I texted what happened to Lo. There wasn’t an immediate response, but I knew she’d be burning my phone up later. She’d want to know the scoop and I couldn’t wait to tell her. She was my best friend, and I didn’t keep much from her. Of course I hadn’t been completely honest about how the kiss, if you could even call it that, with Draven made me feel, but I’d fill her in. I hated that she was in Florida. I needed her home.
“Shit.” I spoke out loud. He didn’t have any clean clothes. I hurried to the laundry room and grabbed a pair of Trevor’s loose basketball shorts that were folded atop the dryer. He wouldn’t miss them.
Knocking gently on the bathroom door, he answered. “Yeah.” His voice was sickly.
“I got you a clean pair of shorts,” I spoke to the wooden door in front of me.
“What?”
“I got you a clean pair of shorts,” I yelled this time.
“You can bring them in.”
“Oh no!” I yelled. My voice was an octave higher than normal. I sounded like a twelve-year-old girl.
“It’s fine,” he grumbled.
FUDGE!
I opened the door softly and eased it open just a little bit. I had my eyes closed like I was afraid of what might jump out at me. Keeping the shorts in my hand, I felt for the countertop. I was going to leave them wherever my hand landed.
His laughter caught me off guard. It made me open my eyes, and I could see him standing just inches away from me in the mirror. He was plenty close enough to grab the shorts from my hands, yet he had me standing there looking like an idiot.
“Oh,” he said reaching for the counter to steady himself.
“Are you okay?” The situation went from light-hearted to serious in seconds. I thought something was genuinely wrong.
He looked up at me. “It hurts to laugh.”
“Take your damn shorts.” I shoved them at him.
“I need you to help me put them on.”
“You can’t be serious?” There was a towel wrapped around his waist covering all his manly parts.
“If I bend down, I get dizzy. And I don’t have much strength in my arms.”
I ground my teeth and narrowed my eyes at him.
“I’m serious,” he said.
“Oh, you owe me big time, Buddy.” I pushed the door further open. Grabbing the shorts from him, I bent down to the floor. I was directly eye level with everything that towel was covering up. One wrong move and it would spring free and slap me in the face. Opening the shorts, he could easily step into them. I swore that he was finding this all way too amusing. “If you drop that towel, so help me God.” I glared up at him.
His eyes had another look about them. Something was different. I had a feeling everything under the towel was going to come poking out at me whether I was ready or not. I knew it because it was having the same effect on me minus the boner.
Ah, Damn.
I slid the shorts up his legs, and made it to his thick thighs. Now was not the time to be thinking sexually. I should’ve just let him keep his dirty shorts.
“I got it from here,” he said stopping me. His hand covered mine.
I stood face to face with him, and quickly turned to leave. I wasn’t giving myself one more second alone with him in that bathroom. My face was probably fourteen shades of red, and I needed to escape fast. “I’ll be out here when you’re done.” I told him before closing the door behind me.
HOLY HOT AND BOTHERED!
No more bath time rituals for me.
Draven
Sick or not, I was inches away from showing Jenny every single thing under my towel. I had to get her out of that bathroom quickly. Something had changed between us over the past twenty-four hours. There was a shift in the balance of things, because we either despised each other or we were one move away from tearing each other’s clothes off. I recognized the look on her face. She clearly wasn’t as experienced as I was, but desire looked the same, not matter how much you knew.
With all the power I could muster up, I managed to pull my shorts up to my waist. It took some serious maneuvering. Granted I was sporting a huge tent in my shorts, but I couldn’t help it. I splashed a little cold water on my face, ok, more like a lot of cold water, and ran my fingers through my hair. After a couple of minutes, I was back under control. It was hard for me just standing there, I could almost imagine what it would’ve been like if I had tried to bend her over the bathroom sink.
Down boy, now is not a good time.
I was really feeling horrible. I was better than the night before, but whatever was wrong with me really got me down. The whole shower thing took a lot of me. I was more than ready to get back to the couch; I just didn’t want to be sporting a hard-on all the way there.
I swung the door open, and Jenny stood there waiting for me. She looked different today. I guess I hadn’t noticed before. She was wearing comfortable clothes, and her hair was pulled up away from her face. She looked… pretty. She wasn’t like other girls who had to be overly done up. She was comfortable in her skin and didn’t care what others thought.
She rushed over to my side and slid an arm around me. “You smell better,” she said with a laugh.
“Thanks,” I huffed through my short breath. If I weren’t so ill, I would have smacked her on the ass for that comment. Instead, I just leaned on her, as we made our way back down the hall and into the kitchen. “Where’s your Mom?”
“She had to run some errands. She’ll be back later. It’s just you and me.”
“I’m too sick for you to say things like that.” I told her. The words barely came out as she maneuvered me back onto the couch.
“Like what?” There was a bit of playfulness in her voice and her eyes.
“Stop,” I smiled.
“You’re no fun when you’re sick, Lepage.”
