How Many Stars

❖ Preparation ❖

"A guest?? Since WHEN were we having guests over?!" Tommy exclaimed as Kristin began to usher us inside, directing us to the stairs, "We only just moved here! What the- WHAT THE FU-"
"Tommy!" Kristin hissed, swatting the boys arm in disapproval, "Go upstairs and get ready. You've got 30 minutes until they get here. I mean it! You too!" She finished, narrowing her eyes at the three of us before pointing a slender figure at both Wilbur and I. Redirecting her finger and pointing it back at the gaping stairwell that lead up to the second floor. Wilbur and I were the first to race up the stairs, fearing for the fact that we'd have to deal with Kristin if we were to take any longer. Tommy not catching onto the memo, began to drag his feet sombrely up the stairs.
"Hurry up! You'll have less time to get ready! Go! Go! Go!" Kristin called once more, starting to chase Tommy up the stairs in the hopes of encouraging him to move faster, waving her arms around threateningly. This method proving effective as Tommy picked his feet up and scurried up the stairs. Flying right past us and into his room. A satisfying thud being made as he slammed the door behind him, the sound echoing throughout the narrow hallway.
"You want first shower?" Will asked, turning his body away from Tommy's bedroom door to face me. Elbows resting on the oak railing that separated the second story from the first. It would've been one hell of a drop if there was nothing there, that's for sure.
"I mean yeah, sure I guess," I reply shrugging my shoulders, as I turn on my heel making my way down the hallway. The floor boards creaking underneath my weight with every step I took. They were so loud and disruptive to the once peaceful silence. Entering my room to grab my faded green towel from it's hook I exit the room almost as soon as I'd entered it. Pacing down the narrow hall. Wilbur now burrowed away in his room, "Star Man" blaring from one of his various speakers, muffled ever so slightly by the door that stood between the sound and me. I continue my path down the hall, finding my way to a small door that stood near the stair-well. Pushing open it's old and discoloured spruce build to reveal the cramped and cold room that lay beyond it. A slight shiver running up my spine as I enter the dimly lit room. The cold tiles connecting with my bare skin, goosebumps popping up. The cold sensation fading as I adjusted to the cool touch of the bathroom. It was a small room. A shower slotted into the corner of the room, a bath in the other. A rectangular mirror was placed above an old and worn bathroom cabinet that had been painted an off-white to match that of the walls. Blue tiles covered the floor and lined the base of the 4 walls that encased this small, seperate world. Finally a round window framed itself delicately near the bath, a view of the ocean being visible from its small, round figure.

I pushed back the curtains that had hidden the shower, pausing to exam its build. Gradually gliding my hand towards the shower's brass handle twisting it as a flow of warm water came gushing out from its head. The temperature gradually increasing to something much more blistering. Clouds of steam beginning to pool under its endless spray of water. Twisting a second handle that lay below the first a slightly cooler version of the water beginning to flow. Adjusting itself to more ideal temperatures. Tugging my shirt from over my head, it's once clean and pressed blue form became a crumpled pile of colour on the floor. Still-damp denim shorts shortly following suit. The metal clasp of them making a slight pinging noise as it hit the ground. Now I stood bare and naked to this small world known as the second-floor bathroom. It was almost as if my senses had heightened after I'd stripped down. Defenceless to the cool evening breeze that blew in from the window, matched by the return of the infamous nippy tiles. It was an unpleasant feeling to say the least. Moving forward into the shower I tugged at the shower's curtains once more, slipping my own body beneath them, immersing myself in the warm water. Easing and chipping away at the cold sensation that'd iced over my body. Stepping further into the streams of water I began to run my fingers through my hair, redirecting the waters flow. Dampening it, gradually submerging my full head into its warmth. The feeling of it all being rather refreshing, pleasant too. Crouching down to pick up a clear, labelled bottle, unscrewing its lid and squeezing its body, a pastel yellow gel offering itself to the palm of my hand. Placing the bottle once more on the shower floor I begin rubbing the gel-like substance across my body, a pleasant honey odour evolving as the suds began to form on my skin. Washing it away shortly after, watching white bubbles swirl and twirl their way down my skin once more, being met with the drain's grate, before finally being washed away.