Chapter 5: == Jade: Wake up to the smell of bacon
You wake up smelling bacon, and you are in a bed with Emily, and one of the other girls is on her other side. You try and remember when you got there. Last you remember, you were watching as Emily and Micah duked it out against Tyler and Levi in the final Halo match, as Mike and James ran hilarious commentary on the entire match. You remember getting a little bit sleepy and resting your head on Mike's shoulder. You think you remember him putting his arm over your shoulder, but you aren't sure if that actually happened or not. In any case, you realize you probably fell asleep like that and someone carried you to the bed. You carefully get out of the bed, making sure not to disturb the girls still sleeping, and make your way to the kitchen, where you hear the sizzle of bacon on a skillet. You walk in to find Mike, plaid pajama pants and a black t-shirt, and you notice black framed glasses on his face.
"Well, look who's up, Sleepin' Beauty! Welcome back to the party," he says as you walk in, "Want some breakfast? Well, I guess it's brunch by this time of day, eh?" You look at the clock, and you are a little shocked to find that it's actually half past noon. You are definitely hungry though, so you sit down at the table, and Mike brings over two plates of bacon and eggs.
"So do you usually wear contacts, then?" you ask him as you both start to eat the food, which is rather delicious. Mike nods as he pops some bacon in his mouth, and after he swallows he says "Contacts just makes everything easier for me. I don't have to worry about them falling off my face, or breaking, or cleaning them all the time. Not that I don't like my glasses, cause they sure make me look clever, don't they?"
You laugh at his conceited comment, and you are just sure by the way he said that one line with a British accent that that is a definite reference to something, but you aren't sure quite what it is. "So who won the Halo match last night?" you ask him.
"Em and Micah ripped it up, man. They were just on fire last night! Unfortunately, since you fell asleep and we couldn't get you back up, you and Jake didn't get to play the loser's bracket, but James and I ended up in third, and JT and Meg in fourth. Sorry, girl, but your narcoleptic attack struck you down to fifth." He seems to be enjoying teasing you about falling asleep, so you smack him on the arm from across the table.
"That's not very nice to say to a lady, Mike! And what if I really did suffer from narcolepsy? How would you feel then, huh?" you tease back, just sure he won't have a comeback this time.
"Alright, I have to give you that one. Although, I just want to mention, you sure put off a LOT of heat when you sleep. You just kinda cuddled on up there, and for a minute I thought you were going to climb on into my lap." He definitely did have a comeback, and him talking about you sleeping on him makes you blush furiously, and you turn to look out of the window to hide it.
"I was tired, give me a break! I had a long day," you say, a little bit flustered now. He just sits there smiling. He nods at you, saying "For sure, for sure," and offers you more bacon and eggs, which you decline. That one plate was definitely enough to fill you up. You ask him whether anyone else is awake, and he shakes his head.
"You have just stayed the night at a house full of people who just love sleeping in whenever they can. Well, half of 'em do, and the other half stayed up late enough to sleep in for once. So we're the only ones awake. Or at least the only ones moving," he says, piling more bacon onto his plate.
"Wrong," you hear a voice in the doorway behind you, and you turn to see James walk into the room, yawning and scratching the back of his head, and he adds, "Did you really use mom's bacon? I don't know how happy she'll be about that."
"Don't fret, Jehosephat, I left some cash on the counter for it," Mike replies, and James scowls at him. You giggle a little bit, but you can understand why James didn't like the nickname. It's a little strange.
"You know you aren't allowed to call me that, Mikey," James replies, and then it's Mike's turn to scowl, "You know you can't win the crappy nickname game, dude. We're about even in that game."
"Fair enough, bro. Here, have a plate," Mike hands him a plate piled high with bacon and eggs, and turns back to pile more on his plate. The two of them start discussing some strategy game, and you decide you might as well go change into your extra clothes, and maybe find a bathroom so you can brush your teeth. You thank Mike for the breakfast as you leave the room, and he nods in reply.
You go back to the room where your stuff is, which actually isn't the one that you ended up sleeping in last night. Actually, no one was actually sleeping in this room, so you don't have to worry about waking anyone up. You close the door behind you, slip out of the clothes you were wearing, and change into the jeans and green fitted shirt you brought with you. You find a small bathroom connected to the room, and use the sink to brush your teeth. You walk back out of the room feeling a bit refreshed. You hear a few more people talking than before, and you walk back into the kitchen to see that Meg, Rob, and JT had joined the crowd in the kitchen. Mike was busy frying up more bacon and eggs, and you take the opportunity to take the seat Mike had been using at the table.
"Y'know, I'm gonna want that seat back. I think since I've cooked all this bacon that I should get to sit down," he says, leaning over your shoulder to speak right into your ear. You turn towards him, and his face is literally right in front of yours and you reply, "You got up! What if I wanted to sit down too, huh?" You finish by sticking your tongue out at him.
He smirks and then picks you up, taking you completely off guard, and you feel a little disappointed that you lost that game, but then he sits you down on top of him in the seat, and you look back at him to say, "You don't have to let me sit on you, you know."
"It's no big deal. You're pretty light, y'know? Plus, you seem to be a perfect fit there. I've got a good eye," he says, winking at you and causing blood to start rushing to your face again, and you almost have half a mind to smack him for being so darned flirty! But when you think about it, you really don't mind too much.
== Mike: Hours in the future, but not many…
You just pulled up at Jade's place, and she's just about to get out of your car and probably go finish catching up on sleep. You didn't actually sleep the night before, so that's definitely what you're doing when you go home. She grabs her bag out of your backseat and turns to you and smiles.
"Hey, thanks for everything. Like, for yesterday, and last night and stuff. You've been a really great friend. You can definitely call me or whatever anytime," she says, and you give her a smile and say, "You know it, girl, but don't expect one for a bit. I expect to crash and sleep all day. Maybe even until tomorrow." You're probably right, too.
"Well, don't wait too long! We need to plan that movie party with John!" she says enthusiastically, opening the car door. She's about to step out, but she stops and turns to give you a warm hug. You return her embrace, and she plants a kiss on your cheek before smiling and stepping out of the car. You're glad she turned away so quick, because you can feel yourself starting to turn a bit red. You wait to make sure she gets inside, and then shift your car into drive and head to your place. You say "screw it" to yourself and decide you'll take in all your stuff later when you aren't so tired, and you head straight up to your bedroom, don't even bother taking off your shoes, and collapse on your bed and fall asleep.
== Mike: Dream.
You are sitting on the hood of your car, which is sitting at the edge of the driveway in front of Jade's house. Instead of the street that's normally in front of the house, there's a bottomless abyss, but you can see something inside of it. You don't know why, but you are pretty sure it is a vision of another reality. You see Jade with dog ears, which you think is a little strange. She's on a golden ship racing through a green tunnel, with one yellow strip along a lower edge. She's with her brother, and there is a couple there that you don't recognize, though they seem to lack legs. You can't tell what they are doing, but it seems like they are all deep in conversation. Jade looks at the end of the tunnel they are speeding towards, and then in your general direction. You know she couldn't possibly see you, but you swear she's staring right at you. After a few moments, she turns and walks into an inner room of the ship. You feel a slight tremor under you, and then your car, the driveway, and the house suddenly disappear, and you start falling.
And you never stop falling, or at least, not until you wake up.
== End Chapter 5.