Amy's POV

   Oh my God, what have I done!!,

I placed my palms over my face as the memories of last night flooded in,

w-what is wrong with me, why did I kiss him? and say all those things?!

  I jerked my head up, glancing frantically at the room, trying, rather hoping to see if I was actually in my room, and last night was all just a very long dream.

But it wasn't, this is definitely Drew's room.

I slipped my hands into my hair and pulled it, "oh my God!" I whispered out

  "Hey, are you alright?" I jerked my head towards the familiar looking stranger,

  Isn't that Drew's brother? Nate, I know because Drew has shown me pictures of him before.

   I was looking at him, but I was too shocked to answer, I was still trying to process last night.

   "you are probably hung-over, I'm Nate, Drew's older brother" he said, waiting for me to say something, but all I did was stare at him with wide eyes.

  He rubbed his neck awkwardly, "err.. Come downstairs for breakfast, eating should help, Drew is waiting for us"

  Drew!, h-he's home?,

I slowly got up from the bed and immediately regretted it,

urrgh, my head, is this what it means to be hung-over?,

I stood still, waiting for my beating head to calm down.

when the pain was bearable, I noticed my phone next to the pillow and picked it up, there was a missed call from dad.

how did my phone get there?, wait, how did I get in these clothes?, I thought looking down at myself.

I have no memory of changing.

I held my forehead, hoping it would help, but it didn't.

Nate, Drew's brother, gave me an awkward smile then turned to leave,

    I followed behind him as he led us downstairs, on getting to the stairway I stopped.

Do I really wanna go down there?

  Drew is there, how am I supposed to face him?, how will he look at me?, how will I explain what I did?

I was fidgeting and mentally pacing back and forth

  You know what Amy, let's just acknowledge it, apologize and tell him it was a mistake. Simple.

Yes, that's what I'll do, no need to wor-

  "are you alright?" I saw Nathan looking at me

  I nodded, I know I'm being rude and should say something, but I don't think I can,

  I took a deep breath in and breathed out through my mouth, trying to boost my confidence and calm my nerves, then continued walking, counting the stairs as we descended.

Unfortunately they were only twenty-two steps.

  I could smell pancakes and eggs as we entered the kitchen, Drew had his back turned to us, he was doing the dishes, thank God.

I stood next to the eating table, staring at the suddenly interesting looking chair

  "mission completed, I expect payment soon" Drew's brother, Nathan said, walking towards Drew.

  What mission?

  "why didn't you tell me she was mute?" I heard Nate whisper to Drew,

  "she's not" I heard Drew reply.

  Normally, that would have been funny, but with my pulsing head and unbelievable memories, it was hard to find the humour in it.

  Drew turned to me "Amies," I jerked my head towards him at the sudden mention of my name, and felt my head pulse at the sudden action.

"how are you feeling? want a glass of water?" he continued, his face showed no emotion, I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

  I nodded my head in response, still not ready to talk

Nate rose an eyebrow at Drew, "you sure?"

  Drew gave him a stern look, then they both walked to the table and sat next to one another, so I sat opposite them,

"Amies, this is my older brother Nate, I told you about him, remember?" Drew said,

   I nodded in acknowledgement.

Then he continued "Nate, this is Amy"

   "hey" Nate waved

I should reply him, but my voice still feels kinda shy,
 
  "Amies are you alright?" he leaned in trying to touch my forehead

 but I jerked back before he could, letting out a squeaky sound,

  Urgh, I shouldn't have done that, my head.

  There was a flicker of emotion in his face, but then he was back to normal, he relaxed back in his sit.

  "h-hi" I said to Nate,

He was glancing at both Drew and I, probably trying to figure out what that was about, which made me also glance at Drew.

  "so you can talk" he stated

"y-yeah, my head just really hurts when I talk right now," I lied "sorry for being rude early"

  "No problem" he smiled

"do you want aspirin?" Drew asked, getting up to probably get one before I even nodded yes,

  I watched him leave the room, feeling my unintentional tensed shoulders lighten up a bit. I let out a breath of relief.

I turned back to see Nate studying me, they really do look alike, they had the same hair and eye colour, he is a little taller than Drew, but Drew is definitely better looking in my opinion, his features were softer, kinda cute and-

  "Here's you breakfast" he placed the food and a bottle of syrup in front of me, when did he leave his sit?

