"What kind of twisted, sick movie did you put on, Isla?" I muttered from behind my hands, peeking through as a woman was being chased in a forest on the TV screen.

"I thought we agreed on horror." Isla replied as she looked at me with a blank look.

"I figured it would be like a cheesy horror flick that's so predictable it's funny." I said as I flinched, yet again.

"It said 'psychological thriller,' is it psychologically thrilling you, Indie?" Isla teased back.

I threw a pillow at her, pleased when it hit her in the head. "You forget I live alone, you bitch. Don't complain when I sneak into your room every night this week."

"You live alone?" Chase questioned from the opposite end of the couch. He was sitting as far away from me as possible. Maybe he really does think I have cooties.

"Her parents drop in every six months or so." Bella mused from her arm chair, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"Damn, I'm jealous." Asher added, and I saw Chase nod in agreement.

"Don't be." I said flatly. "It was fun for the first little bit."

"And now?" Chase asked, I turned away from the TV to see him looking at me, concern in his eyes. I shot him a soft smile.

"Now... boring." I didn't want to tell him that it was pretty damn lonely.

I turned my attention back to the screen, where the woman was now trying to climb a rocky hill, she tripped over some rocks, breaking her ankle judging by the bones that stuck through her skin. My hand raised to my eyes again. The eerie music increased in tempo, as the men who were hunting her closed in. Now that she unable to run, she tried to crawl up the hill. I couldn't help but inch closer to Chase, suddenly feeling very vulnerable all by myself on the end of the couch. He didn't react until I was sitting right beside him, the sides of our arms touching.

"You scared?" He whispered down to me. Even sitting, my head only reached his shoulders. I nodded, my eyes glued to the screen as I watched the woman try and cover herself with a bush, the men circling her. They were only feet away from her now. I looped my arm through Chase's, letting out a small scream as one of the men grabbed the woman's ankle. When he pulled her out the bush and dragged her away, I pushed my face into Chase's arm, not daring to look anymore.

Chase didn't make any moves to comfort me further, but he didn't pull away. Not that he had much choice, there wasn't anywhere to go. As the music died down, I risked peeking up again and found everyone's eyes on me. Bella and Isla were shaking their heads and chuckling at me, while Asher was smirking.

"Shut up." I grumbled as I lifted my body up from Chase, but not moving away. "Sorry." I whispered to him, once everyone else returned their attention to the screen.

Chase let out a deep chuckle. "Don't worry about it, Indie. Here." He lifted the arm that I was still clutching and draped it over the back of the couch behind me, so that I could lean further into his chest.  I smiled at him before leaning in and grabbing his flannel shirt.

I spent the rest of the movie with my face pressed into Chase's chest. He was sitting so still that I periodically glanced up to check that he hadn't fallen asleep while sitting up. His eyes were glued to the screen, never looking elsewhere. I finally sat up as the credits rolled and separated myself from Chase.

"Guess what, Isla? As a thank you for the nightmares that I will surely have tonight, you can sleep in my bed." I told Isla with a smile, she simply rolled her eyes.

"Which leaves one bed, and one couch. You two can fight it out." Bella said as she stood and wished us goodnight before walking to her room and shutting the door.

"Well, since Chase almost made us miss the set to go home, I'm taking that bed." Asher said as he stood, Isla stood with him, telling him she would show him the way.

"You'll be okay on the couch?" I asked Chase.

"I think this couch is more comfortable than my bed. I'll be fine." He told me, smiling. I nodded and told him goodnight and made my way to my room.

I was about to climb in bed, after I brushed my teeth and brushed my hair into a low ponytail, when I realized that Chase didn't have a blanket or a pillow. I grabbed one of the many pillows on the bed, as well the quilt that was folded on the bottom of the bed, trying not wake Isla who was already snoring. I made my way into the living room, which was pitch black with all the lights turned off. I quietly flicked on one of the lamps on the side table, not wanting to trip. I was shocked to see Chase was still in the same position I left him in, sitting upright with his elbows resting on each knee, and his head bowed. He snapped his head up with the light came on.

