“No I’m taking the couch” I protested to Oli.

It was 11:30 PM and we decided to get to bed; Patrick went home but Ray is staying. There was Oli’s room, the guest room, and the couch

“Christa it’s my house. I want you to sleep in the bed for tonight; I’ll take the guest room. Ray said he’ll take the couch”

“But I-“ I was cut off by Oli again.

“Christa, No. You are sleeping in the bed and that’s final” He said crossing his arms.

I gave a huff of defeat and nodded. Giving a cheesy smile he walked out the door; I looked around the room for the hundredth time just admiring the white walls. He had a couple band posters which weren’t surprising; I didn’t mind sleeping in my clothes at all. Good thing I wore something comfortable; I sat on the bed when I heard a knock at the door.

“Come in” I called, the door opened to reveal Ray.

“Hey Ray” I said with a smile, He smiles back and sits next me on the bed.

“You feeling okay?” he asks, I shrug my shoulders.

“My stomach feels a little better; Tired and worn out” I respond, he nods and we sit there in comfortable silence before he turns to me.

“Are you going to tell me what happened earlier…with your parents” he asks softly; I sigh.

“They called at the party, that’s when I went outside. They said that they were in California and weren’t coming back till next week” Ray’s eyes went wide but I continued.

“I asked them why they were there… Well more like yelled at them and they said they needed a break. They didn’t say what from though so I have no clue. I just got pissed at them and kicked the trash can; that’s what the sound was that made Patrick run out. Then I just figured I should have a drink…and now were here” I finish.

“I’m sorry Christa” he says sincerely

“It’s okay. They said they left money at the house so I’ll go back there tomorrow” I sigh.

“So you’re there all by yourself?” he asks, I nod.

“Well you have several friends you could spend the night with” Ray informed

“Yep even you” Wait what did I just say?

Ray chuckles and nods, we sit there for a couple more moments before Ray stands up.

“Okay, you’re obviously tired, goodnight Christa” he said.

”Goodnight Ray” I smiled, he nodded and went into the hallway closing the door behind him; I sigh and lay down pulling the covers up. I stare at the ceiling thinking about how sweet Ray is. Wait, What? Stop that. I shake the thought out of my head and close my eyes falling asleep immediately.

---

I woke up in a daze and groaned; My head hurt like a bitch and my stomach felt empty. I remember what happened last night at the party and with my parents; fuck them for just leaving like that. I then remember that I’m not in my bed but in Oli’s; I look to the alarm clock and its 2:45 PM, Shit school! I slept the whole afternoon. I sit up but hear another knock at the door.

“Come in” I say my voice hoarse and dry. The door opens and Ray is still here, what is he still doing here? He’s holding a glass of water and something in his other hand.

“Why are we not in school?” I almost shout; my loudness makes my head hurt and I press my hands to my temples.

“That’s why” he says sitting down; he hands me the water and two pills that look like Tylenol; I quickly take them.

“My dear friend Christa are now experiencing your first hangover” he laughs, I groan and lean back on the bed; I look at the ceiling then furrow my eyebrows.

“Where’s Oli?” I ask

“He’s at school. I offered to stay here and he said okay”

“Oh…Thank you” See he’s sweet, STOP IT!

“Schools almost over anyway” he laughs
“When I offered to stay with you Oli kept giggling…Is there a reason for this?” My eyes go wide, Dammit Oli.

“N-no he’s just being stupid” I try to say casually but a small stutter comes out; Ray raises an eyebrow but nods.

“How’s your stomach?” he questions

“Kind of hurts but I don’t think I’m going to throw up” I answered leaning back up

“Good, if you would have kept drinking this would have been much worse” He said

“Another thanks to you for throwing the bottle” I joked.

“Yep aren’t I a good friend?” he said with a cheesy smile.

“The best” I finished and we both laughed; another minute of silence before he spoke up.

“I don’t think Oli told his parents we were staying here today, so we need to get going somewhere else. Is your head feeling better?

“Ya thanks…My place or yours; or did you want to go somewhere else?” I asked

“My place is closer if you don’t mind?” he said

“That’s fine” I reached my hand out and he helped me up; I found the restroom and looked in the mirror. Oh gosh I look horrible; my hair is messed up and my eyes have small circles under them. Note to self: Never drink again; I groaned and washed my face till I felt a little cleaner. I went downstairs and saw Ray waiting patiently.

“What’s wrong?” he asked

“I look horrible” I said with a giggle’ he smiles and shakes his head.

“You look fine” He walks over and ruffles my hair; I playfully push him away and he pushes me back. We stare at each other for a moment when my stomach flutters; not a sick feeling but something else. Stop it stomach; don’t do that!

