Chapter Two
The combination of hot steam and gushing water was always the perfect way to revive her spirits on early mornings like this one.
People always moaned about mornings, the eternal teenage complaint, but Paige thought they were the best time of the day, that secretive, precious time to savour. The time to prepare and compose and indulge yourself before anyone had a chance to really impact on your reality.
Early mornings were definitely me time, she thought blissfully, engulfed by the cascade of water spewing forth from the showerhead.
She soaped away at her arms, her neck, further down her body, hands greedily gliding across her own stomach, devouring every inch of skin, instantly placating the strains of a rigid night's sleep.
We really need a better mattress, she thought idly, not for the first time.
The water started to spurt and splutter, coming out in gurgled gasps as she eyed the showerhead suspiciously.
We really need to get this shower looked at, she mentally noted again, with an internal sigh.
She thumped the head twice, sometimes this worked, sometimes it signalled the end of hot water for the day.
There was a pregnant pause during which all activity appeared to cease. Her skin started to goose-pimple as the cold air seeped in. She shot an icy glare back at the shower, which had the good grace to submit and resume business as usual.
Alex tried the door. It was locked, as she knew it would be. But the lock was just one of those old sliding ones, with a bolt that barely made it to its catch on the other side. Evidently the door had substantially moved over the years. She did what they all did in these situations, using sheer force of will to lift the door up slightly and throw her weight against it.
Marco interrupted her as she did. "Hey is Paige still in there?" he asked, visibly irritated, "Paige, c'mon, it's been over twenty minutes!"
"Don't worry, I'll hurry her up for you," Alex offered him a sly smile, slipping in amidst his protests and fastening the redundant lock behind her.
Alex was not an early morning person. Alex was a sleep-in late, heavily-caffeinate-yourself -into-consciousness kind of a person. But the combination of caring about her studies and living with Paige had brought her around slightly. Sometimes, early mornings had their benefits.
She climbed into the shower wordlessly behind her girlfriend, whose arms were raised to her scalp, lathering some of that expensive shampoo into her hair.
Alex liked Paige's shampoo, it made her hair glisten and smell of coconut.
She embraced her from behind, the perfect opportunity while her hands were occupied, and started dripping kisses down her neck.
Paige had, of course, registered her arrival, but was undecided on how mad she was still feeling. But early morning kisses in the shower were usually a sign of reconciliatory behaviour to come.
"Good morning to you too," she tipped her head back over her shoulder prompting a watery kiss.
She continued to lather her hair up while Alex tried to kiss away their argument, down her shoulderblades, hands consuming every inch of her soft belly. Her fingers found that ticklish spot just below Paige's abdomen, prompting her girlfriend to brush her hand away.
"Alex, I have to open up in like, fifteen minutes."
She resumed washing her hair, rinsing the soapy goodness from her dripping tresses. Alex pretended to help with the ritual.
She reached over Paige's shoulder, towards the soaptray on the wall, bringing her lips to her girlfiend's ear as she did so.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, tentative and vulnerable, yet distinctive enough above the rushing water.
"You shouldn't be scared of them," Paige responded matter-of-factly, always able to cut through the bullshit when required, always able to read Alex's emotions when push came to shove.
"I'm not-" Alex interrupted, thinking about it for the first time as she distractedly started to wash her own body. "I was just, I was just pissed off about school and… Look, I'll come with you, it's cool…"
She took Paige's arms and turned her around, their bodies pressed together in the small confines of the shower.
"No, I'll take this one on my own. It'll be better, y'know, when my mum starts up with the inevitable waterworks."
Alex offered a reassuring squeeze to her shoulder by way of a response. Paige was playing at being the voice of reason and congeniality, which just served to underlie her guilty conscience.
"I'm sorry," she said again, this time afforded the opportunity to meet with flashing green eyes.
"I know."
Hands wrapped around waists, heads bowed together, bonded like in reverent union, they could have been praying.
"I love you…"
"I know this too," cheeky grins broke the reverie.
"So I guess I don't need to say it anymore?"
"Mmm…Just one more time."
"PAIGE! Come on!" furious pounding shattered the moment completely as Paige turned in Alex's arms to finish her ablutions.
Marco was a good friend. He was loyal and considerate and always there to lend an eager ear. He liked living with girls because they had so much gossip.
But girls in love were a different species entirely. They were extra needy, extra-self-absorbed and extra-long in their bathroom formalities.
But like a pussy-whipped office junior he stood at the bathroom door, towel in hand, patience frayed, waiting for his turn, waiting for someone to see all his wonderful noble qualities and take pity on him.
