After All

Chapter Seven

            Bang! Bang! Bang! A loud knocking pulled me from my dreams. Confused as to why the button on my jeans was digging into my stomach, I forced my eyes open against the blinding light of the sun. My bed was in the wrong spot, and an unfamiliar poster hung on the wall. A cold understanding crept over me when I realized my head was no longer resting on the pillow, but on Ryan's hard stomach. My leg slung over his and he had his arm wrapped tightly around my back.

"Ryan, wake up!" I untangled myself from his grasp and shook his shoulder until his eyes fluttered open.

A smile crept across his face as he looked at me through hooded eyes. "Hey, Sunshine Girl."

"Ryan, there's no time for this! We fell asleep last night, and someone is knocking on the door," I rambled frantically, physically pulling him out of bed.

"Oh crap," he finally realized what was going on. Running his hand through his mussed hair, he composed himself for a moment before crossing the room to the door. He opened it only a crack, attempting to block whoever was outside from seeing me.

"Hey, Mom and Dad," he said a little too loudly, making sure I heard him. "Sorry, I overslept."

I quickly scanned the room, searching for a way out. The only thing I could come up with was hiding under the blankets like a dirty pile of clothes, but even that didn't seem like a viable option.

Ryan tried to close the gap in the door even farther. "Why don't I change quickly and meet you downstairs?"

Oh yes, that's brilliant, I thought. Please let them go for that.

Unfortunately fate was not looking out for me and after what sounded like a scuffle, I heard his sister call out, "You can change later, I want to see your room." And without warning she flung the door open wide.

I'd never wished for a sinkhole to open up and swallow me whole more than I did in that very moment. Pulling myself in as small as I could get, I faced his entire family, red-faced and embarrassed, the fact that I'd spent the night completely obvious. "Hi," I barely whispered, giving them a small wave.

Michelle and Rebecca burst into a fit of giggles, but his parents only glared at us. Their eyes darted back and forth between me and their son, marble stone looks on their faces. I could only imagine what they were thinking, especially because we both still wore the same clothes they'd dropped us off in last night.

Ryan finally found his voice, and blurted out, "This isn't what it looks like. Lily and I fell asleep watching Braveheart last night. That's all."

"Sure you did," Rebecca scoffed, plopping herself down on Jim's desk chair.

His parent said nothing, and I took that as my opportunity to leave. Snatching my purse off the bed, I shot a look of apology to Ryan, mumbled an "I'm sorry" to his parents, and bolted out past them.

I didn't stop running until I burst through the front door of the dorm building. I tried to compose myself enough to complete the short walk to my room. There really was no reason to feel like I was taking the walk of shame. All we had done was sleep in the same bed. This was college. So why did I feel so guilty? Probably because for that brief second when I first woke up, I liked seeing Ryan's face so close to mine, his arm slung over my stomach. Maybe I felt guilty because deep down part of me had wished we had spent the night together. Doing so much more than sleeping.