I scooted my back to the couch, and made room for her to climb in next to me. I couldn’t do anything but sleep anyway, so there was no harm in it. Motioning with my head, she smiled before climbing in next to me.
Our bodies lay touching under the warm blanket, and I felt the most settled I had in days.
“Draven,” she whispered, nibbling her lip like she was nervous.
“Yeah,” I replied. My eyes closed and my head rested on the top of hers.
“I’m sorry.” She said. I wasn’t sure what exactly she was apologizing for. She didn’t have any reason to be sorry. Between the two of us, we’d been at each other’s throats since day one. If anyone should be sorry, it was me. After the way I acted, she still took care of me. We both knew I didn’t deserve it. If anything, she should’ve just left me rotting away in my apartment. With the smell, no one would have noticed.
Morbid much.
“Me too,” I whispered in her hair, and I meant it. I was sorry. More than ever, I was sorry that she ever walked into my life. For her sake, not mine.
But there was no way we could turn the clock back now. There was a change between us. We both felt it. Something like this was too big to come back from.
I kept her pulled into my chest, and felt her breathing even out. She was just as tired as I was. Her body curled up next to mine, and the two of us slept like we hadn’t slept in weeks.
***
I couldn’t be sure how long the two of us slept, but when I woke up it was dark outside. We must’ve slept the entire day. I’m surprised too, since her parents had to be home. They couldn’t have wanted to find their daughter curled up on the couch with me.
Jenny moved a little under me, and I realized that her leg was between mine and her arm was behind my back. No wonder we slept so well. It didn’t matter that I was sick. That was the best sleep I’d gotten in years.
There was a sound of movement coming from behind the couch and I glanced back over my shoulder.
Mrs. Pearson gave me a small smile. “Are you hungry?” She asked.
I nodded, and then looked back at Jenny.
“You can wake her. The two of you have been asleep for severa
l hours,” she told me before she disappeared into the kitchen. She didn’t seem mad. Thank goodness.
“Jenny,” I called out her name. I rested my hand on her hip and gave her a little tug. “Jenny.”
“What?” Her voice was grumpy, and she squeezed into me harder.
“Time to get up.”
I felt her stir and she leaned back so that she could look me in the face. It was like this huge light bulb moment in her head. I could see the recognition in her eyes.
“Shit!” she jumped back and fell off the couch. “Ow.”
I didn’t want to laugh, but I couldn’t help it. My muscles ached from the movement, but that was hilarious. The same thought that I’d had, flashed in her mind immediately. We fell asleep on the couch in her parent’s living room.
“It’s fine,” I told her. “Your Mom asked if I was hungry, and truthfully I’m starving.”
She sat up with her butt still on the floor. “She saw us then?”
I shook my head yes.
“Great,” she had a sarcastic tone in her voice.
“Can you help me up, nurse Jenny?” She groaned. She obviously didn’t like being woke up.
She helped me up then told me she’d be right back. She slipped out of the room and into the kitchen. When I glanced up at the clock it read six forty five. We’d been asleep for like ten hours. No joke.
My muscles felt sore, but I could tell my fever had gone away. I wasn’t shivering like before.
“Is chicken noodle soup okay?” Jenny asked.
“Sure.” I could eat a horse. I couldn’t promise it would stay down, but I could eat one.
She brought two bowls of soup to the living room, and the two of us ate in front of T.V. It was the first time in a long time that I could actually watch something. My house had no cable or satellite so it felt kind of weird. I couldn’t even tell you what we were watching, but I couldn’t look away.
There was this time when I was a kid that I remember watching some kind of cartoon. It was probably my last real memory of my Mom before she ran off, and my last memory of T.V. She told me that I was a spoiled, selfish brat, and pushed the T.V. off the stand. It was one of those old ones with the big back on it. The thing smoked like it was on fire. She told me that I’d never get to watch it again. It’s funny thinking about it now, since she was totally right.
I must’ve snickered at the thought, because Jenny noticed.
“What’s so funny?”
The two of us sat there next to one another, and I glanced over in her direction. “Just a thought I had.”
“Do you want to watch something else?” She asked.
“No. I don’t watch any T.V. so whatever you want to watch is fine,” I admitted. I could hear my voice sounding better with every bite of the hot soup. It was working wonders on my throat.
“You never watch?” She eyed me curiously.
“No,” I shook my head. “I don’t have a T.V. that even works.”
“Well,” she hesitated. “What do you like? Do you like any kind of sports?”
“I don’t really know. I remember I used to like cartoons.”
“I still love cartoons,” she admitted. “I think you’re never too old to watch cartoons. Let me see what I can find.”
She flipped through the channels until she found one, and the two of us spent the next several hours watching one right after another. I couldn’t tell you what any of them were but I loved it. Funny how you didn’t have to publicly destroy property or get drunk to have a good time.
I never would’ve guessed.
Jenny
With the weekend gone, and school back in session, things changed. It was reality day number one, and I felt like a ton of bricks were weighing me down. Mom wouldn’t let Draven go home, and somehow I think he was okay with that. He loved the T.V. and the warm food. I couldn’t blame him, and I preferred him at our house rather than that shit hole apartment he called home. He may as well live on the streets if he was planning on going back there. I wanted to ask him about it, but there was never a right time.
