The Day That Saved Us by Mindy Hayes

movie marathon ahead of us.”
    I really did sleep the day away. “A marathon?” I laugh and walk back in with a glass of orange juice. “It’s ten o’clock.”
    “The night is young. We can do whatever we want. Besides, we have to make up for the time you lost today. The summer is dwindling fast. We’ve got to soak up every minute before the semester starts.”
    I don’t want to think about school starting. School starting means no more summer. It means no more Brodee. It means real life begins. And I’m not ready for any of that.
    Brodee picks a comedy, and even though the couch is completely empty, he chooses to sit right beside me with the popcorn he popped. His thigh grazes mine, and it’s like my body has never felt his touch before, igniting a livewire that tingles every inch of my body. But it doesn’t seem to faze him. He doesn’t flinch or subtly try to move away. Neither do I. Because why should I? It doesn’t mean anything. We’re just best friends watching a movie like we’ve done millions of times before. I’m the one making it weird. It’s not weird. It’s nothing. Stop making it weird.
    I ease more comfortably into the couch as the previews begin. Brodee gazes over at me. “You missed out on playing in the waves with us when we got back.” He lifts his arm along the back of the couch behind me. “Or I should say you were missed.” I can feel him looking at me, but I don’t have the guts to meet his eyes. I don’t know what I’ll see there. Or maybe I don’t want him to see what my eyes may convey. I’m still trying to breathe through our touching thighs.
    “We can play tomorrow. I’ll feel better then. I just didn’t sleep well last night.”
    “Yeah? Why not?” he softly asks.
    “Just…thinking about my dad.”
    He reaches his arm around and tugs me close to his side. “I miss him too.”
    We don’t say anything more because the movie starts. The popcorn bowl sits in his lap, so I have to lean into him every time and reach for a handful. He chuckles, carefree, at every little humorous part in the movie. Brodee’s laugh echoes throughout the house . I want to bottle his laughter to savor it and release it when the world needs it most.
    My nap didn’t revive me. Or I guess it was more of a coma. My coma didn’t revive me. If anything, it made me more tired. Halfway through the movie I feel my eyes closing, but I fight back for as long as I can.
    “Here.” I look to Brodee as he moves the empty popcorn bowl to the floor and shifts away from me. “Lay down.” He places a pillow on his lap and pats.
    I hesitate. It’s not like we’re cuddling. I’m just resting my head on his lap to sleep. We’ve done this hundreds of times before. Calm your nerves, Peyton.
    “I can tell you’re still tired, but I’m not finishing this movie alone. Lay down,” he orders.
    I’m too tired to argue, so I do the only thing I can. I nestle into the couch and rest my head on his welcoming lap. At first he doesn’t know what to do with his arms until I feel a soft tug at my scalp. Brodee gently runs his fingers through my hair. Utter bliss. If he doesn’t want me to sleep, this is not going to help matters. My eyes flutter closed, and the haze of sleep takes me away.
     

     
    THE PILLOW SHIFTS under me, waking me.
    “Sorry,” Brodee murmurs. The TV is off now, and the room is dark. “I was trying to get up without waking you.”
    I sit up too fast and hold my head, sleep still heavily weighing it down.
    Once he stands, he offers me a hand. I slip mine in his, but blackness flashes in my eyes when I stand up too swiftly, causing me to fall forward. Brodee grabs me, placing a hand on my arm and the other around my waist to steady me.
    “Whoa there, Grace.”
    “Sorry,” I mumble and let him hold me until I don’t feel so dizzy and can see straight. It takes me longer than it normally should because I feel his touch all the way down in my ankles. They wobble and tingle. Stupid