  "Thanks" I said quietly,

"You're welcome" he said, before going back to take his sit opposite me,

I took the syrup and poured a very generous amount on my pancakes, my mouth watered in anticipation for the sugary goodness I was about to enjoy,

  My fork did it's work, placing a delicious chunk in my mouth, and all my pain and worries were gone, I let out a breath of relief, And chewed a little, before deciding to swallow.
Oh, so good.

  "so, are you my brother's girlfriend?"

  And I chocked.

  Coughing frantically, I took a large gulp out of the glass of water in front of me,

  He chuckled "is that a yes or no?"

   "I.. I-" why am I trying to find an answer, when I know the answer is obviously No.

  "erm.. No, we're just friends" I finally said,

He nodded "I see"

  I glanced back at the door briefly, checking if Drew was there, I'm sure he'd find it weird I didn't deny it immediately.

  He smiled "he'll be back soon, enjoy your food, don't mind me" he probably thinks I want Drew here.

  I nodded, and took another bite out of my food,

  "so, you guys went for a party last night?" he asked

  I nodded, signalling yes,

He opened his mouth to say something, then he closed it again, as if trying to decide something,

  "do you know if Drew has a girlfriend?, or anyone he likes?" he asked,

  Thank God I swallowed this time before he asked that.

  I shook my head, not really wanting to think about it.

There is that mystery girl he sometimes spoke about, but for some reason, I Don't want to acknowledge her existence, I mean, there was never any girl to fit her description, and everytime I asked who she was,  he never gave me a clear answer, I'm starting to believe she doesn't exist.

He smiled "I think he does,"

  My my heart tighten a little bit.

  "infact, I know who she is" he continued.

   He knows who she is!, so she's real?, he actually likes someone?

  I bit my lower lip, trying to stop myself from asking who she is, I don't think I want to know.

It's funny, a while back I was trying so hard to find out who she was, but now that the answer is right in front of me, I don't think I want to know anymore, infact, a small part of me want to believe she doesn't exist.

What am I turning into?.

  "I thought you were supposed to be in college" I said trying to change the subject

  He smiled, "yeah, I gave myself a break, I'll going back next week Thursday"

Thank goodness that worked, "oh, that's nice, so what will you be doing till then?"

He shrugged "all my friends here are still in college, so I'll probably stay home, play games, tease Drew, you know, normally things,"

  I smiled at the thought of him teasing Drew "that sounds nice"

he's actually easy to talk to, I don't feel the need to put walls around me, like I normally do when I meet new people.

  "yeah, but I'll get bored soon, after beating Drew continuously"

  I would have chuckled if my head didn't still hurt, so I smiled instead "if you get bored playing him, you can always call me"

  "oh, you play video games?"

"yeah, I good at blur or any other car racing game, call of duty, or fighting games, but PES is a no for me, I played once and the scores were 18 to 1. The shame still haunts me"

He chuckled "who was it?, that was mean"

   "Drew, he crushed my pride, and rubbed it in for three days" I said, thinking of how ashamed I was at the time,

"but I got him back when I won him seven times in a roll in blur, I rubbed it in for over a week" I smiled and shook my head at the memory of how he looked when I bragged about it.

  "he was so pissed when I didn't let it go, and I refused to play anymore games with him cause I didn't want to lose to him yet" I continued, smiling.

   "uhm hmm" Nate said with a smile, "you guys seem close" he added,

   "we are" Drew answered from the door, walking towards me with the pills.

And yes, I avoided eye contact.

   "Maybe we can play sometime?" Nate asked me,

  I nodded "sure"

  Drew sat next to me "sure what?" he asked, 

I felt the urge to shift away from him and put more space between us, but I didn't.

  "Nothing important" Nate answered,

"Here" he handed me two piles,

"Thankshanks" I said before swallowing them with water,

  Almost immediately Nate's phone started ringing, he looked at the caller and then smiled, "excuse me" he said before leaving the kitchen.

  We were both silent for a moment, thinking of what to say,

  "So..." I said looking up at the ceiling,

But I decided to shut up, cause I didn't really know what to say, We fell quiet again.

