She watched him through partly-closed eyelashes; his hair seemed to gleam underneath the dim lights of the motel. He leaned forward and pulled his fingers through her silky hair, gently pulling her closer all the while. She moaned softly as his hands touched the back of her head and found herself climbing closer to him as his hands linked carefully behind her neck. As she tripped forward, she found her hand hovering over his-
SNAP!
I jumped back as Annie closed her book and stared over the back of her chair accusingly at me.
"Who said you could read over my shoulder?" I raised my eyebrows and started laughing. She continued to scowl at me.
"Why are you reading that crap anyway?" I asked in return when my giggling had slowed. I leaned forward and grabbed the book before she could protest. "Smut!"
"No," she sighed and reclaimed her book from my hands. "Just . . . a scene." She sighed again, exasperated, as she noted that her bookmark had fluttered out of the book and across the room. "You lost my spot!"
"Books like that need to be confiscated," I remarked as I picked the bookmark up off the floor. I waved it at her. "You must be horribly bored to be reading smut."
"It is not smut!" Annie seethed as she grabbed the bookmark out of my hands, hopping back to the armchair. "And you seem to be the one who is bored, little miss annoyance."
It was Winter third, exactly one week and two days after the Harvest Festival fiasco. Annie and I seemed to be on perfect terms again, especially after the super-successful surprise birthday party we had planned for Ray four days before. Jamie still hadn't forgiven me yet, and Annie wanted me to move on.
"What am I supposed to do, anyway? We're snowed in," I replied, pointing out the obvious. I walked over to a window and peered out, scanning the snow that almost completely covered the window itself. "All that's on TV," I continued as I sat on the couch across from Annie's chair, "are stupid cooking shows."
"I like cooking," Annie noted absently as she continued to read. "Besides," she took a moment to look up at me, "Ray and Joe will dig us out." She waved her arm dismissively at me. I made an annoyed noise and started up the stairs.
"Can I just jump out a window?"
"I wouldn't suggest that. Just sit still, will you?" I climbed the rest of the stairs and wandered over to the window.
"I'm gonna jump, Annie," I called. "I'm gonna jump!" There was an annoyed sigh from downstairs.
"Alex. . ." Annie called warningly, "you won't be helpful if you break yourself." I slid the window open gleefully and leaned outside, feeling adrenaline pump through my veins as the cold wind blew into the house, as well as tiny snowflakes.
"Alex! What the hell . . .!" Annie shouted from downstairs. I heard the thump as she jumped off the couch and grabbed her crutches.
"Annie, there's like six feet of snow out there!" I loved snow. It barely ever snowed back home. I heard Annie curse softly as she got up the first step.
"Alex, come on. You're acting like a five year old." I leaned farther out the window and my hair was lifted completely off my back as a gust of wind burst into the room. There was another loud thunk as Annie made her way on the second step. "Stop playing around!"
"I'm a big girl," I called back, "and I doubt a jump front the second story into a lot of snow is going to kill me." I leaned back into the room and let go of the window sill, running happily over to the dresser. "I'll bring my cell phone, so don't worry!" I raced back over to the window, sliding the cell phone into my back pocket.
"Where do you think you'd go?" Annie shouted up the stairs. She was on stair number three now.
"I'm gonna go take care of the animals! Oh, I need to dress warmer." I hopped away from the window sill and flounced over to the drawers to dig for warm clothes. I changed and waited for Annie to get to the top of the stairs before jumping.
"Alex, how about I make you some apple cider or something?" She called hopelessly. By the noise on the stairs, she was almost at the top. "Or-" Annie appeared at the top of the stairs, looking exhausted. Her expression quickly shifted to horror as she viewed me perched completely on the window sill, feet and all. Her mouth fell needlessly open.
"Don't worry; I'll be back before dinner!" With that, I launched myself off the window and fell ten feet into the snow. I sank all the way to the bottom and quickly stood up, my eyes barely reaching over the top of the snow. I looked up to see Annie hanging out the window, looking concerned.
"I don't think you should try this," I called. "I'm not sure how it would work with your crutches." Annie rolled her eyes at me from above and closed the window, disappearing into the house. I grinned at the window and began digging myself through the snow slowly. I finally reached the street where the snow had melted down slightly, only reaching up to my stomach. I took a moment to shake the snow out of my hair before beginning to dig myself through the pathway, leaving a big enough path so that I wouldn't need to dig another trail to get back. It took me at least an hour to reach the barn, and after tending to the animals, I sat in the corner to warm up a little. I took my homemade trail back toward Annie's house and then began to make a new one toward the chicken coop. The sun was almost down by the time I had finished with the chickens. I was a little too tired to go straight back, so I picked up my phone and dialed Annie's number.
"Alex!"
