Sitting in Physics right now. Bored to death. My teacher's yanking on about like…velocity. Or something like that.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own RENT.
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I woke up the next morning, late of course. Roger gotten up early and had an incident with a dog or something like that. Mark and Roger decided they needed to explore the neighborhood together. So they left us. Just Maureen and I.
See, I loved being alone with Maureen. She was always so, fun. She was half-way asleep this morning though. She was lounging around in pajamas, watching the ceiling. She held a cup of coffee in her small hands. I walked into the room and observed her for a while.
"What are you doing?" I asked her.
She looked at me sharply.
"Observing."
"Observing what?" I asked her.
She was silent for a moment, thinking about what she observing. "The ceiling."
"Why?"
"Do I need a reason?"
I was silent.
"Not really."
She smiled and looked at me. "Hey Collins."
"Hey Mo."
I crashed on the couch next to her. "What you wanna do till Mark and Roger get back?" I asked her.
She looked at me. "I dunno."
"Come on, you always know something to do."
"Well, right now, nothing comes to mind. Except for sleep," she groaned. She collapsed on my shoulder.
"What did you do last night?"
She leaned up and glared at me. "What do you think?"
"Oh yeah."
Silence.
"So, how was it?"
I smiled and Maureen glared at me. She then grinned.
"Pretty good. I know what we are going to do!" she exclaimed.
"What?"
"We are going to bake a cake."
I looked at Maureen. Maureen was talented in a lot of ways. Great singer, actress, personality, very fun and creative. But cooking? That was something Maureen wasn't gifted in.
"Cook?"
She nodded.
"What the hell?"
We went into the kitchen and found a cookbook. We gathered the materials required for the cake and we then started stirring.
When the doorbell rang.
At first we were startled. Then we figured out it was the door. Maureen, still giddy from Joanne calling this morning, skipped to the door and opened it.
I was still in the kitchen but I heard some of the conversation in the hall.
"Hello," Maureen said.
"Hello. I'm Mrs. Richardson from next door," the lady exclaimed. "My sons and I just baked some cookies to welcome you to the neighborhood!" she said.
Maureen invited them in and she called me out of the kitchen.
"This is Collins. He's my friend," Maureen said. I smiled and waved at them. Flashing my trademark teddy bear smile.
"Hello. These are my sons, Ned and Francis," she said.
"Hi, nice to met you," I said to them.
I took note of the cookies.
"Wow, thanks for those da- cookies!" I exclaimed, restraining myself from cussing.
I took the cookies and brought them into the kitchen.
Mrs. Richardson and her sons seemed uncomfortable.
When we heard the door open.
"We're home!" Mark called.
"We're in here!" Maureen called.
"Wow, what the hell are you doing in here? Cooking?" Roger asked.
Mrs. Richardson twitched and her sons covered their ears. Their mother frowned at them and removed their hands.
The door opened and Mark and Roger stood there.
"Oh, god. I'm sorry," Roger apologized to no one in general.
"Uh…hi," Mark managed.
"Hello. I'm Mrs. Richardson from next door," she said. She stood up and Mark shook her hand.
"Mark Cohen. This is my friend, Roger," he said. Roger waved and slumped in next to me. He hated this kinda stuff.
"So, what grade are you two going into?" I asked the kids. Maureen and Mark were holding hands and she kissed his neck. Mrs. Richardson was eyeing them.
"I'm going into fourth grade!" Ned exclaimed.
"And I'm gonna be in third grade this year!" Francis said excitedly.
"Wow."
Mrs. Richardson noticed that Roger was bleeding.
"Oh wow, you're bleeding," she said to Roger. Roger looked his arm and saw a cut. He stood up, scared he would get blood somewhere and we would have to throw the furniture out.
"Oh, great. I'll be right back," he said.
"Here, I'll clean it up," Mrs. Richardson said.
She stood up and came towards Roger. She touched his arm and he jerked his arm away from her. He looked around and ran into the bathroom.
"I'm sorry," I apologized. "He…has…um…a disease and doesn't want to give it to you," I told her.
She looked at me and understood. "AIDS?" she asked.
I nodded.
She nodded.
"Well, we should be going now," she told us. She jerked her sons up and ran out the door. We watched her leave.
"Wow," Maureen muttered.
"Damn Republicans," Roger cursed.