  After awhile he spoke "so, yesterday was something"

  Oh my God, are we really doing this!, talking about it!, I was starting to panic

  "y-yeah??" can't we just... not talk about it,

    Drew stared at me for a while, then looked away,

  Badump, badump, badump..

  "do you remember what happened last night?"

   I wish I didn't!!

He continued, thankfully not waiting for me to answer "you said somethings to me, and did some.. thing too"

   My mental eyes were literally bulging out, he is fucking do this!!, w-what do I do, what do I say!

He sighed "Amy we ki-"
   "I don't remember anything" I cut in before he could finish

   "uh??"

"I don't remember anything from last night, I-it's all a blur"

Amy! I thought you were going to own up to it and apologize!,

Shut up inner Amy!, let me handle it,

  "oh! Erm.. Ok" he said

"yeah, turns out I'm one if those people who forget things after drinking" I continued to lie through my teeth, backing out like the chicken that I am,

  "the last thing I remember is erm.. erm... Saying I was going to play spin the bottle, nothing after that, nothing at all!" I said, trying to avoid all possible questions or doubts.

He gave me a weird look "O-okay"

  "y-yeah, did anything important happen?" I asked, trying to sell my lie,

please don't tell me about it, please don't tell me about it, please don't tell me about it, please don't tell me abou-

  "no, nothing, it's probably better like this"

  OOH THANK YOU GOD!!

  "oh okay" I said, keeping a calm expression

  "yeah, it wasn't important, it didn't mean anything"

Ok, that kind hurt.

***************

  Fourty minutes later:

  "you don't need to go so early, you know, stick around, let's play some video games, show me some of your skills" Nate said as we walked toward the door.

  I was about to leave their house and head home, luckily, Drew helped me dry clean my clothes, so I changed back into them, the only thing I actually can't remember is, what happened after the kiss, did I say anymore stupid things?, and why did I even change out of my clothes in the first place?, I just hope I didn't do any more embarrassing things.

  "No, I need to go home, and rest" I glaced at Drew then mumbled under my breath "not to mention, get my shit together"

  "how is the headache?" Drew asked

"better, I'll rest when I get home" I replied,

     "so..  Erm see you guys later, I guess" I said at the door,

   "yeah, see you" Drew said,

"bye" Nate waved, I waved back and then turned to leave. 

 
****

When I got close to my house, I decided to call Raven to let her know I was home, I dialed her number twice but she didn't answer,

  I signed and looked up, opening the front door as I did, and the first thing I saw was my dad leaning on the wall with is arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.

  "oh shit!" I closed the door behind me,

From his body language I already knew I was in trouble, but a tiny part of me chuckled at how long he probably stood there, waiting for me to come home.

  "Dad-"

"Where are you coming from?" he cut me off,

  "Raven's?" it sounded more like a question than an answer,

  He shifted his weight to his feet, "Raven's huh, yeah, that's what I thought too, so you can imagine my surprise when her mom called the house phone earlier this morning, asking to talk to Raven, cause her number was turned off"

  My eyes were practically bulging out, Fuck.

  "oh, you're surprised?, so was I, because my daughter told me she would be at Raven's, and when I told Raven's mom that, she said her daughter told her she would be here. and since I know you did not sleep here, I will ask again, where. Are. You. Coming. From?"

  Oh my God, he is angry, my heart was racing, "erm.. I erm, I went to a party" I mumbled out,

  "you went to a party" he chuckled, but I could tell he didn't find it funny,

"you went to a party" he said more seriously, he looked at his watch and shook his head in disappointment,

  "you are grounded for a week"

What! 

"Dad!, it was just a party!!" I yelled, why is he doing this?!

  He rose his voice "it's not about the party!"  then he took a breath to calm himself  "it's not about the party."

   "Then what is it about?, why are yo-"

"You lied to me!, right to my face, I don't care that you went to a party, it's the fact that you lied to me!"

  That shut me up immediately,

  "All you had to do was ask!, and you know that, so the fact that you had to lie just to go this 'party' make me believe something is up, what were they doing there? Drug?!"

   "no!"

"Then why did you lie?. And look at the time, past twelve!, what kind of party last that long?, where did you sleep?, did you go to so kind of club??"

  "Dad no!, it was just a normal party, I promise"

  "Then why?, I can't think of a good reason as to why you would lie, because I've never said you couldn't go to parties"

Dad was right, I had no good reason to lie, it was stupid, I was really planning to sleep at Raven's house, but her parents came home unexpectedly last night.

