A Summer's Dream

Chapter 12~The Redhead the Flirt and The Gracious

My eyes rolled around behind my lids. Was it morning already? My hand groped around the side of the bed until it knocked into something hard. I snatched it up, expecting it to be my phone. But when I opened my eyes it was the clock. I must have tried seeing the time last night but fell asleep. A loud noise came out of me, like a hungry elephant. The time didn’t even matter at this point because my whole body ached, as if I got rolled over by a bulldozer. Taking a deep breath I quickly threw the covers off of me and grabbed a few necessities before jumping in the shower.

The hot water felt like heaven on my sore muscles and it was nice to not be a dirty pig-like creature. Throughout the entirety of the shower I managed to do two things. 1.) Unglue my eyelids from sleep, and 2.) Relive every single solitary detail of last night.

My stomach fizzled, sizzled, and leapt at every memory. How he was shy at first but opened up almost entirely. How he wrapped his blanket around me. How he walked me to my room. And his newly discovered nickname for me.

Once my legs were able to be compared to a dolphin I got out. For the first time in a long time I actually cared how I looked. None of the clothes I brought seemed to meet the standard I thought I needed to be presentable. My sweatshirts were too frumpy, my jeans had stains I never noticed, and about half of my socks had holes in them. Why I never noticed all this I had no idea. In order to remedy all this I wedged into a pair of skinny jeans and a plain striped long sleeve. Unfortunately it was too plain, so I slipped on a grey cardigan and a beany. My hair by this time was dry and fell in loose waves, so I slabbed on a little make up walked out. I followed the aroma of waffles and found myself at the kitchen table, standing there, in shock and awe. There Terrence sat in his pajama pants and messy hair.

“W-What are you doing up?” Choking would be a better word to describe my question.

“Oh good! You’re up! Now we can all eat together!” Mrs. Holmes walked out of the kitchen baring waffles and eggs on a few plates.

“I just thought I would get up before half the day is gone…” A weak smile gracefully placed itself on his face and he smooshed a fork full of eggs into his mouth.

“It’s more than that. He’s going to go meet up with a few of his friends today.” His mother’s eyes widened and she grinned. “Why don’t you take her with you Bear?”

Whether he choked over the nickname or the idea of me coming with, I had no idea. But he snatched a napkin up and wiped himself down; a disapproving look on Mrs. Holmes’ face. I swallowed and hesitantly slid into the nearest chair; next to Sam.

“Yeah why don’t you take her with you! She can meet Craig, Martin, and Lucy!” Julia exclaimed with wide eyes.

Lucy? Who’s Lucy? I felt myself slip into the shell I always made when I felt self-conscious or awkward; in this case, both. Terrence hadn’t told me he had a girlfriend. Nobody told me actually.

“Oh I love Lucy.” As if to rub dirt in my eyes, Mrs. Holmes began talking about this Lucy girl as if she was describing her kids’ artwork; filled with such pride. “How is she Terrence?”

Shyly, I looked over at him. He was shoveling forkfuls of food into his mouth and shrugged. “I’ll find out today.” I, on the other hand, had lost my appetite. How could one eat when they found out their new crush has a girlfriend. Fate sure is cruel.

Terrence wiped his mouth one more time and got up from the table. “We’ll leave at 12:00 if that’s ok with you…” He didn’t look up at me but I knew who he was addressing. My strength was quickly being zapped from my body and all I could do was nod. Fate was truly cruel.

~*~

As much as it gave me displeasure, I brushed my teeth slipped on my socks and shoes and the two of us were off. The air around us was charged and stuffy. Partially from the lightning last night and partially from the awkwardness.