Where They Go

Chapter Nine: Night

A few days passed and Erin was still very confused about her feelings.

Zoey had invited Erin over to her house for a sleepover on Saturday.

A little after one o' clock in the evening, she knocked on Zoey's front door.
Zoey invited Erin inside and led her upstairs to her bedroom.

Zoey's bedroom was smaller than Erin's.
The walls in her room were a deep shade of crimson.
The floor was made of soft light gray carpet.
Throughout the room, posters of a band and television shows that Zoey liked had been taped on the walls.

On the wall next to the door was a white dresser, which had a few fake plants displayed on top of it.
A spruce wood acoustic guitar was leaned up against the dresser.

Close to the dresser was a window, which had a white desk sitting in front of it.
On the desk sat a few notebooks and a cup that was filled with pens and pencils.

Opposite the dresser was the door to Zoey's closet.
The closet door had a few sketches taped to it.
Next to the door was Zoey's bed.

It was a twin-sized bed with a plain black comforter and dark gray pillows on it. A single stuffed teddy bear sat on the bed.

Above the bed was a flag with three stripes on it: a thick pink stripe on the top, a thin purple stripe in the middle, and a thick blue stripe on the bottom.
Erin looked at the flag intently, making one mental note: "Zoey likes girls."

A little while after dinner, Erin had asked Zoey what she could play on the guitar.

Zoey sat next to Erin on the bed, as she began to strum a small segment of a song that Erin didn't really recognize.

Zoey told her that the song was, "Crooked Teeth" by the band, "Death Cab For Cutie".
Erin made a mental note to look them up sometime.

She listened calmly and watched Zoey play.

Time went by as Zoey stopped playing and looked at Erin.
"How was that?" She asked, setting the guitar down.
"It was really good. How long have you been playing?"
Zoey took a second to count.
"A few months."

A couple minutes later, Zoey had gone to take a quick shower.
Erin changed into her pajamas, which were a pair of blue pajama bottoms with stars on them and a light gray "N.A.S.A." t-shirt.
As she packed her clothes into her backpack, she began to hum the song that Zoey had played earlier.

"Hi!" She heard Mikey say from behind her.
"Hi." Erin said to him. "What do you want?"
"You wanna play with me?"

Thankfully, Zoey came into the room before Erin had to answer the little boy's question.
"Hey." Zoey said, tossing her clothes into the hamper.
Zoey wore a pair of red, plaid pajama bottoms and a black, short-sleeved band t-shirt.
Her damp hair was tied into a loose braid.

"What're you doing in here, bud? I thought I told you to stay out of room when people are over." She said to her brother.
"I know, but I wanted to play with her." Mikey whined.
"I'm playing with her now. I'll play with you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay. Bye!" He said, running out of the room.

At around eleven-thirty at night, Zoey asked a question.
"Do you want to go outside?"
"Sure."

The two of them quietly walked out the back door, into the backyard.
It was extremely dark outside.
The only light source was the moon above them.

Zoey grabbed Erin's hand and walked her through the yard, stopping at the trampoline.

Holding Zoey's hand caused for the weird feeling to bubble in Erin's stomach again. She still had no clue as to what it was.
She really wished she knew what it was.

They climbed onto the trampoline and began to jump around.

After some time had passed, they grew tired of jumping.
They now laid next to each other, looking up at the stars.

"Hey, Zoey?"
"Yeah?"
"When did you get that flag?" Erin asked quietly.
"A year ago. Why do you ask?"

Erin absent-mindedly picked at a hangnail.
"I don't know. I was just curious. Can I ask you something else?"
"Mhm."
"How long have you known... that you, uh, like girls?" She asked nervously.

Zoey went silent, thinking over her answer.
"I've known since I was about fourteen, so I guess I've known for two years."

The conversation fell for a couple brief moments.
It was eventually picked back up.
"Do you like girls, Erin?" Zoey asked curiously.

Erin, once again, didn't have an answer.