Chapter 6: Late to rise

Two weeks later:

I awoke with the dawn, the first burgeoning light of the morning, floating in from the half window to my left. It was the earliest yellowish light, it ushered the night from its rightful place. It pushed away the blues and grays of my world and gave birth to a world of color and black. I really needed to find some sort of cover for that window. All of Alex’s weight was pressing on my left side. It was comfortable. She was pressing into me, my arm wrapped around her; I stared at the faux wood paneling that covered the ceiling. The fan circled slowly turning and chopping the air. The far window, my exit, was half open and I could smell morning dew as it scratched at the bridge of my nose. The room was cool, perfect. It was the best time of the year, after the air-conditioned glory, before the welcomed winter’s chill.

We must have fallen asleep listening to music. We were both fully clothed lying on my bed, the covers beneath us. This was probably the most intimate act; I had performed in my life. It was completely not sexual, it was just intimate. She had to have faith in me to fall asleep in my arms and I had to trust her to fall asleep in her presence. I couldn’t remember ever falling asleep with someone else in the room before, much less cuddled together as Alex and I were.

I was completely exposed. I found the closeness pleasurable, but the exposure rooted at some anxieties I had long held. I tried to quell my anxiety as something just felt right about having Alex in my arms, her head on my chest. I lay still for a while enjoying the alien sensation, this feeling of comfortable closeness. I listened to the Alex’s rhythmic inhales as I watched the cursed light from the half-window brighten and then darken as the clouds passed. Why does this feel so right?

Eventually, my mind realized that Alex wasn’t like me, she was normal. Her parents would likely care if she didn’t sleep at home a night. Most parents would expect to know where their child was I assumed, from my observations. That was a problem. That was a huge problem. “Wake up, Alex.” I whispered with some urgency.

She shifted groggily. I grasped her shoulder, “Wake up, Alex,” I repeated slightly louder.

She came too if a bit hesitantly, “oh shit, we fell asleep what time is it?”

“Just after dawn, we should probably call your parents try to explain what happened.”

“Yeah, don’t worry. My mother is awesome. She and I have an agreement, as long as I tell her the truth, she lets most things slide”

“Yeah, even if that’s true, the reality would be a bit unbelievable.” I found it hard to believe that any normal girl’s mother wouldn’t be upset at her spending the night unsupervised in a strange boy’s bed. Of course, the fact that we were both fully clothed the entire time would be completely irrelevant to the fallout.

It was at this point that I heard footsteps on the stairs. It had to be Mindy. I really hoped she was more clothed than the last time she slipped into my room. I don’t know which worried me more, Mindy finding me and Alex in bed, or Alex seeing a half-naked Mindy traipsing into my room as if it were an everyday occurrence.

As she rounded the wall that separated the attic room from the stairs down into her room Mindy asked, “Are you two awake yet?”

She said two, so she knew we had fallen asleep. She was thankfully full dressed. She was wearing a too tight pair of blue jeans and a green t-shirt with some kind of dragon on it.

I answered, “Yes, Mindy.” In truth I was starting to panic. She walked over to the bed. Alex managed to rouse herself fully with her presence.

“Hi, I’m Melinda and you must be Alex.” Yeah, I don’t want these two talking. The two most important people in my life should not be in the same room together. Wait; two most important people? When did that happen? What does that mean? I’ve been spending so much time with the twins, Scott’s bitchy girlfriend, Alex, and Mindy, but I’ve never ranked people before.

“Hi, hey can I use your phone; I need to call my mom.”

“She called last night. I told her you were going to stay with me overnight, for a little girl bonding. You two looked too sweet to bother waking up; she’s going to pick you later. Do you want to borrow some of my clothes?” I didn’t know how Alex could borrow any of Mindy’s clothes as my sister was quite a bit taller than Alex. It also amazed me that my sister could enter my room without my knowledge. I was normally a very light sleeper, it’s a survival skill.

“Sure. I’m pleased to meet ya, by the way.”

I stood and announced, “Now that I’m a bit less panicky, I think I’m going to shower.” I grabbed some clothes from atop the ugly white dresser and rushed down the stairs. Behind me I heard what I can only describe as girl squeal. I’m sure the conversation made sense and was about something, but my brain simply wouldn’t allow me to listen or comprehend it.

After I showered and dressed in black jeans and a red long-sleeved t I returned to my room. I knocked on the door before entering. As I rounded the corner, Mindy said, “Go ahead, don’t worry I’ll stand guard.” Stand guard? Wonder what the hell that means.

Alex replied, “You don’t have to bother, I’m not worried bout him.” Alex then passed me as I went to set on my bed. It was then that I realized that she was probably going to shower and Mindy was standing guard to keep me from peeking into the bathroom. Oddly, it never would have occurred to me to enter Mindy’s room and watch through the lack of a door.

Mindy gave me an evil look, “Do you want to play or do you want to peek, baby brother?’

“Pardon?”

“I’ll let you go down and look if you want or we could play the kissing game.” Yes, invade the privacy of my best friend or have her catch me tonguing my sister, clever idea there, sister-mine.

“Could we skip both? As enjoyable as it would be, I don’t want to get caught with my tongue down my sister’s throat and I don’t want to invade Alex’s privacy.” I also had no desire to do her chores today, which was a normal consequence of our make-out sessions.

“If that’s the way you want it brat, however bit of advice a girl asks you to spend time with her you should take the time.” Does she actually want to have a session or is that some kind of jealousy? Maybe she just wanted me to pick her?