A Very Special Night

Amidst the deafening clashing of raindrops and thunder outside, Sunny heard a panicked, desperate knock on their front door. His legs took him downstairs without thinking as his heart thumped like crazy. Sunny had the entire house to himself that day. Their parents went on some business trip and Mari was currently at a friend’s house for a sleepover in the city. Who could possibly be knocking at their door this late in the night?

“Sunny? Are you there?!” yelled a voice from behind.

Sunny threw open the door the moment he recognized the voice. Standing before him was Aubrey, whose clothes and body was soaked all over. She looked like she was about to cry. The boy quickly yanked her arm and brought her inside before slamming the door shut. His heart sank seeing his friend in such a pitiful state. “W-What happened?!”. Aubrey bit her lip and forced herself to look him in the eye. “I have a favor to ask. Can I… sleep here for tonight?”

Sunny realized right away that something real bad must have happened with her parents back home. Aubrey told him about it many times in the swings. Her parents would fight over some stupid stuff and she’d always get caught in the crossfire. Her mom often took out her anger on her and yelled all sorts of nasty stuff at her, telling her how useless she was and how she’d be better off leaving with her dad. Hearing those accounts from Aubrey as she was on the verge of tears was enough to make his blood boil and brought out a side of him that he didn’t know had existed before. For her to run all the way to their house in the middle of heavy rainfall though, things must’ve gotten real serious back there. “Yeah! Of course! Uh, wait here, l’ll get you a towel!” he said. He bolted upstairs to fetch a towel as fast as he could and handed it to her. Aubrey wiped her face and hair dry with it. “Sorry for making such a mess,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. Sunny clasped both hands and paced the room as he thought about what to do next. A bath. Yes. Sunny frowned. The bathroom’s upstairs and Aubrey, who’s still soaked like a wet paper in a swimming pool, couldn’t possibly walk upstairs by herself. Too dangerous. Waiting for her to dry up wasn’t good either, as she might get sick if she stayed like this any longer.

An idea came to him after a while. “L-Let me carry you upstairs so you can take a bath,” he stammered, his eyes narrowing as they wandered to the ceiling.

“Sunny, no! I—”

“It’s fine. I’m strong enough to do it!” His face reddened as he got the words out.

“T-That’s not the issue!”

“You’d get sick if you stay in your clothes any longer. Come now.” He crouched in front of her and extended his arms backward, inviting her to lean on him. After hesitating for half a minute, Aubrey got off her damp shoes, wrapped her arms around his neck and hoisted herself up. Yep, she’s not as heavy as he thought. He still walked slowly as they approached the bottom of the stairs however. Gotta be careful around the stairs at all time, their mom would always remind them.

“Thanks,” the girl whispered on his ears. Sunny could feel her breath and the warmth of her body pressed on him which made him all tingly and warm inside. Forcing himself out of his daze, he took the first step, his left arm supporting Aubrey’s weight while his right arm gripped the handrail. This was the closest Aubrey had ever been to him, and that gave him the strength to ascend — a task he’d have no strength to do under normal circumstances. “Everything’s going to be okay,” he told her. In that moment, strength surged within him. Sunny felt like he can do anything.

He gently put her down after reaching the top and led her to the bathroom.

“Wait here.” He ran to their room and grabbed some of Mari’s clothes and gave it to her . They’re probably too loose and big but it’s not like he had any other choice. It would have to do.

Aubrey shook her head. “Sunny, those are Mari’s! I can’t take them!”

“It’s fine,” he said. “ She won’t mind.”

The girl reluctantly accepted the clothes as she went inside. Sunny slumped on the floor and sighed, pleased with himself. Okay, what’s next? Sunny remembered some leftover pizzas from earlier that day in the refrigerator. Hero once showed him the correct way of reheating leftover pizza slices which involved heating them in a pan with some oil in it. That way, the slices won’t become soggy afterwards but instead would retain their proper texture. He went to work in the kitchen as Aubrey took her bath, reheating about six slices worth of pizza. He carefully placed the slices on a large plate and took it with him to the couch, where they could watch some TV while eating pizza.

Once she’s done, Sunny called Aubrey to meet him downstairs. Her eyes widened with joy upon seeing the plate. “Oh, pizza!”. Just seeing her cheery like this was enough to brighten his day. Sunny rifled through some movie tapes and found a good movie. It was one of the first critically acclaimed Spaceboy features and he deliberately chose it knowing how much of a fan Aubrey was. Well, so was he, which made it doubly perfect. After the movie, the two sat next to each other, just appreciating the moment. Sunny looked at Aubrey with an admiration unlike anything he’s felt before. She’s so cute, smart, and honest and open with just about anything. And above all else, she’s such a kind friend who had his back no matter what. Being there for her and listening to her problems was the least Sunny could do.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” he asked.

Aubrey hesitated at first, but then spoke after a while. “Mom and dad, they… had a very nasty fight earlier. Even worse than usual. I was so scared. I’ve never seen mom so violent before. She started throwing stuff around and —”

She started sobbing before she could get another word out.

Sunny placed a hand on her back and waited her continue.

“I just ran. At first I didn’t know what to do and where to go, I just knew that I had to get away from them. Then it started raining and next thing I know, I found myself right here. Funny huh?”

Sunny's face crumpled with concern. “Aubrey, this is bad. Really bad. Have you told anyone else about this?”

“No. I haven’t told anyone. I…I don’t want mom and dad to get into trouble. It might not seem like it at first, but I know they’re good people, they’re just having some issues.”

Sunny clenched his fist. “Some issues? You almost got hurt earlier!” This was not right. Nothing about it was.

Aubrey wiped the tears off her face. “But I didn’t. I’m okay now.”

They sat there in silence for some time, contemplating. How could her parents be so awful?

Aubrey inched closer to him and before he knew it, Aubrey had wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. “Thank you so much, Sunny.” Sunny was taken aback at first but hugged her back. “Just promise me one thing,” he said. “Promise me that you’ll tell an adult what’s happening if things get bad enough, all right?” Sunny wanted so badly to tell it himself but he had to respect Aubrey’s wishes.

Aubrey nodded yes.

Afterwards, Sunny grabbed two comforters, blankets, and a bunch of pillows. He told Aubrey that she was free to sleep on Mari’s bed if she wanted to, but she declined, so he decided that they’ll just sleep together downstairs. After setting everything up, Aubrey took his hand in hers.

“Good night, Sunny.” She seemed unsure about something, her eyes focused on the floor. Then in a move that completely surprised him, Aubrey gave him a smooch in the cheek.

Sunny just stood there unmoving, like he’s been struck by lightning.

“I….uh.”

Aubrey plopped down on the comforter and fell asleep almost immediately.

Sunny, however, did not sleep well that night.