The weekend after Dave's eighteenth birthday he held an 'unofficial' party. He'd had his official party on the actual date but on the following Saturday his father wasn't at home, so Dave let everyone know we were invited along. Dave was actually the last of our group to turn eighteen and that was enough of an excuse for a blast.
When I got there in the afternoon the party had already started. Dave had managed to get a keg from somewhere and everyone was helping themselves. OK. I'll admit it. I had a glass or two as well. Why not? It was party time.
I noticed that although the official guest list was basically for our little group there seemed to be a few extras in the crowd, maybe twice as many extras as official guests, but who cared. We were young and happy and partying.
There was a modicum of food, mainly chips and things, and I was starting to feel those drinks on an empty stomach. Fortunately someone had had the sense to order both some pizzas and some Kentucky and that arrived in a timely manner. I was feeling a lot better with something solid in my stomach.
The trouble was I was tired. I'd been out late the night before and also had an early morning. Not by choice - my mother kicked me out of bed and sent me down the street to buy some groceries. I decided a little nap was in order.
I'd been at Dave's place before and I where the spare room was. I wandered down to it, set the timer on my phone for two hours, kicked off my shoes, laid down, and fell asleep almost immediately.
The alarm woke me or, more accurately, it started to wake me. It's buzzing disturbed me and I half sat up, groping for the blasted thing to turn it off. I always put alarms out of reach so I have to get up to shut them up. That's the only way I can be sure I won't just turn it off and fall asleep again. I was groping for the alarm, not wanting to get off the bed, but knowing I'd have to, when it shut off.
I was relieved. I had a genuine excuse not to get up. I could hear the party still going on but, oddly enough, a lot quieter than I'd have expected. I knew I really should be getting back to the party but right now I was comfortable. Finally the oddity of the alarm turning off got to me and I opened my eyes and looked around.
I damn near screamed. There was this huge figure looming over me in the gloomy room. I was groping for the light when it went on. Dave's father was standing there, looking down at me, smiling.
"You're not supposed to be at home," I told him.
He gestured with a helpless look.
"What can I say?" he said. "These things happen. I do live here, you know."
"I guess," I admitted. "You turned off my alarm."
"I did."
"Why? That was set to wake me so I could get back to the party. I was only taking a short break. Um, is the party breaking up already? It's a lot quieter than I thought it would be."
"No. They're still going strong. I just explained to Dave that if the noise annoyed me then I'd kick his boom-box across the yard. He decided to tone it down a bit."
I had to smile at that. Dave loved his boom-box and would play it awfully loud at times.
"You're Miranda, aren't you? Why don't you call me Jerry?"
He came over and sat down on the bed next to me. I just looked at him, still half asleep. Maybe that third drink I'd had with the pizza was telling on me. I looked blankly at him when he reached down and undid the catch and zipper on my jeans.
"Um, what are you doing?" I asked him, confused.