Burnouts

We're Not Supposed To

Scene 1: The Helmsley Hotel

Heather Blakely

He shuffles in his sleep, moving around to the point where the blanket reveals a bit more of his torso.

With moments like these in mind, I always make my room warmer when he comes over.

I walk out of the room, shutting the door as quietly as possible.

"Good morning, Heather," my mother greets me after I reach the bottom of the stairs.

"Good morning," I continue past her and into the kitchen.

She follows, "are you hungry?"

"Not really, no," I grab two glasses out of the cabinet. "I'll eat something before I leave." She watches me take the pitcher of orange juice out of the refrigerator and start to pour. I can sense that she wants to question it, and she's straining herself trying to resist. "Did you need something?"

"I couldn't help but notice you're using two glasses."

"Mhm."

"Extra thirsty?"

"Extra person," I reply.

"Why am I not surprised?"

My father enters the kitchen with a sigh, "will Leonardo be coming down to say 'hello?'"

"Not if I can help it," I say with a fake smile. "Have a lovely day at work, you two. We should do this again sometime."

They keep their stale faces on but allow me to walk out with the glasses and no more interrogation.

When I get back to my room, I find Leo stepping out of the bathroom, morning tiredness washed from his face but not out of his demeanor.

"Hey," I say in surprise, "I didn't expect you to be awake just yet."

"I rolled over and you weren't in bed."

"I went to get you juice, so you wouldn't be too grumpy about waking up."

"Well, I just brushed my teeth," he takes the cups from me and puts them on my dresser, "but, thank you."

Leo grabs my hands and pulls me back with him onto the bed.

His arms wrap around to hold me hostage while he lays under me. "I'm assuming this means you have no intention of getting dressed."

A small smile appears on his face, and he stares up at me for a second, his hand hooking around my face before he licks his lips and kisses me. It's sweet that I can feel your heart beating faster now...
He tastes like mint, and I deepen the kiss to get more of it, the cool sensation mixing with the warmth of his mouth.

It's hard to believe that yesterday was so bad.

He pulls away slowly, "I don't want to go to school."

"That's an idea."

"Yeah?" He says in surprise and lets me go enough to sit up on his lap.

I grab my phone, put it to my ear, and playfully speak into it, "Hello, this is Isabel Rylin calling. Unfortunately, Leo has fallen sick and won't be at school today."

"Will that actually work?"

"If you remember your lines, it will." I put the phone back. "You'll tell the dean that 'Heather has an incapacitating migraine.'" 

Leo chuckles and shakes his head, "I've just been ruining your attendance since we started going together."

"My attendance wasn't perfect before."