"I just brought you a blanket and a pillow." I said shyly, holding up the items. He simply nodded.

"Thanks." He said.

I walked over to him, placing the blanket and pillow on the couch. I sat down beside him. "You okay? You're just sitting here in the dark."

He looked at me with a soft smile. "I'm good, Indie. I was just thinking."

I nodded, "what'cha thinking about?" I tried to keep my voice as light as possible.

Chase sighed, "it's nothing important." I bobbed my head again, but I could see the sadness in his eyes. "Thanks for all of this, Indie. It was really nice."

"You're welcome, Chase. Well, goodnight." I said, my voice low.

"Goodnight Indie." He was still looking at me with those sad eyes, and for some reason it really broke my heart, so I leaned forward and pulled him into a hug. He didn't move at first, and just as I was about to pull away, he wrapped his arms around me.

"Whatever it is, it's going to be okay." I whispered before pulling away. I smiled one last time before standing up, turning the light off, walking back into my room and climbing into my own bed.

***

I woke up earlier than I was expecting to, considering we didn't get into bed until 4am. I glanced at the clock on the nightstand, 9:30 am. Isla was still sleeping beside me, so I quietly crept out of bed. After some quick morning hygiene, I changed into the light blue dress I brought for the ride home. I packed my bag, making sure I didn't leave anything behind. I really needed some coffee so I crept into the kitchen, trying not to wake anyone. I placed a K-Cup into the Keurig machine that was tucked into the corner of the counter top.  

"I'm surprised you're up." I heard Chase's voice say from behind me. I turned around and found him leaning against the wall.

"Me too, actually. I'm thankful though, checkout is at 11 am. I can't tell you how many times I've had to pay for an extra night because we've slept through check out." It was an annoying habit of Isla, Bella and mines, actually.

"I don't suppose you guys brought any food with you?" Chase asked me.

"No, I'll just order room service." I told him as I picked up the menu that was placed on the counter. "You want anything in particular? My treat."

"Oh, no that's okay actually. I'll just wait until we get back to town to eat." Chase muttered, shaking his head.

"That won't be until after lunch, at least, Chase." I eyed him.

"I'll be fine." He said as he walked back into the living room.

Of course I didn't listen, and ordered enough for everyone. Once the food was delivered to the room, I placed it all on the counter and made my way to the rooms, mentally bracing myself for the storm of attitude that I was about to wake up. I knocked on Asher's door first, figuring he would be least likely to cuss me out for waking him up. Surprisingly he answered right away, apparently already up. Next was Bella. I didn't bother knocking, instead making my way inside and jerking open the curtains open.

"You bitch." Bella groaned, trying to hide her face under the pillow. "It's like 6 am."

"It's 10, and we have to leave in an hour. Breakfast is here, and if you're not ready by 11, I'm leaving your ass behind and putting your credit card on file." I said as I strode out of the room, back to where Isla was sleeping. I pulled the curtains open on her too, which didn't seem to phase her as she continued snoring. I launched into phase 2, and pulled the duvet from her body, tossing it off the bed completely.

"Did you have to phase 2 me? Really?" She shrieked as she jumped up from the sudden coldness.

"We have to leave in an hour, and if I come back in here and you're still asleep, prepare for phase 3." I barked at her, really hoping she would listen as I didn't want to pour water on her.

***

Surprisingly, I was able to check out in time and we were on our way back to Lakeview. Asher had grumbled about not wanting to listen to Ariana Grande so he insisted on having control of the AUX cord. I didn't mind much, his music was pretty similar to what we listen to at times anyways. Mostly 2000 pop-punk. I had my sunglasses on, bobbing my head to the music as Bella was doing the same in the passenger seat. Isla was asleep in the back seat, beside Asher who was in the middle. My head instantly snapped to Bella as the music changed and I heard the first few beats of our all time favourite song. Bella looked back to me, smiling and I tilted my head in Isla's direction.

