CHAPTER SEVEN
I was right about talking to my mom. It did make me feel better. I didn't realize just how much I miss her until I was talking to her. I told her all about my vision and how Sherri felt it too. Then I told her all about my new friends and their 'afflictions' and about the medicine Doc Turner suggests that I take.
Before I knew it, the time had flown by. After hanging up, I barely have enough time to change into my jogging pants, a huge t-shirt and tie my hair up into a ponytail when I hear a knock on my door.
Tara's here to collect me so she can show me where Sherri's room is. Tara has on a pair of pajama pants with little pink and purple hearts all over them, and a massive purple T-shirt on that goes down to her knees and has 'Don't wake a sleeping bear' written on the front of it. Good to know that I'm not under-dressed.
Sherri's room is one floor up from mine, almost directly over where my room is. She's in room #415. Tara just opens the door and walks right in like it's her room. Everyone is already there waiting for us.
Todd is dressed in green and blue checkered pajama pants, a white T-shirt and black housecoat. He’s flopped on Sherri's bed with her pillow wedged under his head. “We were thinking that we'd head back down to the mess hall to get ourselves snacks. I prefer a bag of popcorn and a huge bottle of pop. Then we can go to my room, turn the lights out and watch a movie. It’s your choice tonight sweetheart, since you're the new girl.” Todd raises and lowers his eyebrows and grins at me in a 'come-kiss-me' way.
I look away from Todd quickly. “Um, yeah... about that, I don't want to pick the movie. I don't know what everyone likes.” I really don't want to pick the wrong movie and have everyone hate my choice.
“Well, Todd has a vast assortment of movies to choose from. We watch all types of movies so any choice you make will be a good one.” Jessy smiles at me. “I think I'm going to have a banana split with caramel ice cream and chocolate syrup, topped with whipped cream. Sherri, what are you craving?”
Sherri stares off into space for a minute before she answers. “I think I'm going to go for a bowl of pudding with a fruit topping... and whipped cream, of course.”
Reilly, who looks much happier than he did earlier, pipes up next. “You always have something with fruit on it. Why don’t you try to shake it up a little? Maybe go with what I’m going to have, jelly beans and hot chocolate. Not blended together. Laura, what's your favorite thing to treat yourself with?”
For a moment I think about what the two would taste like if they were melted together. “I'm definitely not going to melt jelly beans in hot chocolate either. Well, I like salt and vinegar chips. Do they have chips?”
Tara throws her arm around my shoulder and gives me a little squeeze. “I'm right there with ya sister, chips are always my thing... BBQ baby! Mm mm mmm.”
Jessy stands up from where he's sitting on the floor. “Are we ready to go then, 'cause I'm getting hungry talking about all this food?”
Everyone stands up all at once with nods and 'yups'. We file out the door and down to the mess hall where we pick through all the junk food, then scurry up to Todd's room. His room is also on the fourth floor; room #425.
His room is bigger than our rooms are; makes me wonder how he got so lucky. He has a queen-sized bed instead of a double like us. On his floor are four beanbag chairs. The television he has is a huge flat screen; probably a 60” and it hangs on his wall. His bathroom has an oval two-person tub and a shower stall.
Note to self: Find the list so I can put my name on for a room like this!
Todd and Sherri flop on the bed and shove pillows under themselves to prop up. The rest of us pick a beanbag chair and flop into it. Jessy puts a tiny little table between us so that we can put our drinks on. We don't want to set them on the carpet and risk tipping them over.
Jessy flops into the beanbag chair next to me. “The movies are on that wall. Take your time and pick whatever you'd like to watch.” His smile is nice, warm, comforting. He’s really trying to put me at ease about what movie to pick.
I struggle trying to get out of the beanbag chair, and decide that it's probably easiest if I just roll out of it and crawl over to the movies, which are pretty much at ground level anyway.
There's about a hundred movies, ranging from romance to terror. So I close my eyes, reach out and grab the first one I touch. “Is a comedy ok with everyone?”
Everyone nods, so I take it out of its jacket and slip it into the side of his big screen TV. Jessy fluffed up my beanbag chair while I was picking the movie. I settle back into it again. He hands me my bag of chips and the black licorice whips that I couldn't pass up when we were picking our treats.
Reilly reaches up and flips off the light, and the movie begins.
Colours In Blackness - A New Life Page 7