After Hours ➳ Dinah Jane

thirty-two

I woke up, instantly remembering what today would be the first day of, and knew it would either be an amazing day, or an amazingly awkward day. Dinah and the girls would be meeting again, but this time with a completely different set of circumstances. This would be the first time they'd really see me happy while living with someone. Considering how unenthused I was when I was living with my family, or in some cases, alone.

"Y/N, baby, get up!" Dinah's yell echoed from the living room.

I squirmed in the sheets, and refused to get up for a few more minutes. Most days, I wish her and I could just sleep in. On the days I want to sleep in she has things to do, and vice versa. Although, I understand that today would be a hard day for her to just lay here in wait next to me.

Apparently, I stayed still for a few minutes too long because Dinah walked into the room, and opened the curtains to let the sun's rays hit my face. Before I could cover up in retaliation, the covers were ripped away.

"Babe, your friends will be here in half an hour. Go get in the shower, Smelly." Her taunts were purely for encouragement, but I could see that she was just as anxious as I was.

I nodded and sat up on the bed to wipe the sleep from my eyes. Before leaving to start my shower, she kissed the top of my head and softly ran her finger over my cheek. A smile instantly shot onto my face as I watched her walk away. Even though she might be internally freaking out, she sure knows how to make me think that she's still okay. That confidence is becoming infectious.

—

It took nearly forty-five minutes for me to get ready. Luckily, just as I had put on my left and last shoe, the doorbell rang. I was so excited that I left the shoe untied, and walked out of the room to see a petrified Dinah standing near the front door.

For her, it was an awkward situation seeing the girls no matter which way she looked at it. She was a teacher to most of them, and did her best to not let students get too close to her. Obviously, it didn't work out that way for me, but she really didn't have any other choice. We met under false pretenses. I'm sure in another dimension, she met me the same way that she met my friends and she stayed my teacher. There never would've been a chance for her to give me a second glance. But sadly for her, she's stuck in my dimension and if she wants me, then she gets my best friends too.

"You okay, D?" I chuckled, rubbing her back to lighten up her expression.

She bit down on her bottom lip before responding, "Babe, I know I said I could do this. But I don't think I can."

Knock Knock.

"They're already here. What do you want me to do?" I could see her slightly panicked, and slid my hand from her back to grab her by her waist and pull her close to me. "Listen, you can do this. We can do this. We made it through the literal worst year of our lives. This is nothing. This is five days of fun and a break from all of the serious bullshit." I needed her to feel safe and comfortable because my friends are like bloodhounds. They know when someone is scared. And technically, I'm not lying to her right now. We are going to have fun, but if I tell her the complete truth, the truth that it's going to be VERY weird, she won't be able to have fun with us.

Dinah sighed and kissed my lips, "Fine. You're right. I'll just relax."

"Just try to. Okay?" I reached for the door knob, and took a deep breath before opening and revealing all four girls huddled close together on my apartment patio as if they were scared.
"Are you guys alright?"

"Hurry. Let us in," Ally pleaded, "There's this weird guy outside who's been following us since we got out of the car."

I quickly let them rush in, and once the door was locked it became a loud reunion of everyone talking over each other in happy tones and words of excitement. They piled me in a group hug and squeezed me so hard that if anyone else were to join into the festivities, I'd probably puke from being squeezed too hard.