“You ready?” he asked, he nodded and we went out the front door; once in contact with the bright afternoon sun I immediately squeezed my eyes shut.

“Fuck” I muttered, Ray sees the problem and he hands me a jacket with a hoodie.

“Here take this, the hoodie might help” I slide it on and pull the top up so it’s covering my face; it’s pretty baggy and it smells like him. He smells good. Fucking stop it Christa!

“Thanks Ray” I say and he smiles and nods. In about ten minutes we arrive to Ray’s place; it’s a simple one story house but it looks really nice. We head inside and I was right; the walls are painted a light brown which somehow gives a comforting feeling.

“Where’s your room?” I ask

“In the basement”…Of course it is. We go down the steps and Ray turns on a light illuminating the room; My mouth drops in shock as every inch of wall is covered in posters. I’m not even kidding there is no walls showing. Then around the room are a dresser, nightstand, bed, laundry basket, stereo, and a guitar.

“You like?” he laughs.

“I love!” I say walking up to a poster; I then turn around.

“Are your parents at work?” I ask

“Ya, They get back around 5:30 PM” I nod and look around

“Did you want to listen to music?” he questions, I immediately grin and nod.

“Great go ahead and pick something out” he gestures to the stack of CD’s

---

Ray’s P.O.V

I smile at Christa as she quickly walks to the music selection; she really loves her music. She squeals and quickly pops in a CD pressing start; she turns to me as Black Flag Rise Above erupts through the speakers. I immediately grin and she grins back; I can’t help but smile as she starts dancing.

“What?” she questions at my smiling, still dancing.

“Nothing” I laugh

“Oh come on Fro Fro you can dance too” She jokes, I shake my head.

“Yes, dance!” She commands; I give a playful sigh and start jumping to the beat.

“See there you go” She says whilst spinning around; I watch her as she whips her head around making her hair fly everywhere and grin. She has a beautiful smile….Did I just think that? Well she does and she seems really happy when she’s around the gang; I mean I care about her and for some reason feel angry that her parents just left like that…These feelings; I think I have a crush. I’m not sure; I’ll have to talk to Oli or Brendon about it.

---

Christa’s P.O.V

I dance around like a madman; I usually don’t but with Ray I seem more comfortable with him. I twist and jump and turn just getting into the music; I see Ray do the same thing after I practically made him.

“I see you guys are having fun” We both stop and look to the voice; at the basement door stands Oli, Brendon, Frank and Gerard who all have a face splitting grin. I quickly turn off the music and blush.

“How did you guys get in here” Ray asks

“I know where you keep the spare key” Oli replies; Ray groans and shakes his head.

“Okay everyone up in the living room” he says. We all head up but Oli catches my arm; when I look at him he raises an eyebrow.

“How was your day?” He smirks

“Woke up late, then came here” I casually responded

“What were you guys doing in there?” I would love to slap the smirk off his face right now.

“Listening to music” I reply; Oli smiles and we both head upstairs to where the rest of the group is watching T.V.

“Hey Christa, you feeling better?” Gerard asks

“Much better, thanks” I say sitting down in an available seat.

“How was your first hangover?” Frank laughs

“Sucked at first but luckily was over quicker than I thought” I responded

“At least you weren’t Jack and Alex drunk because that would have sucked” Brendon Jokes, I nod because I would not like to see the aftermath of that situation.

“So how was school?” I ask after a little bit.

“Same as always, really boring” Gerard says; I smile and nod. Just then Oli sits next to me smirking.

“What?” I ask, he leans into my ear

“You do realize you’re wearing Ray’s jacket right?” He whispers. I look down and he’s right; the jacket ray gave me is still hanging loosely over my body. I blush and pull it off placing it in my lap Oli laughs and I give him a glare.

“Would you knock it off Oli” I joke

“You know you like him” Oli says quietly nudging my shoulder; I smack his arm and he just laughs. I stare at the T.V for moments thinking about what he said; I’m not sure what I think. I never really liked someone before so I don’t know what it feels like; everyone’s ignored me this past couple years so I almost forgot what it was like to have friends…Much less have a crush. I can’t decide if I like this feeling or not; it’s a new feeling. It was now 4:15 PM and I was deciding whether to go home or not; I realized that I had not had anything to eat since yesterday and I puked most of that up so I was starving.

“Hey guys I’m starving so I think I’m going to go home” I told the group.

“Aren’t your parents out of town?” Brendon asked, I nod

“Ya but I’ll be fine” I explained

“Okay…I just realized you don’t have any of our numbers?” I shook my head then Gerard, Frank, Brendon, Oli, and Ray gave me their numbers; then proceeds to give me Jack, Alex, Pete, Patrick, and Mikey’s numbers.

