Tripping over chocolate

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mornings are always a rush for me. I sleep in until the last minute, and then jump up and get dressed and go. I leave later than Cody, so he's already gone when I wake up.

It's about a twenty-five minute drive to my college. Forty-five for Cody. I don't really care about anything that happens in my classes, so I kind of slug around through most of the school day.

After school, I either meet up with Evelyn or go home. Today, I would go straight home.

The apartment is never a mess because there is nothing to mess it up with. The only piles I can clean are the dishes and the clothes. So, I walk into the bedroom and gather a pile of dirty clothes together and shove them into the washer. After that, I just started cleaning a couple of plates Cody and I had used the night before last.

I heard a truck being locked outside. It was a few minutes before Cody usually came home, so I figured it was him. The door clicked as it was unlocked and Cody walked in. I could see him from the opening in the wall between the living room and the kitchen.

"Hey?"

"Hey."

"You're home early."

"Yeah." He crashed on a chair and I finished the other few dishes and silverware there were. I came over and sat in the chair next to him.

"How were your classes?"

"Eh. I had a couple of tests."

"How'd you do?"

"Passed at least one of them."

"How many did you take?"

"Just two."

We sat in mutual silence of not saying anything until one of us had something to say.

He looked up at me. "How was your day?"

"The usual: boring and work-filled."

"Anything. . . abnormal happen. . ?"

I almost jumped, but stood up perfectly straight. He never asked questions like this.

"No, why. . . ?"

"Just wondering."

". . . Did something happen to you?"

"No, I was just wondering."

"No one just asks that kind of question."

"I was just wondering, okay?!" I could tell he was irritable and would only get more angry if I argued, so I let it go.

He stood up. "I'm going to take a nap." I watched him walk into the bedroom and close the door. Although his question was slightly frightening, it wasn't uncommon for Cody to get irritable and angry. I decided to stop thinking about it.

Well, he's sleeping. What can i do with the rest of my afternoon? I took a small scan around the room, as if I would magically find something I knew wasn't there.  Nothing to do except play on my laptop for now. I juggled between playing games and checking social sites, and doing schoolwork until it got dark.  When I was tired I closed all of my programs and shut down the laptop. I waited until the screen went black to shut it and then put it down on the coffee table. I sat in silence for a moment while I contemplated what to do then, because I still had an hour or two before I would go to sleep.

Fortunately, Cody came out of the bedroom.  He looked at me and said, "What are you doing?"

I replied, "Just thinking about what I could do before I went to sleep."

"Oh."

". . . Well, you could go to sleep early with me."

"I guess." I was thinking it was a bit too early even for that. Then I suddenly remembered that I had washed some clothes. It would only take a couple of minutes, even if I walked slow, but it was still wasting time.  "I'll do some laundry, first."

"Ok, I'll just sit down while you do that."

I put the washed clothes into the dryer and turned it on. I went back to bedroom to get more clothes, and walked back to the washer machine.

"Nice butt."

"Thanks," I said as i went on to shake it teasingly.

I continued to put the clothes in the washer machine and turned it on.  I walked into the bathroom and he followed. I picked up my toothbrush and he picked up his. We used our own toothpaste because I was a slight germophobe. When we finished brushing our teeth, he led way to the bed and i walked behind him. He got in on his side and i got in on mine, but we both moved to the middle and cuddled so there were no "sides."

I didn't notice before, but I was really sleepy. I passed out in only a handful of minutes.

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It was Saturday morning. I woke up to Cody still right where he laid when we fell asleep. I kissed him on the head and snuck out of the bed in an attempt not to wake him.

Saturdays were weird. I always had difficulty wasting all the weekend hours. I made eggs for breakfast and woke Cody up when they were ready. Today, I had to go to work in the afternoon. I figured, since I had so much time to waste and was going to work, I'd straighten my hair. I had slightly dark, short burnette hair that, when it dried after a shower, would always curl and wave around in all the wrong places. Cody never minded because he was a guy and it always looked "fine" to him. Whenever I wanted to feel pretty I would straighten it up. In reality, it never really looked bad, I'd just never confess that to myself. Other than my hair, I was already naturally pretty. My skin was a light tan, my face had nice edges and roundings, and i had the typical white girl figure, plus some.

I heard Cody putting his plate in the sink. Then he came in and said he was leaving.

"Where are you going?"

"To hang with Kyle and Walter"

I didn't recognize the names, but I accepted this. Cody was always hanging out with different friends. "Okay. When will you be back?"

"After you get back, probably."

"Alright, have fun."

"Thanks, babe. Bye."

He didn't kiss me on the head like he usually did, and as i watched him leave, I noticed his left hand was twitching. It didn't bother me that he didn't kiss me, but i wondered if maybe he'd been throwing punches lately and wasn't telling me. I shrugged it off and continued to get ready for work.

When I had double-checked that I had everything I needed, I left and locked the door on the way out.

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Hey, you guys. Sorry I haven't been writing as often as I'd like to. I'm hoping I'll be writing a lot more throughout the summer. I'm sorry if I haven't fully hooked you yet, as well. Introductions are always the worst part of a book for me; it's where you have to do all the short briefing, you can't just jump into the story quite yet. Anyway, I hope you keep reading until the end or at least until I thoroughly explain the meaning behind the name.