"Um, I won't be home quite yet," I said as I suppressed a shiver and burrowed deeper into my jacket. I had finally gotten over that blasted cold, and now I'd probably get another.
"Where are you?"
"With the chickens. Would you like to talk to them?"
A sigh. "Just call if you think you're going to die or something." I walked back out of the coop and gazed around. The sky was pitch black.
"Um," I said again. There was a pause as Annie looked out the window.
"Alex," she groaned, "why do you have to do this to me?"
"Don't worry about it," I said quickly, switching the phone to my left hand. "Don't expect me back tonight. I'll be fine," I hung up before she could say another word, and slid the phone back into my pocket. The only place I knew of that was close by and definitely had someone home was . . .
Oh come on, who do you think?
I started back into the cold snow and began making my way toward Jamie's house. In the pitch blackness of the sky, I could barely see at all. I finally saw a burst of light coming from ten feet up and wandered close to it. Jamie's house was also completely surrounded by snow. I walked up to the door and banged on it.
"Jamie!" Bang bang bang.
Pause.
Bang bang bang. "Jamie, I need help!" I pressed my head against the door and heard loud music coming from inside the house. I sighed and backed up, realizing he couldn't hear me. I began my way toward the back of his house, stopping when the snow suddenly disappeared. Jamie stood in the middle of his yard-hatless- holding a shovel and wiping his forehead warily. There were large trails to his chicken coop and barn, and a large circle of snow-less land near the back of his house. I stumbled forward as the snow disappeared from underneath me, catching Jamie's attention.
"Hey," he called, stepping toward me as I picked myself off the ground. I wiped the snow off my clothes and shuddered again.
"Hey," I replied. "I, uh, got stranded." My arms wrapped around my soaked torso as he approached.
"I see that." He paused, looking over my shivering frame. "Well, come inside. I'll give you some clothes or something." I followed him to the door, where he left the shovel propped up, and then inside his house. The music became a lot louder as we stepped inside, and Jamie turned it off quickly, blushing.
"You can leave your shoes and rucksack here. I'll get a towel." With that, he walked farther into the house and walked up the stairs. I took a moment to look around his house. I was nowhere near as purple as it was on the outside; it actually resembled a normal bachelor pad. Plain dark blue paint covered the walls, and a white tile stretched across the floors. A slightly large TV sat in one corner with a white armchair across from it, a lamp next to the chair and a bookcase next to the lamp. The kitchen was across the room, and slightly smaller than Annie's. A shelf was in the last corner, accompanied by another small chair that currently held Jamie's sleeping dog. A plain wooden table, similar to Annie's, was in the middle of the room with three chairs around it. Jamie came back down the stairs and walked back to me with a large white towel.
"You can use the shower if you want. You can borrow some of my sister's clothes . . ." He trailed off and looked for a reply.
"Okay, tha-tha'd be great," I shivered, wrapping myself up with the towel. He nodded and led me upstairs, through his plain bedroom, and to the equally plain bathroom.
"Those towels are clean," he pointed to a rack covered with two towels, "so you can use them. Um, let me get some clothes for you." He walked out the door and vanished. I pulled a towel off the rack and laid it across the toilet seat, waiting patiently. Jamie returned with a purple sundress draped over his arm, looking sheepish.
"This is all I have . . ."
"It's great," I said quickly, taking the dress from him. I put it beside the toilet seat. "When I'm done, we'll talk."
"Talk," Jamie blinked at me, the nodded. "I guess so." With that he left the bathroom, closing the door softly behind him. I took a short shower, oddly annoyed with his generic shampoos, and wrapped my hair up into a towel-turban before sliding the loose purple dress on. I looked around self-consciously for a blow drier, but there wasn't one. With a sigh, I towel dried my hair before beginning downstairs, holding my damp hair carefully over my shoulder with a hand. I didn't want to get the dress wet. Jamie was idly trying to fix the TV when I got downstairs.
"So," I said to announce my presence. He looked up and watched as I tried to flip my wet bangs out of my eyes.
"So," he echoed, stepping away from the TV. I fiddled with my hair.
"So . . . it's been awhile," I drew out, leaning carefully against the table. Jamie nodded, seeming to get the meaning behind my words. Neither of us had brought up the whole Annie thing. Jamie's face etched itself into the familiar monotone.
"I think we should start over," he said slowly, looking hesitantly at my face. Before I had a chance to speak, he continued. "I need to trust you in order to have any sort of," he fumbled silently for a moment, "relationship."
"So . . . what then?" I waited for a moment before continuing sarcastically, "Hi, I'm Alex and my best friend is your rival or enemy or whatever she is. Nice to meet you!" I held my hand out and he stared at it blankly. I let my hand fall.
"No," he said shortly, sounding annoyed. He walked past me and into the kitchen. "Do you want tea or something?"