"Wake her up." Bella commanded to Asher. I watched in the review mirror as his face turned into confusion before slightly nudging Isla, who snapped towards him with a grumpy look on her face. The look disappeared as she heard the song, a smile creeping on her face. I reached for the volume adjuster, turning it up to the maximum level. Bella, Isla and I automatically began to belt the words, each of us taking our designated line.

"Her name is Noelle..." Bella started.

"I have a dream about her..." Isla was next.

"She rings my bell, I got gym class in half an hour..." I sang.

"Oh how she rocks, in Keds and tube socks..."

"But she doesn't know who I am! And she doesn't give a damn about me." I raised one of my hands in the air as I let it out.

We continued in this fashion until the chorus came on, and then we all started to belt together.

"Cuz I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby, yeah I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby, listen to Iron Maiden baby, with me." I laughed at the startled expression's of Chase and Asher, who were looking at us like we were crazy.

"Her boyfriend's a dick, he brings a gun to school." I sang.

"And he'd simply kick my ass if he knew the truth." Isla let out.

My dad played this song on one of our many road trips in middle school, and we made him repeat it the whole way back. After all these years, it's still our ultimate road trip song.

"Man I feel like mold, it's prom night and I am lonely." Isla continued.

"Lo and behold, she's walking over to me, this must be fake, my lip starts to shake..." Bella sings.

"How does she know who I am? And why does she give a damn about me?" I sang horribly, forgetting it wasn't just us in the car.

We sang this part together, "I've got two tickets to Iron Maiden, baby, come with me Friday, don't say maybe, I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby LIKE YOU!"

We erupted in laughter as the song died down, and I turned the volume back down to a normal level. It wasn't until the next song suddenly stopped that I remembered Chase and Asher's presence.

"What the fuck was that?" Asher asked.

Bella whipped her head towards him, and I darted my eyes between him in the mirror and the road.

"What?" I asked him, "everyone loves that song."

"I mean I guess..." Asher continued, letting himself trail off.

"Are you trying to gatekeep Wheatus, Asher?" Isla asked from beside him.

"No, not at all. That was just such an ironic moment, it feels like it came straight out of a book." His brows were furrowed.

"What do you mean?" I asked him, not understanding.

"I mean, really? The 'It Girls' who didn't know our names before last night, belting out the lyrics to Teenage Dirtbag while driving us home from a rock show?" Asher said while stroking his chin, "not to mention..."

"That you guys are really bad singers." Chase continued.

I let out a fake gasp before laughing and agreeing, we basically sounded like screeching cats. "So what, you two are supposed to be the teenage dirtbags?" I asked as I rolled my eyes.

"Clearly, sweetheart." Asher answered as he gave me a small smirk.

I dropped Bella and Isla off first, before making my way towards Chase's house. Asher had assured me that I could drop him off at Chase's as well, because they didn't live far from each other. Chase had jumped into the front seat after Bella left.

"Here you are. Don't forget to tip your driver." I said as we pulled up to the house.

"Here's your tip, take some singing lessons." Asher said before jumping out. I let a laugh out before glancing back to Chase who was still sitting in the front seat.

"You going to be okay by yourself tonight?" He asked me.

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?" I asked him, my face scrunching in confusion.

"Oh- never mind. I just thought, from the movie last night..." Chase trailed off. I swatted his arm.

"Well thanks for reminding me. I had almost forgotten." I joked at him.

"Sorry." He smiled at me briefly before scratching his ear. "Do you, uh, maybe want to get together one night this week?"

"For the project? Of course. Maybe we can shoot something." I mentally ran down the list of things I had planned for the week. "Maybe tomorrow night?"

"Oh yeah for the project, obviously. Okay I'll see you tomorrow." Chase rushed out before swinging the door opening and closing it behind him. He didn't turn around as she darted towards his house.

I'm coming to the conclusion that Chase is weird.