By Sunday night he was feeling much like himself again. He was able to get around on his own, and he managed to carry on a conversation with my Dad, which shocked the hell out of me. I wasn’t sure how it happened, but they were fine with each other. More than fine, actually. I think I even heard Draven laugh at something my Dad had said.
My parents seemed okay having him there, like it was no big deal that a teenage boy (not just any teenage boy, we were talking about Draven Lepage) was sleeping on our couch. Not one word was even said to me about us sleeping on the couch together. I thought they’d freak out over it and ground me until my eighteenth birthday.
But instead, I got nothing.
Radio silence.
On Sunday night, I took him over to his apartment to pick up some clothes. I just waited in the car for him to go up, and never mentioned anything about his place. Again, it just wasn’t the right time. He never asked to stay there, and I didn’t blame him. The moment Mom mentioned laundry; his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. She said she’d be more than happy to wash a few things for him. So, we made the quick trip across town for him to grab a few things.
In the midst of being sick, he somehow managed to become Mr. Nice Guy, and everyone in my family suddenly loved that he was around. Maybe the fever fried a few of his brain cells. Maybe everyone caught the fever. Whatever it was, there was some highly contagious crap around my house.
Don’t get me wrong. I loved having him around too, but he had no clue that I had these newfound feelings for him. And I had no clue what was going to happen once his personality changed back. It was only a matter of time. Right?
Once we got back to reality, everything was going to change.
Including me.
I got up and took a quick shower before school, lingering a little too long in front of the mirror. My hair was misbehaving. I couldn’t find anything to wear. And all the while, I knew it was just nerves holding me back. People were going to notice us when we showed up at school together. The “talk” was going to begin. They’d misconstrue things, and by the end of the day we’d probably be expecting our third child.
“Only fifty-seven more days,” I told myself. I could keep it together for that long if it meant Draven would have a place to stay. Assuming my parents actually took him in for good.
Besides, no one besides Lo and myself knew how I was feeling about Draven. I’d chalk it up to hormones and bad judgment. Unless…
Unless he told me he felt the same way.
The two of us stood in the kitchen awkwardly waiting for Mom to tell us bye. Trevor had already left; a friend of his picked him up.
Draven was feeling well enough to go to school, which surprised me. Mom told him he should stay home another day, but he said no. He said he couldn’t miss any more school if he was planning on graduating. Of course, he earned a student of the year award just for that one remark. I’d give him two hours at school before his true colors come shining back through, and I was being generous.
Things were all fine and dandy inside the house, but I had no clue what they’d be like once we were outside these walls. Would he go back to being the biggest pain in the ass ever? What would people say when we showed up at school together? Dammit, I needed coffee.
“Let’s go to Maxwell’s before school.”
“Whatever you want, Jenny Baby.”
Great.
I knew I was being too generous. We weren’t even going to make it out of the house before the douche bag returned.
“Mom!” I called out. “We’re leaving. See you later.”
“Okay,” she called back. “Have a good day at school kids.”
I held my finger up towards Draven’s face. “Not one word.”
You could ski on those pearly whites of his, as his smile grew wider. I knew he was going to have something smart to say, and I was ready for it.
“Let’s go,” I told him. I grabbe
d the keys off the counter and headed out the door.
***
Once we pulled into the school parking lot after grabbing coffee at Max’s, everything changed. There was no re-setting the clock once we left the car. Which was the main reason I was still sitting in it.
The lot was half full with students making their way in, while some were still lingering by their cars.
I knew how childish my fears were, especially when I talked it over with my Mom. But this was different. This was real. These people really did have that much control over me, and there was nothing I could do to change that. I just had to figure out a way to adjust for all our sakes, and hope like hell it didn’t backfire.
“You planning on sitting in the car all morning?” Draven’s voice snapped me back to reality.
“Oh, uh,” I hesitated. “No. We should get inside before we’re late.”
I didn’t take another second to mull it over. I stepped out of my car, and grabbed my backpack from the back seat.
My ears were burning red, and I kept my head turned down.
No eye contact.
Social anxiety was a bitch.
It’s funny how a few people could be let into my world, when most people weren’t allowed.
“You alright?” He asked me as he walked directly beside to me towards the school.
“Fine,” I snipped.
“They can’t eat you, you know,” he whispered before he walked the opposite direction.
I looked around checking to see who was staring, but I got nothing. To my surprise, there wasn’t a single person looking in our direction. I’d completely overreacted. Or maybe, people didn’t care about my life as much as I thought.
Either way, I’d say it was a win for the day.
Draven
By Friday, I was ready to call it quits at the Pearson residence. They’d already done enough for me and I’d more than overstayed my welcome. Despite loving the normalcy of it, I knew that I couldn’t stay there forever. Total loss of freedom wasn’t something I was ready for, and things had become distant between Jenny and me.
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