The door opened and the giggling duo emerged from a misty haze of steam. "There better be some hot water left," he called out despondently.
Alex tapped him on the head as she breezed on past, "Chill Del Rossi."
It was a split-second of distraction that gave Ellie the chance to sneak on past with her make-up bag in hand.
"No Ellie, I've been waiting here-"
"Marco, five minutes, I swear. The light's awful in my room, I need the mirror."
"Two minutes," he tried bargaining in vain.
"Okay , whatever," she happily brushed him aside. The door closed once more.
Marco's heart sank at the sound of the clicking lock.
oooOOOooo
Paige finished buttering the toast, always just the right-side of burnt, regardless of what setting you turned the dial to.
She looked up apologetically as Marco traipsed in, still in his pyjamas, with his towel hanging limply over his shoulder, resigned to his fate.
"Sorry hun, won't happen again," she hurriedly repacked the fridge.
"Yeah, 'til tomorrow," he muttered.
Paige chose to ignore her friend's dismal morning mood and, not moving from the kitchen, she raised her voice to boom, "Alex, if you want a ride, I'm leaving right now!"
Marco slumped himself down at the kitchen table and heaved out a sigh, "I take it things are okay now."
"Hm?" Paige distractedly started to rifle through her bag, checking and rechecking. She was a little obsessive-compulsive at times, but no one was actually allowed to mention this.
"Yeah, it's fine, hun, thanks…"
"That got sorted out quickly," Marco persisted, with the residue of bitterness still lingering from the shower incident.
"Huh, what?" By now the blonde was operating at a hundred miles a minute, hands flailing, sandwiches being neatly cut, always diagonally, he noted absently. That was for Alex.
"Just… y'know, considering you were crying your eyes out to me last night, and this morning it's all hunky-dory."
"Marco, it wasn't like that," she offered, looking up to give him a full heartbeat of her attention.
"Sure seemed that way…"
"Yeah, but… Alex is just under a lot of pressure with school right now. Y'know, she's gotta get the grades this time. Plus, with things the way they are with her own mother…"
Marco shrugged, abandoning the conversation. He reached across to the bowl on the table and started fiddled with one of the packets of sugar they had swiped from the Dot.
"ALEX!" Paige let rip again, "I'm leaving this very second!"
Hurried footsteps thundered down the staircase to a chorus of, "I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm right here!"
Paige, always one to time everything to perfection, had her girlfriend's jacket ready and waiting the second she appeared.
Alex wordlessly accepted it, rushing over to grab a slice of toast before her exit. Ellie was hot on her heels.
"Oh great, so bathroom's free now?" Marco concluded, halfway between sarcasm and hope.
"Er- yeah, I think maybe Jesse kinda slipped in there."
"Ellie!"
Ellie focused intently on pouring herself a glass of orange juice while Alex looked on and laughed.
"Alex, now please hun," Paige prompted, as her girlfriend stuffed the specially prepared piece of toast into her mouth.
"And don't forget you're lunch," she pointed helpfully to the brown bag on the counter-top.
Ellie used all her powers of control not to spit her juice out upon hearing this. "Aaw, she makes you lunch. That's so cute, Alex."
Alex, restricted by the toast between her teeth, simply grabbed the bag and flipped off her friend in one smooth motion.
Ellie knew the word cute was like Alex kryptonite. Or maybe Paige was Alex kryptonite and cute was just the fallout.
Ellie responded to the finger with a whipping gesture as the two made their hasty exit.
The darker haired girl managed to remove her toast just long enough to utter a "Watch your back Nash!" warning that sounded neither threatening or sincere as Paige hustled her out the door.
Marco heaved out a sigh as the morning whirlwind started to die down, but was interrupted by yet another kitchen visitor, the ever-present Jesse, Ellie's shower-friendly boyfriend.
He sauntered into the kitchen, his hair matted from towel drying, his lazy grin oblivious to Marco's general disdain.
He plopped himself down next to Ellie and started to messily peel an orange in between sharing sloppy kisses with the redhead.
Marco desperately tried to think of something to say to interrupt the feeding frenzy, gave up and rose from the table. "Well, looks like I'll have that shower now," he said, addressing the air in the room.
"Oh, yeah, I don't think there's any hot water left," Jesse offered, with only the briefest of eye-contact, "Sorry man." He turned back to his girlfriend, playfully popping a segment of the orange into her eager mouth.
Marco wondered why he ever thought living with three girls was a great idea.