I bowed my head in shame.

  "I thought we were closer than this, I thought we didn't lie to each other, now, I don't even know where you've been for over twelve hours!, imagine how I would have felt if something bad happened and I was here at home, thinking you were safe!"

He shook his head again "you should be happy I'm not taking your phone too",

   He his taking this too far, this is why I don't like making him mad, he takes it too far.

  "Go to your room, I'll bring the test tubes later" he said before walking away.

  My mouth fell to the ground, test tubes!!, see!, too far!.

I'm not doing freaking drugs!.

   I stomped up the stairs to my room, trying to let him know how bizarre he was being.

***

"Hey Raven,"

   "hey, so heads up, we got caught"

"too late, I'm grounded for a week" I replied,

   "a week!, my mom grounded me for a month, but luckily my dad pleaded and it was reduced to two days, but I have to do all the cleaning for two weeks"

  "just two days?, aarh, dad common!"

  She chuckled,

"you see why I didn't want to go to that party!, nothing good came out of it"

  "lol, unlike you, miss drunky drunk, I had fun, well I was having fun until you-"

"urgh, Please don't remind me, my head still hurts a little" I rubbed my temples.

  "why did you even drink?, thought you said you weren't going to?" she asked

   I sighed "I wasn't, Until... I don't even know, it was just stupid!, urgh everything I did yesterday was so stupid!, the lie, the drink, the ki- just uurgh!!"

   "erm... Ok, so did something else happen last night that I don't know about?"

   Shit, me and my stupid mouth, I kept quiet, not wanting to answer

  "so something did happen!, what?, common tell me"

  I debated whether to tell her now or tell her later, If I tell her now, I know how she will respond, and I'm not in the mood for that.

  "it's nothing, I'll tell you later, I'm not really in the mood" I said

  "ok, but promise"

I sighed "I promise"

   "Good. So, Does it have anything to do with Drew by any chance?" she asked,

  "LATER!"

  "okay, okay, fine."

I rolled my eyes at her, even tho she couldn't see me.

  "so Amies, do you thin-"
"Raven who are you talking to?, I hope for your sake it's yourself!" I heard her mom say

  She whispered "shit!, I've been caught, I'm not supposed to be using my phone, got to go, love you, bye"

  I chuckled "bye".

***

Later that evening

I peeped into my dad's room, knowing he would be using his laptop "Dad" I whispered,

  He didn't acknowledge my presence,

"Dad, are you still mad?" I spoke a little louder, Nothing still.

  I sighed and entered his room fully, with a plate PBJ sandwich in my hand "see what I made you"

  He glanced at me, then the plate and after a moment went back to typing.

   I bit my lip, think of what to do.

I hate when my dad is mad at me, I get so restless and uncomfortable, sometimes I can't even sleep, I can't handle fighting with him.

  I took a step closer "Dad I'm sorry, I really am, I know I messed up and should have just asked for permission-" he stopped typing but didn't look up,

So I continue "it won't happen again, so can you please stop being mad, I'm really sorry"

  No response. I sighed and turned to walk away, "wait" he said, I turned to face him

He looked at me quietly for a while, I  was starting to get nervous, but then he spoke "what kind of sandwich is that?" he asked

  I smiled internally "peanut butter and jam" I said walking close to the bed,

  He tapped the bed, gesturing for me to sit, I sat next to him and handed him the plate,

  "Really?, you didn't even toast the bread?"

I smiled,

"Does this mean I am forgiven?"

He gave me a knowing look, before taking a bite out of the sandwich,

  That is a yes to me, I hugged him "thankyouthankyouthankyou" I said in a breath,

Smiling, he ruffled my hair with one hand, and continued to chew,

When I let go, He took another bite, then spoke with his mouth full "you are still grounded you know"

   "Goddammit!" I mumbled.

***************

Hiiii, I did it!, I finally finished this chapter!, for some unknown reason I was finding it hard to write, don't even know why, but it's done, so yaay! ♪＼(*＾▽＾*)／

Anyways, thank you so much for reading this chapter and this book in general,

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Modokpe, Odejuma 👋 (means thank you and Goodbye in Itsekiri)