"Hey, don't change the subject!" I turned around and watched him fill a teakettle with water. "But yes, I will have some tea. Raspberry, if you've got it." He nodded.
"Act normally," he said, back to me. "I don't know. We'll see if whatever there was is worth saving. And don't," he said quickly as I opened my mouth, "be argumentative. Just don't." I closed my mouth, angry.
"That's not fair," I said, sounding unpredictably childish. "You can't just tell me to act normally around you while you decided if you like me." I felt desperate tears pricking at the back of my eyes and I bit my lip. "You can't just tell me to wait around while you decide if it's worth it to like me. Because I really like you," I added the last part in a soft undertone. Jamie had stilled his movements in the kitchen and I was now feeling the intense desire to run away. That was more humiliation then I'd usually take in a month. I grew even more uncomfortable as Jamie picked up the teakettle and began to silently pour the hot water into two mugs. I fidgeted. Finally, he turned to me. His face had become a mask.
"You're right, it's not fair." He leveled me with his stare and I blinked and looked toward the floor. He was suddenly right in front of me, his shadow falling into my line of sight. I could feel his body heat. I felt myself flush at the proximity.
"It's not fair," he repeated again, softer. After a moment, I found myself in a tight hug. I hesitantly wrapped my arms around Jamie, feeling him breathing softly into my hair. He finally stepped back and looked me in the eyes, a compassionate look in his own that I had never seen before. I felt a giggle rise in my throat and slapped a hand over my mouth to cover it, effectively ruining the moment. An amused look crossed Jamie's face as I tried to hold back my impending giggle-fit. I stepped back awkwardly and collapsed into the chair by the TV, laughing hysterically. Jamie raised an eyebrow and walked back into the kitchen to retrieve our tea as giddy tears poured down my cheeks. When I finally stopped laughing, my hands clutching my tired stomach, Jamie handed me the mug of raspberry tea. I sipped it gratefully.
"You really must love your raspberry tea," Jamie commented, watching as I tipped the cup back and swallowed it. I looked toward him suspiciously, still drinking the tea.
"Stop watching me. It makes me nervous." Resigned, Jamie moved back over to the TV as I mock glared at him over my cup. I slid to the couch to lean over Jamie's shoulder. He flipped the channels until it reached the weather. We watched as a red strip moved across the bottom that flashed 'Blizzard Warning'. I removed myself from Jamie's back and sighed, stretching.
"I guess I'm stuck with you for awhile," I teased, turning around to look out the window. Jamie made a soft snorting noise.
"I guess so."
It was impossible to see if the storm was here yet; it was even darker out than it had been before.
"Well," I said, "what are we going to do?" I watched as Jamie flicked through the disgusting cooking shows. "I can make us dinner or something."
"If you want," Jamie replied distractedly. I shrugged and wandered over to the refrigerator.
"Preference?" I asked as I leaved through the fridge. He had a larger stock of veggies then Annie, which was nothing short of amazing.
"No."
I pulled out enough ingredients to make homemade pasta and sauce and set them on the counter; stopping to pull the recipe from my memory. Jamie stretched awkwardly on the small chair and leaned backwards to look out the window. I laughed mentally as I watched him. He looked like a little kid. He settled back into the chair, and I hurriedly looked back into the bowl of ingredients I was mixing, pausing to check on my pot of boiling water.
"It's going to be a long night," he sighed from the couch. "It's already snowing."
"I can cook all night," I replied, digging under the counter for an extra mixing bowl.. "I can even make the granola bars that all the cooking shows are so happily showing."
"Joy," Jamie remarked sarcastically. I raised my eyebrows at his tone and wrapped my hands around the nicely-shaped noodles, bringing them over to the pot of boiling water. I dumped them in quickly, and then moved over to the mixer to make the sauce.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Jamie asked warily from the chair.
"I guess we'll find out when you drop dead," I replied slyly, dropping a chopped tomato into the mixer. Jamie 'hn'-ed, turning the TV volume higher as I turned the mixer on. Twenty minutes later I was mixing the sauce with the noodles and Jamie was lying on the couch lazily.
"Hey, bum," I called. Jamie looked up slowly. "Food."
"D'wanna bring it here?" He requested. I wished I had a camera. Nobody would believe me if I described how he was sitting in that moment. I obediently brought two bowls over to the chair, one for me, and handed one to Jamie. As soon as he had taken the bowl, I sat on him sideways.
"Hey," he protested weakly, quickly shoving food into his mouth. I watched him for a good reaction. He looked up and caught my gaze. "S'good."
"Good," I said, relieved. I had forgotten a few of the ingredients for the sauce, so I just used what was in the fridge. Putting my own fork to my mouth, I settled in- on Jamie's lap- for a long night.