Summer Rain

Chapter 5

My eyes flew open. I laid bed, shirt soaked with sweat, breath coming in heavy, quick bursts. I closed my eyes in an attempt to calm myself, trying to steady the beat of my heart as I focused on my breathing. Slowly counting from 1 to 10. When I finally opened my eyes, a ray of sunlight was already peeking through the curtains. Unknowingly, I had fallen asleep. My mind was as clear as the light that filled my room. Somehow, I've managed to tuck away the dream I had.

I got up from bed, stretching my arms and legs. Then I headed to the bathroom, grabbing my towel and toiletries along the way. After wiping myself dry, I threw on an oversized shirt and denim shorts, pulling a scrunchie on my wrist, in case I decided to wear my hair up later. Today was Saturday aka lazy day aka no work day and I was planning on spending it with Uncle Ben and even though I'd rather not, with Tessa.

“Good morning!” I smiled as I descended the stairs, two steps at a time. One look at the dining table though and my smile dropped into a scowl. Tessa and Uncle Ben were acting all lovey-dovey, whispering in each others' ear, accompanied with a little hand holding here and there. The scene made me want to barf. Thankfully, they're backs were facing me so they can't see how horrified I was to witness this.

“They make a good couple, don't you think?” Jason appeared beside me, his attention on the lovebirds in front of us.

I rolled my eyes, “Please. Don't ever say that again.” He turned his head to look at me, brows raised. “What?”

“You don't like her.”

I looked away, mumbling. “That's nonsense. I like her just fine.”

“Oh yeah? Then look me in the eye and say it.”

I was about to walk away, thinking this was just a waste of time but I've barely made a step before he grabbed my arm and spun me around. I was planning on glaring at him or maybe even kicking him but once I looked into his dark, brown eyes I immediately blanked.

But only for a few seconds. “What the hell are you doing?” I hissed, lightly shoving him away. He smirked at me, a knowing glint in his eye. An expression that clearly said he knew I was lying. Well, I was actually but that wasn't the reason for my reaction. Not that, I was about to go and explain things to him. No way.

“Good morning.” Uncle Ben greeted me as I took my usual seat, next to Jason. I smiled and greeted him back.

We ate breakfast in silence, that is until Tessa decided to break it and ask me a question, “Did you get a good sleep last night?”

I looked at her, wondering why she was asking, knowing better that she just wasn't making conversation. “Yeah, why?”

Tessa frowned, “Are you sure? Because I think I heard something from your room last night.”

“What kind of sounds?” I asked, picking up a hotdog with my fork. Uncle Ben and Jason glanced at us, only mildly interested in the conversation.

“Well, it may be just my imagination, but it seemed like someone was crying.”

My fork clattered to the ground as my head shot up, meeting her gaze. Her face was clouded with worry but I wasn't buying it. No way could she be actually worried about me. She barely knew me. Her statement and my reaction completely caught the interest of the two men with us and I can't help noticing that six pair of eyes were staring at me, waiting for my answer.

Using the opportunity to retrieve my fork to look away from them, I answered. “I have no idea what you're talking about. As a matter of fact, I slept like a baby.” As soon as those words were out of my mouth, I realized the irony of it. Seeing that babies had this way of suddenly waking up and crying in the middle of the night.

By the way, no one hadn't said anything, I knew they weren't convinced. I rolled my eyes, trying to look annoyed. “All right, all right. I admit it. I was watching Titanic last night, ok? And it made me sad so...” I trailed off, trying to seem as if I was embarrassed.

It was Jason who first reacted, “Dork.” He laughed, returning to his meal. Relief flooded me as everyone followed his lead but accidentally meeting Uncle Ben's eyes, I knew he understood. I smiled at him reassuringly, letting him know I was fine, before returning back to my own meal.

I laid in bed and stared up at the ceiling. I've been immobile for the rest of the morning even though I promised myself that I will be spending time with Uncle Ben today. It's just I knew that as soon as he had the chance, he would try and talk to me alone and I just wasn't into it. So right after breakfast, I asked to be excused, because I suddenly developed a headache. And so, here I was, stuck in my room while he and Tessa were doing God knows what. They wanted to stay and take care of me but I managed to convince them otherwise.

I jumped as soon as I heard a knock on my door. Why were they back so early? I quickly closed my eyes and feigned sleep, sensing my door opening and footsteps sounding in my room, stopping right beside me.

“You could stop your lame act now. It's just me.”

I opened my eyes and saw Jason standing over me. “What?” I asked, but he didn't answer, only continued to look at me. His eyes skimmed my face over to my body then right back to my eyes again.

“What?” I asked again, wondering why I felt so nervous all of a sudden. Then in one swift motion that I wasn't remotely prepared for, he bent down until his face was hovering inches over mine, his arms on either side of my body. My eyes widened. What was he exactly trying to do?

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally looked away and stood up straight. “I was right. You're not sick, are you?”

“What's it to you?” I snapped, my temper flaring up.

He shrugged, “Nothing. I just wanted to make sure that you weren't, that's all.” He casually looked away.

My eyes narrowed, suspicious of what his motives were. “Why?” He looked back at me.

“What? Is it wrong to care for my friend?” I gaped at him. He actually looked like he was sincere and there was a tinge of hurt somewhere in there, letting me know he was offended. I was almost fooled but then his face broke into a smile and he roared with laughter.

“You almost believed me, didn't you?”

I scowled at him before quickly looking away, feeling embarrassed. “No I wasn't.” I quickly answered which made him laugh even more. My scowl deepened and I threw a pillow at him, missing him by an inch. I got up, put on my slippers, and attempted to leave the room only to be stopped as soon as my hand was on the door.

“Oh c'mon, I was just kidding.” Jason said, his tone light and teasing. His hand grasping my arm. I shook him off, hearing him say my name as I closed the door. I haven't even reached the lower floor before he was right at my heels again.

He grabbed my wrist, stopping me in my tracks once again. “Look, don't be mad, okay? And besides I have something really important to tell you.”

I shook his hand off and turned to face him. He smiled, knowing I was finally listening to him. “How'd you like to be my roomie?”

“What kind of nonsense are you babbling about now?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

Totally unfazed by my reaction, his smile only got wider. “I'm going to be moving in for the summer and we're” He pointed to me and himself “gonna be roomies.”

It only took a second for me to realize he was dead serious. My mouth hung open. It was bad enough that he was my neighbor but now we're going to be living in the same house?!