In Her Shoes

Chapter 36: Taking it too Far

Anna looked at Shelley and I glaring at each other with a confused expression, and instinctively almost, began to walk over to my side. "Shelley...what the hell are you doing in my room? It's off-limits."

"Off-limits to everyone but your girlfriend?"

"What?!" Anna looked at me with question but I just shook my head. It was too complicated to explain in a meaningful look. "Look, I'm sorry Shelley but I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

She smirked at us. "Oh I'll leave...and I'll take your secret with me. Bye red," she added winking and blowing a kiss at me. She opened the door and the blaring music from downstairs filled the room for a second before it was silenced by the closed door. As soon as she was gone I flopped down on Anna's bed and sighed exasperatedly, closing my eyes.

"Jess what the hell just happened?" Anna snapped turning to me.

I raised my hands up to my head and covered my ears. "One second," I mumbled. I wasn't trying to ignore her, but I was beginning to feel a headache coming on.

"Jess!" She practically whined.

I sighed and sat up slowly. "I don't know Anna, okay? Apparently Shel was digging me and found out about my....sexual orientation and thought..I don't know that I was in love with her? Look it's really complicated to explain," I said as I laid back on the bed. Anna came and sat next to me, accidentally making it worse by the sinking-in mattress action she created when she sat.

"I don't understand Jess...sorry," she added quickly when she saw me holding my head. I gave her a mini salute and she continued, "how did she find out?"

"Uh...I..look Anna could we talk about this tomorrow? She just gave me the biggest headache in all of history right now." Anna sighed irritated, and I noted how hot she looked when she was like this. She brought her hand to her mouth and began nibbling nervously on her pinky finger.

I smiled and brought a hand up hers, taking her hand and pulling it away from her mouth. "Don't chew your nails," I muttered. "It's a bad habit." But definitely a cute one.

She finally cracked a smile and lightly hit my arm. "You sound like my dad. Here let me get you some water." She got up to her bathroom to get me some, and I drank it gratefully.

"Thank-you," I muttered.

"How bout you stay in my room till the party's over. Take a nap for a bit until that headache goes away. You can lock it and only I have the key so I promise no one will get in."

"Okay," I muttered again, already feeling my eyelids droop. Shelley had drained a lot of energy out of me, and my mind was running around in a million different circles. I wasn't that tired, but I knew some sleep would do me good. It didn't help that I had been up all night watching my tree slowly die before. Yes. Sleep would do me good.

"Okay," she whispered as she crept out of her room. She started to say something else but my eyes already shut and my world went black.

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A second later I opened my eyes. Well, it felt like a second. But the music downstairs was gone and all the party-goers and pool splashing was silent, too. I sat up, hearing the hum of a vacuum cleaner, the sound that must've woken me. I yawn as I sit up and crawl out of her bed. I go into the bathroom and almost scream at my own reflection.

For once it wasn't the witch, I just looked plain awful. My hair was a tangled mess and I looked like a sleep deprived, bank-robbing racoon because of the dark circles around my eyes. On the contrary, I have never robbed a bank, and I actually felt quite rested. I washed my face off and since I had been planning on spending the night my duffle bag was already under the bed.