The Other Side

Chapter 12

"What the heck?" I mumble, annoyed that I've been woken up by loud banging.

"What?" a voice groans from beside me, and very quickly I recall where I am and what happened.

"Banging," I whine. "Stop the banging."

Harry is tangled around me and the bed sheets, but begrudgingly frees himself, gets half dressed and goes to investigate. I stay in the cosy bed, trying not to smile like an idiot. That becomes quite easy as Harry enters the room again, his face looking panicked, and I quickly realise why as my Mum rushes in behind him.

"Alexia May Grant, get dressed and get home. Now!" She's fuming, and her hand comes up to clutch her head as though she needs to stop herself from exploding.

I'm stunned into silence, unable to move. She shakes her head before leaving the room in a hurry to get away from me.

"Lexi, I'm sorry," Harry starts, but I get up, wrapped in his sheet, and put a finger over his mouth.

"It's fine," I say, though I know it's not fine for me. "I shouldn't have fallen asleep." I lean my head against his chest for a second before reaching up to kiss him and then collecting my clothes. I quickly get dressed and give Harry, who is now sitting on the edge of his bed, an apologetic look.

I climb slowly over the fence home, not wanting to rush. When I finally do make it to my house, my mum is in the living room, pacing, and my dad is sitting on the couch.

"Mum, I-" I try to explain, but she cuts me off immediately.

"Do you know how worried we were?" she screeches. "Do you know what we thought when we came home and the house was empty? We couldn't get in touch with you, we hadn't heard anything from you!"

"I'm sorry," I say weakly, though I know it will do no good.

"And then I go to see if anyone's home next door, to see if they heard anything. And I find you there with him!" Mum says the word 'him' as though it burns her on the way out. "What were you thinking?"

"I'm confused, are you more upset with the fact that I was gone or that I was with Harry?" I ask, knowing that'll probably get me in more trouble.

"Alexia, don't upset your mother more," Dad says, but I can tell he's not as worried about all this as Mum is.

"Everything, Alexia. I'm upset about everything!" Mum is hysterical.

"I'm sorry, ok?" My voice raises. "I messed up. I'm 16 that's what I do!"

"Hey, hey, hey," Dad interrupts as Mum and I start yelling at the same time. "Everyone is tired, everyone is stressed. Let's get some sleep, and talk about this rationally in the morning."

"I have to work tomorrow," I say sourly.

"Oh, like I'm going to let you out of the house," Mum starts off again.

"So I can't work now?" I screech back at her.

Again Dad interrupts us, holding Mum and pushing me out of the room. I can take a hint. I grab my phone from the study on the way past and head into bed. I look out my window and see that there's a light still on at Harry's place, so I pull out the note given to me by Anne and text him.

'Hey, I'm so sorry about my psycho mum. Got an earful and was 'sent to my room'. Other than getting busted was a good night :-)'

A moment later I get a reply. 'Best night :-) til now :-( could hear you getting in trouble :-P at least we weren't actually caught doing it ;-) that happened 2 me once. Awkward!'

I reply. ':-O awkward is an understatement. I wanna die now. Soooo embarrassing. I don't know if she might hate you too :-P ps that may have been the last time you'll ever see me. Apparently I can't leave the house ever again. Ha!'

My phone lights up with his text. 'Aw, I'll just have to come break you outta there. And ps mums love me. And I love mums ;-)'

I actually laugh out loud, as I'm assuming it's a reference to his history of dating older women. 'LOL. You're crazy :-)'

His response, 'Crazy about you :-P', makes me slap myself in the face.

'On that note I'm going to sleep. Don't wanna talk to someone as lame as you! Goodnight'

I read his last text, 'Night Lex', and then put my phone down, settling into bed thinking about Harry and the awesome night we had right up until my mum had to come in and ruin it.

The next morning she's more rational, and she doesn't start screaming the second I leave my room.

"Can we talk without killing each other?" Mum asks with a sigh, placing a cup of coffee in front of me as peace offering.

"I don't know, can we?" I counter, but I say it with a hint of amusement.

"You understand why I was upset last night?" Mum asks sternly.

"Yes, of course I do," I reply. "I know it was totally irresponsible to leave the house without telling you. It was so last minute, I just didn't think. I made a mistake."

"Just one?" Mum raises an eyebrow. "I'm not saying you made more, I'm just wondering if today you think there are more things you regret."

I get what she's saying, and I can't stop the smile that spreads across my face as I say, "It definitely wasn't a mistake."

"Lex!" Mum scolds me with a grin, covering her ears.

"Hey, you asked!" I giggle. "And don't worry - we were safe, he was really respectful and caring, blah blah blah."

"I'm really excited about the attitude you have towards sex," Mum says sarcastically. "So you're ok?"

I smile. "I'm fine Mum. Again, I'm sorry about last night. I just got distracted. I really like him."

Wow, it feels really good to finally admit that to myself.