“Just call if you need anything” Brendon finishes, I smile and nod.

“I’ll walk you home” Ray says, I nod and go to hug everyone, I get to Oli

“Thanks for letting me stay at your place” I say giving a hug

“Anytime Christa…Don’t forget Ray’s jacket” he smirks

“It’s his house; I’ll just leave it here…You are never going to let this go are you?” I sigh

“Not until you two are together, and even after” He laughs; I roll my eyes and go over to the door

“See you guys at school” I call and they all wave back

“I’ll be back, don’t cause any trouble” Ray demands since they were in his house.

“We make no promises” Frank jokes. We all laugh again and Ray and I start walking down the street; His house was in a different neighborhood and was only a thirty minute walk. We talk about school tomorrow and the possible assignments we missed today.

---

“You can come inside if you want” I tell him as we approach my door; he grins and nods. Stepping into my empty house it feels the same; it always felt empty since my parents never really interacted with me. I walk to my parent’s bedroom to collect the money and when I get to the nightstand it’s not there; I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. I look all around the room for anywhere else that they could have put it, but nothing; I hurry to my room with Ray looking from the living room curiously. There’s nothing in my room either; I began to panic a little. I walk into the living room checking the table and on the couch

“What’s wrong?” Ray asks

“The money my parents left; I can’t find it” I say taking out my phone walking into the kitchen; Of course it’s not in there either. I dial my mom’s phone number and hold it up to my ear.

“Christa what is it?” she asks after answering on the last ring.

“Where did you put the money you left me?” I question, Ray walks into the kitchen listening

“It should be on our nightstand” she replies like it’s a stupid question.

“It’s not there and I checked the rest of the house” I say hoping that it’s somewhere.

“One minute” My mother says and I hear rustling.

“Shit” I hear her mutter
“Christa it seems I forgot to put it there and it’s in my purse here in Cali” She says with no worry in her voice as how her child is going to eat for the next week; I close my eyes and take a breath.

“I think I have some money” I say. Which I’m not sure how much but I don’t think it’s enough.

“We’re sorry Christa; we’ll be back in 6 days okay?” I give a short hum and hang up; I stare into space for a minute thinking how my parents are acting… ‘Oh we forgot to give you money to survive; too bad. you can deal with it’

“Christa?” Ray asks cautiously; I had forgotten he was there. I turn to him and he looks worried again; I sigh.

“They forgot to leave me money” I explain, his eyes give a small hint of sadness.

“They’re coming back right?” he asks slowly; I shake my head.

“What!” he yells exasperated
“They didn’t give you money to eat and they pass it off as nothing?” He asks; I just shrug my shoulders.

I then go into my room and find my box my keepsake box; It holds a couple bracelets, necklaces, and then a small stack of money. I double count the money and it holds $35, It’s a small amount but if I buy stuff wisely it will work; most of this stuff will be from the dollar store. I head back out to where Ray is waiting.

“I have $35, I’ll make it work” I tell him; He pulls out his wallet.
“Don’t you dare” I tell him

“Christa $35 dollars is not enough” He protests.

“I said I’ll make it work now put your wallet away” I demand, he sighs but puts the wallet in his pocket and I smile.

“Its fine Ray, I can handle it okay?” He nods, we stand there for a couple more minutes before I speak up.

“You better get home before Oli and them trash your house” I joke, he smiles.

“You going to be okay here on your own?” he asks sympathetically

“Ya I’ll be fine”

“Okay, you have all of our numbers so just call us” I nod again, We walk out to the porch.

“Thanks for staying the day…and for the hoodie…and for walking me; Thanks for everything” I laugh, he laughs to and nods.

“It was no problem; you’re fun to hang out with” I can’t help but grin some more. I lean in for a hug and when he hugs back I feel the flutter in my stomach again. Ughh stupid feelings!

“I’ll see you tomorrow then” I say pulling apart

“Yep, see you Christa” I wave as he walks to the road heading back to his house; I go inside and groan. Stupid parents and stupid feelings; I’m not sure whether to be pissed off at my parents or what. I go into the kitchen and it looks like I am going to have to go to the store in about two days; I quickly make myself some grilled cheese filling my empty stomach then take a shower since I haven’t had one in a bit. I go into my room feeling instantly tired; It’s only 4:45 PM but I get on some PJ’s and get under my covers. I hope Ray makes it home safe, Shhh, stop. I close my eyes and slowly fall asleep.

Notes

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~~ Killjoy