It's currently 11:30 at night, and I don't seem to be falling asleep anytime soon, no matter what I do. I'm currently in the starfish position on my bed, desperately needing sleep to escape the evening's events. My mom and dad are out sleeping on the pull out couch, so leaving for a night ride isn't an option, unless I want questioned.

30 minutes later, and it's midnight. Still no progress made toward falling asleep. If anything, I'm even more awake. Suddenly, I hear knocking on the wall behind me. Confused, I put my ear up to it, hoping to hear what the strange noise is. After a minute of the tapping going off and on, I decide to tap back, resulting in a barely audible chuckle from the other side.

"You awake?" I hear the familiar, deep voice ask.

"No, I just tap the wall when I sleep. It's a real problem, you know," I sarcastically respond. I can't see him, but I know he rolled his eyes, probably adding in a smirk after. "What's up?"

"I didn't know these walls were so thin," he says inquisitively. "Don't be having any sex late at night, I need my precious beauty sleep." My heart pangs at that, but I don't know why. This boy has such a weird impact on me.

"Don't worry about that one, idiot. Not planning on any sex going on anytime soon," I reply, ignoring the weird feeling in my heart. "You never answered my question. What's up?"

"Can't sleep," he says with a groan. "You too?"

"Yep. I just want to take a night ride to relax, but the parents are on the couch. I'm not really feeling the wrath I would get from my mom." I sigh, longing for the wind to take the stress away.

"Come over," he states without hesitation. I, however, choke on my spit and start to cough, making him laugh. I can only imagine that perfectly stupid smirk creep back up onto his face. "Stop thinking about it so much, just do it."

"How do you expect me to sneak out the front door when my parents are in the living room?"

"Don't use the front door, idiot. Obviously."

"Then what am I supposed to use, idiot?" We usually only call each other idiot as a joke, but this time, I mean it.

"The window in your bedroom. I'm assuming your room is set up like mine. Just open it, step out, and I'll open mine. Simple, idiot." Yet again, I know that smirk is there. Yep, I was definitely right, he smirks just as much as boys in books. Maybe even more.

"Fine, but don't leave me hanging. Open yours now, I'm about to go to mine." I stand up, open the window, step out into the warm night air, then shut the window just enough to allow my fingers to slide back in to open it later. Just a few feet away from me, I see Ryder's head pop out of his window. He looks at me with a goofy smile before motioning me to come in.

Soon enough, I'm inside of Ryder's bedroom, which is just like the rest of his apartment; dark. Once again, there's only a small lamp with that same black shade providing a dim amount of light. Looking up, I see Ryder sitting on the edge of his bed. He's shirtless. When I said he was buff last time I was here, I hadn't truly realized just how buff. He's now revealing his six pack and pecs. His biceps look amazing without his shirt concealing the actual look of them. Even though he's sitting, I can make out the look of his deep v line, leading to his dark green sweat pants hanging low on his waist. Noticing I've been staring a bit too long, I dart my eyes to anything else in his room, but find nothing as he starts to laugh at me.

"Like what you see?" He asks, and I glance over to see that damn smirk.

"No, idiot," is all I can muster out.

"I bet," he laughs out. "Now, let's continue our talk from earlier. I just want to start by saying I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ghosted you like that, but it's just what I do when I panic." He sounds nervous at that last part, and I look over to see him scratching the back of his neck.

"It's okay, Ryder. Really. I shouldn't have been so weird about it anyway," I say, becoming nervous myself. Why am I nervous?

"Truce?" I look over to him, and see his hand out, ready to shake.

"Truce." I take his hand and shake, letting it linger a few seconds before quickly taking it back. I blush, thankful for the terrible lighting. "Is that all you wanted me to come over for? To finish our talk?"

"No, I got bored. I figured it would be a long shot, but I decided to see if you were up too. Guess I just got lucky," he says, dramatically laying back on his bed. He pats beside him, indicating me to sit down. Hesitatingly, I decide to go for it, and relax onto his soft bed. "So, what do you want to do?"

"You invited me here, idiot. You decide," I say, now laying back to meet him eye to eye. We stare at each other for a minute. Before long, we're both slowly leaning closer to each other. After what seemed like years, our noses are touching, and I get the same butterflies I felt the other evening in my kitchen. This time, though, there's no mashed potatoes to mash into my hair, no food to fight with, and no Gina to interrupt. It's just us, and the small space in between us. Just as I begin to move even closer, Ryder quickly jolts up, rushing to the door.

Looking back to me, he barely squeaks out "bathroom," before running down the hall. I roll over, shoving my face into his pillow, and scream. Why does he have to be such a... such a... such an idiot? Why do I have to be such an idiot for actually wanting to kiss him? Why do I suddenly feel this way? He clearly doesn't feel the same. He's ditched me twice now after a weird encounter like this. I need to push these feelings away, and focus on my first friend here in Daytona. Just a friend.

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Once again, I'm in shock. I didn't plan on this happening, but it did. So, there's that.

Thanks for reading!

It is Wednesday, my dudes.

I'll quit quoting vines... for now, that is.

Byeeeeeee