Jules, did you get home alright? I'm sorry last night ended badly for you, I guess you know your limits with drinks now!"
"Just let me know once you wake up so I know you got home alright."
"Sorry again, see you Monday?"
Three from Layla, and two from Dee:
"Hey Jules, I'm giving Layla a lift home, u want 1 2? I can't find you."
"Layla says you went home bc u were feeling sick – hope you feel better soon"
I smiled and typed out a quick text to Layla.
"Sorry about last night! I'm home now and feeling a lot better, thanks for calling Cara See you Monday."
Then I curled myself back into my comfortable nest of blankets and went back to sleep.
I woke up properly at about lunchtime.
I could tell Aunty was surprised, and after last night, I felt a little nervous to look her in the eyes.
Why? It's not like anything happened! And it was an accident anyway…
I boldly glanced at her curious eyes as I made a sandwich since it was too late for breakfast.
"Late night?" She raised her eyebrows with a smile.
I tried to smile back, but I was so nervous I think it turned out more like a grimace.
"I just felt like sleeping in," I hedged, "Cara makes it look like so much fun."
"Oi!" Cara grumbled, shuffling into the kitchen with a blanket around her shoulders, "I'm not a morning person, it's apart of my physiology or whatever."
"I think you mean psychology?" I asked brightly, trying to keep the conversation away from my late night misadventures.
"Don't know, don't care." Cara mumbled, shoving some toast in the toaster.
I let her be - she doesn't like to talk in the mornings and her grumbling had served its purpose anyway. The conversation's original topic had been firmly derailed. But why did I feel guilty?
Aunty just smiled and grabbed her purse and a cardigan.
"Can you girls look after the boys? I have a few appointments this afternoon and if you aren't going out it'd be nice not have to call Jamie to babysit."
"Sure," I smiled, relieved that I could make it up to her – wait. Make what up? I hadn't done anything really bad. There was nothing wrong with going to a party. I'd just made a little mistake was all.
Cara grunted, which for her meant yes.
Aunty smiled brighter, "Brilliant, I'll leave it with you two then."
And she hustled out the door.
We ate in silence.
Desmond and Charlie rushed through the hallway a few minutes later.
"What's for lunch?" Dez asked loudly, tracking grass and leaves from outside into the kitchen.
"Whatever you can – scratch that." Cara said, "Just make a sandwich."
"Awwww, but you were going to say, 'anything we can find', which is so much cooler." Charlie complained.
"Well, not 'anything you can find' is meant for you two." Cara said, seemingly more alert as she took another bite of her breakfast.
"Too bad! I found some chocolate!" Des crowed from the fridge, "I going to eat that!"
"No way." Cara argued, "I just said you can have a sandwich."
"What about a chocolate sandwich?" Charlie questioned, eyes bright, already reaching for the bread.
"Nope," I weighed in, feeling like I should support Cara, "a normal savoury sandwich."
"You guys are no fun!" Desmond sulked, slamming the fridge door.
Cara just sighed and finished her toast. I shrugged.
The afternoon passed relatively peacefully (excluding an ill-timed nerf war I got caught in the middle of). I figured that if I kept myself distracted, I could ignore my conscience, which was wrong, by the way. I mean I was right, and it was wrong. Wait what?
Great Caesar's Ghost, I need to get more sleep...
After dinner, Cara came into my room and sat down in my desk chair. There was no trace of her phone and her eyes were so direct I'm surprised she didn't burn a laser beam right through my brain.
"Look. We were both tired last night, so I'm just making sure were clear, 'kay?"
I set my old guitar aside and sat up straighter.
"What do you mean?" I asked cautiously.
"You might not remember, but you promised me last night that you would tell me if you broke curfew again or went out somewhere at night and didn't have a safe way home. And I said that as long as you did, I wouldn't tell Aunty Lin about last night." Cara said seriously.
"Ah, yes, I remember." I murmur, looking at the floor.
Cara sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly, "I'm trying to be a good big sister, but I also know that last night could have turned out very differently. I don't like lying to Aunty, but I know it was an accident this time."
She looked me in the eyes, "So, I'm very serious when I tell you that if you break curfew again, I will go straight to Aunty. Not because I'm a snitch, or because I respect Aunty, though I do respect her a lot and so should you, but because I care about you. It's not safe. And I won't be the reason no one comes looking until the next morning if you disappear."
I sat silently, suddenly feeling cold.
"Understand?" She asked, and I could sense the juxtaposing tones of uncertainty and resolve within her. I slipped my bracelet from my pocket onto my wrist.
"Yes," I swallowed, "I understand."
Author's Note:
So! Did the fallout go as you guys expected?
Cara is trying really hard, but what's being a good friend when your friend wants to do crazy stuff? On the one hand, she wants to be Juliet's friend, but she also wants to keep her safe. It might interest you to know she would have told on Juliet before the whole "I'll try and be a better sister" thing.
What would you do?
Eh, that was too deep. It was just supposed to be some character motivation stuff for anyone who's interested. Lol. Anyway, I hope you guys have a great weekend!
See you next week,
Trix