April 27th, 2009
"Tory! Tory, phone for you!" I jolted awake, rolling right off the edge of my bed. Grumbling, I reached an arm up to my bedside table and grabbed the phone.
"Hello?" I said quietly. I tucked the phone between my ear and shoulder, rubbing the elbow that I had landed on.
"Hey, can I pick you up in twenty minutes?" Josh's voice filled my ears and I smiled in spite of myself.
"Where are we going?" I asked, standing up to fix my quilt.
"I thought we would just go back to my house," he replied, and I could hear the smile in his voice.
"Okay, see you in twenty."
I put the phone down, running my fingers through my hair and taking a glance at myself in the mirror. Not bad for a mid afternoon nap, a solid hour without interruption. Popping a piece of cinnamon gum into my mouth, I left my room, searching the upstairs for Kayla without luck. As I started down the stairs I heard a cry build up to a wail, echoing throughout the house.
"Tory? Tory!" Kayla called from the kitchen just as I walked in behind her. "Tor- Oh!" she exclaimed as she turned around to find me and saw me already standing in the doorway.
"Let me have her," I said, holding out my arms for Jada. Kayla gratefully handed her over, giving me a smile.
"She needs her diaper changed and a bottle and I need to take a quick shower and then run Candace to her friend's house and then pick up Jacob and-"
"Hush," I told her, turning her around with my hand and pushing her out of the kitchen. "I'll watch Jada while you shower but Josh is picking me up in twenty minutes."
"Oh, that's fine, I can take her with me when I go…" Kayla's voice faded away as she climbed the stairs.
Sighing, I took Jada into her nursery and changed her diaper quickly, tossing the old one in the now full trash bin. I balanced her on my hip, heading back into the kitchen and digging through the fridge for a fresh bottle, which I at last found at the bottom of the back shelf.
"You're a handful, you know that?" I asked her as she quieted, her tiny mouth sucking on the bottle. She looked innocently back at my with her wide blue eyes, taking me in. I couldn't help but smile at her, my shoulders melting.
I was still rocking her back and forth when the horn beeped out in the driveway.
"Kayla!" I called, still bouncing Jada in my arms. Candace walked into the kitchen then with more purpose than any nine-year-old I had ever seen.
"Have you seen my Edgar Allan Poe action figure?" she asked me, not even stopping to look at me as she checked underneath the table and next to the fridge. Frustrated, she pushed her glasses back into position, standing up straight and putting her hands on her hips.
"Did you check the nursery?" I asked her. "Kayla!" I called again as the horn beeped.
"Coming, I'm coming!" she huffed, running into the kitchen. I handed her Jada.
"Mom, have you seen my Poe action figure? I want to take it to Jaime's!" Candace exclaimed, walking back out of the room.
"Okay, I'll see you later," I told Kayla, running my fingers through my hair one more time before leaving.
By now my eyes could adjust quickly to the dark room, able to pick out the too short bed table and the crooked blinds on the window. I could see the cluttered desk in the left corner and the piles of clothes covering the floor. What was easiest to see however was Josh, lying before me on the bed. I straddled his hips, knees bent behind me, my hands resting on the flat planes of his stomach. He rested with his arms behind his head, a lazy grin on his face.
"What time is it?" I asked him, making invisible shapes on his chest with my finger.
He turned his head to his bedside clock with a sigh. "Eleven," he replied, turning back to watch me, catching my fingers in his hand.
I smiled, leaning down until I was lying on top of him again, my hands running through his hair. He wrapped his arms around my waist, his fingers brushing the hot skin of my back. As his lips met mine, he rolled me over, so all his weight rose above me, though most of it rest on his forearms on either side of me. When he began to finger the clasp of my bra I took his hand in mine, moving my lips to his ear.
"Curfew is eleven-thirty," I whispered. Josh sighed, dropping his head next to mine in frustration before rolling off of me.
Laughing, I rolled off the bed, searching the dark room for my shirt before finding it at the foot of the bed.
"Why is this funny to you?" he asked me. I smiled sweetly, coming over to his side of the bed and kissing him.
"Come on," I said. "You need to drive me home."
Josh sighed, standing up slowly and pulling on a random shirt, a different one than what he had been wearing before. "If I didn't like you so much…" he said, but I cut him off by touching my lips to his again. As soon as he started to relax, I pulled back, taking his hand and leading him out of his own house.
I know it's short, sorry!
What are you thinking of the story so far? Is it too confusing? What / who would you like to know more about? Favorite character yet?
-zoomie