Sunday
November 13, 2007
3:13 a.m.
I knew he was there before he even made a sound. I'm not sure how. The energy in the room shifted or something. It became so much more alive, and not just because he was wide awake and I was half out, but because he was just such an alive person. He glowed.
It had always been that way. I could feel him before I could hear, see or smell him. I never knew for certain whether or not this sixth sense went both ways. I'd really like to think that it did.
Seconds after I felt his presence in my room, I heard the window slide shut and soft footsteps patter across my carpet. Then the bed sank, and an arm fell across my shoulders. We laid in silence for a few minutes, just listening to each other breathe. It was exactly what I imagined Heaven would be like, lying under his arm.
"Lizzle?" Oliver whispered into my ear. I rolled over, my back had been to him, and blinked rapidly as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. He was looking at me, his eyes were huge and his bottom lip was sucked into his mouth. He looked like a lost puppy, so innocent and so sad, but very mischievous at the same time.
"Hello, Oliver." I whispered back. He cracked a smile and tucked his arm under his head.
"Do you always let strangers crawl into bed with you?"
"It's just you." I mimicked his movement.
"But how did you know that? For all you knew I was a rapist serial killer." His other arm had slowly slid off of me and was draped casually over his own hip.
My eyebrows rose; "Aren't you?"
"I'm too squeamish to kill people. And you can't rape the willing."
"You're so sure everyone wants you."
"Who could resist me? Honestly?"
"Do you want that list alphabetically?" I tried not to smile. It was too dark to see the deep blush that had crept up my neck, and I thanked god for that every day for a week.
"Ya know," Oliver began, his eyes roaming over me carefully as if he was studying me; "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were insulting me."
"Never." I did my best attempt to sound innocent. Oliver smiled, which meant I failed, and reached forward quickly to pinch my side. I squealed, much to his amusement, and swatted his hand away.
"See, you act tough but you're such a girl on the inside."
"I'm a girl on the outside too, Oliver."
"Well, I'll be goddamned." He winked at me, the white of his eye flashing for a second in the pale moonlight through my window; "So you are."
