The Disaffected

CHAPTER V

All of a sudden I was awake and upright. Alex was propped up on his bed with a very thick hardcover book in his hand.

"Any nice dreams to report?"

"What time is it?" I fumbled for my phone, but was greeted with a low battery signal.

He checked his watch, then turned his attention back to his book, "About 2am, you were asleep for only a couple of hours."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that." My voice came out thick, and I was desperate for some water.

Alex must have detected my thirst in my raspiness, and he silently held out a half empty bottle of water, not taking his eyes off the book.

I quickly grabbed the water and drank it all within a matter of seconds.

    "Have you been here the whole time?" I asked. I was growing embarrassed by the whole situation.

    Finally looking up, he responded, "When I came back you were already sleeping there. I didn't know what to do honestly, so I just left you."

    My ears grew hot as my embarrassment heightened, "Sorry again, I'll leave now."

    "How are you getting home?"

    "I'll walk, I think it's like 30 minutes?"

    "It's 40 degrees out there," his eyes ran across my exposed shoulders, causing me to pull my hair over them again.

    "It's okay really, I'll figure something out." I nearly ran out the red door, closing it behind me before he could say anything else.

I walked back through the winding hallway and into the remainder of the house. The party had dwindled down considerably during the time I was in the octagon room. Couples had paired up and scurried off into shadowy spots against the house's walls to talk quietly and kiss slowly. I walked past the main room, I think it was a living room some many years ago, and peeked at the party stragglers. Two girls in shorts and cropped tank tops were swaying together, their hands clasped in each other's, while another girl on the fringe of the room stood by herself and took down large mouthfuls of whatever was in her red plastic cup. When I walked out the front door, I saw Seb in the side yard. He was perched on a rock and I made out the red glow of a cigarette moving up to his lips and then back down when he took his hand away. He noticed me too and beckoned me to come sit with him. Debating if I wanted to go towards him, my want for a cigarette overruled any other feelings I had at that time, and I went over and sat myself on the rock beside him.

As if reading my mind, he held out a second cigarette which I gladly placed between my lips. I was about to ask for a light when I felt his finger gently prop up under my chin, and he carefully used it to turn my face towards his. Leaning his head towards me, he took the lit tip of his cigarette, and pushed it against mine.

"Inhale," he said softly out of the corner of his mouth.

I did and I watched the glow transfer from his cigarette to mine, igniting it. He let his finger drop from under my chin, but I hovered in the same position, forgetting to exhale until I physically had to. I turned away from him and pushed the smoke up and out through my nose.

"American Spirit blacks," he aimlessly tapped on the carton tucked into his t-shirt sleeve. "Pricey, but they last the longest."

"I prefer the blues," I responded, "they taste better." I hadn't smoked in a few weeks and welcomed the sour, smoky flavor as it drifted and settled into my hair and clothes.

"Didn't expect a Balfour to have an opinion on cigarettes," Seb teased, but he must have seen my jaw clench and added, "Vance told us, but that's just Vance, he has to know everything about everyone. He's always been nosey. He's incredibly smart though, prodigy style smart. I heard he recited and wrote out the entire Pledge of Allegiance when he was only three years old." Seb exhaled a long line of smoke, "you know he's written a textbook? It was translated into three languages." He tucked his cigarette between his right index and middle finger, and began to count out the languages on his fingers, "Russian, German, and Italian." He returned the cigarette to his lips and spoke out of the corner of his mouth, "He can even read them too."