Marisol's POV- April 2018

I glanced away from the notes I had scattered throughout my bed, and at my phone that had chimed. Before I could even reach for it, my phone started ringing. Reaching over, I saw the call was from Cody.

"Hello" I greeted once I answered the call.

"Hey, did I wake you?"

"No, I'm actually looking over some class notes" I answered.

I liked to look through my notes to refresh my mind.

"Are you busy?"

I glanced at my alarm clock and saw it was almost 1 AM. That explains why my body was telling me to go to bed.

"I am not" I replied.

"Can I see you?"

"Sure, do you plan on spending the night?" I questioned.

Thankfully, one of my classes was canceled so instead of coming home I did my required hours that I normally did Thursday's today.

"Would your dad let me?"

"He's not home, so I'm sure he would not mind that I have company" I admitted.

"I can stay the night"

"Great, see you then," I told him.

I ended the call and groaned before looking at Bugs.

"I have to change" I complained.

Bugsy simply licked his nose and huffed. You see, the PJs I had on were pretty darn skimpy, and I was one who refused to wear a sports bra to bed. I changed into a pair of longer shorts and a loose fitting t-shirt.

"Fuck" I mumbled to myself.

I had forgotten to feed the strays, so I quickly rushed downstairs and outside where I was greeted by loud meows.

"I know, I'm sorry" I apologized to them.

It turns out Cody was a lot closer than I assumed he was because while I fed the kittens, he called me. Obviously, I did not answer the call because my phone was upstairs, but when I got to my room I noticed I had several missed calls from him. Just as I was about to call him back, my phone started ringing.

"Hey, sorry I left my phone in my room," I told him.

"It's alright, I was just calling you because I don't know where to park"

Makes sense, tomorrow was street sweeping and trash pick-up day on our side of the street.

"I'll be right out," I said.

"Okay, see you then"

"Bye" I replied before ending the call.

Once I was downstairs, I disabled the alarm system and grabbed my car keys before making my way out. Cody got out of his car as I approached the gate.

"Hey"

"Hi" I greeted.

Before I could open the gate, Bugs began to bark.

"Boy, come here" I called out.

Bugs made his way to me while barking at Cody. once he was close, I picked him up.

"I'm going to put my car in the garage, and you're going to park your car where my car was" I instructed.

Cody nodded and watched as I got into my car. After I set Bugs down, I opened both the garage and front gate with a push of 2 buttons. After I pulled my car into the garage, I stayed in the car until Cody was parked inside. Once he shut off his headlights, I closed the gate and opened the door when I heard the gate 'lock'. Bugs bolted out of the car to bark at Cody, whereas I took my time to get out. Cody was pulling out a duffle bag out of his car when I approached him.

"Do you have anything to do tomorrow early in the morning?" I questioned.

He shook his head.

"Okay good because we're sleeping in" I informed him.

I knew for a fact that he had the day off tomorrow.

"Do I look that bad?"

"You could look better" I noted.

To which he laughed.

"It's nice to see you too"

I accepted his hug.

"Let's go inside," I told him.

He and a barking Bugs followed me inside.

"Did you watch the game?"

"Uh, no. We don't have cable right now, someone is actually supposed to come in and fix it tomorrow" I said.

I tried watching it on the MLB app, but LA has a blackout...fun!

"We lost"

Oh, I knew the score, Lucy texted it to me (and my MLB app informed me). My phone started ringing, and I rolled my eyes as I realized why.

"You can go on up and change in my room. My dad is calling me to know why the alarm system is off" I informed him.

I answered the call before Cody could reply.

"Hello," I greeted.

"Why is the alarm system off?"

"I shut it off" I answered.

"Why?"

"Because I was outside moving my car" I replied.

"Again, why?"

"Cody is spending the night" I responded.

He hummed.

"No funny business"

"Of course" I promised.

I turned on the alarm system.

"Sleep tight"

"What time is the cable guy coming?" I questioned.

"In the afternoon"

Okay good because I wanted to sleep.

"We all need to catch up on sleep"

Ain't that right.

"I'll see you in a bit"

"Be safe" I told him.

"Always"

I bid goodbye and shut off the lights downstairs before making my way upstairs. Cody was seated on my desk chair.

"Your notes are incredibly color-coded"

I tried to use at least 5-6 colors for every class. Why? Because it helped me concentrate when I looked at them at a later time.

"Do you go over your notes?"

"I do" I confirmed.

I liked to add visuals (with sticky notes) in order to reference the animal.

"Is this only for one class?"

"Yes," I answered.

He watched as I collected up my notes, and then placed them in a binder.

"I had dinner with my family tonight"

Interesting.

"For my mom's birthday"

I figured.

"Ashli was hoping she could meet you"

Before I could give him a reply, he spoke up.

"But I told her that maybe next time because you're busy with school"

Cody had told me that his mom was not the only one who originally wanted him to get back together with his ex-girlfriend. His sister was actually good friends with Cody's ex-girlfriend and was 'crushed' when they broke up.

"You're technically not busy tomorrow, but I don't want her to make you feel uncomfortable"

How nice of him.

"Perhaps next time" I answered.

He smiled.

"As long as you're comfortable"

He looked away from me when my phone chimed.

"So do you want anything to drink?" I questioned.

"Uh, no I'm okay"

I nodded and looked down at my phone to see James had texted me. Before I could unlock my phone he was calling me.

"Well this is unusual" I noted.

I looked at Cody.

"Give me one second," I told him.

"Yeah, of course"

"Hello," I greeted.

"Hey, quick question"

"Shoot" I answered.

I glanced at Cody to see Bugs was keeping him busy.

"Is your dad testing me? Does he really not want me to check on you?"

"I'm not home alone," I told him.

He hummed.

"Oh-la-la"

I rolled my eyes and stacked the binder on my desk with the other ones.

"Okay, well it's a good thing you're safe. Are you busy tomorrow?"

"I'm actually free tomorrow" I replied as I zipped up my backpack.

"Great, lunch on me?"

"Oooh, nice. What are you suggesting?" I questioned.

I placed my backpack under my desk.

"What are you craving?"

"Mac and Cheese from Panera" I answered.

"Okay, yeah. I can do that. Do you want anything to drink?"

"That orange lemonade" I replied.

"And a cookie?"

I smiled.

"You know me too well" I stated.

He chuckled.

"I'll drop by at around 2?"

"Okay, see you then" I responded.

"Sweet dreams, Marisol"

"See you tomorrow," I told him.

I ended the call and looked up to see Cody was not in the room. The door to my room was open, and I could hear that the bathroom light was on. A couple of minutes later, he made his way back into the room.

"Are there animals in your backyard?"

"Cats" I answered.

He slowly nodded.

"Okay that makes sense"

I smiled.

"Did you look out the bathroom window?" I questioned.

"Yeah, and I'm never doing it again"

He probably saw little eyes looking back at him.

"I'll show you in the morning, but there is a section where the stray cats live" I stated.

They were all neutered/spayed, and the neighborhood except the neighbor was okay with it because it kept the rodents away.

"How do you function?"

I laughed.

"With at least 6 hours of sleep and lots of coffee" I admitted.