Moonlight Kisses

adrenaline: part one

My early morning slumber is rudely interrupted by a giraffe twice my size. Also known as the giant I have for a boyfriend. He rolls over on top of me before my alarm goes off. Emphasis on before. Whenever he does that he knows he's in for a feisty attitude and an even harder time getting me out of bed.

He puckers his lips against my forehead tenderly. Again and again, he places those softly applied pecks down my cheek, along the sharp angle of my jawline, all the way to the center of my collarbone. "Morning, love," he chirps between kisses. If my eyes weren't stinging from my clear lack of sleep, this would honestly be quite enjoyable.

Due to being woken up so early, before my alarm no less, I respond coldly, "Fuck off." Attempting to roll onto my side, away from him, his hand comes down on my shoulder, pushing me back down flat against my mattress.

This week was our first week back to school since spring break drew to its inevitable end. It bummed me out a bit that we failed to do as much as we could in the last break of the year. All we have to look forward to is summer and that's not for another two months. In that time we have to study for our finals, pull our grades together, and in my case, prepare to wave goodbye to my sister who'll be graduating two short weeks after our last day of school.

I can't remember what school was like without her there with me because I never had to go through it. Our one year age gap ensured that we always stayed in the same school year after year. The only time we were separated was when she went off to Year 11 and I was stuck in the same school she'd been in for Year 10. Up until that point, our schools were pretty much close enough to each other that we could take the bus together or walk in our small group of friends to the ice cream parlor down the street from our schools. That is until she went to Year 11 that her building was at least a ten minute walk from mine.

No longer did I have my big sister there to protect me. That was also the year I conveniently remember the least of.

Moving on...

School was the same repetitive routine every single day. Get up, get ready, drag yourself through your classes and just when you think you've escaped the damn thing you realize the pile of homework that's due in the next two days tops. Beau made it a tad bit better. He somehow always does even though he despises school possibly more than I do.

Everyday after school we've been shamelessly taking advantage of the ability now to walk freely around my house without being caught or scolded. The new leniency that came with Beau and my dad finally meeting a couple weeks ago is addicting to say the least. All we really do is study in my bedroom and occasionally come down to the kitchen to get snacks or make dinner for the two of us, plus Kat. When we're not studying, we're watching TV, and when we're not doing that we're fooling around. It feels pretty domestic to say the very least, but I like it. No, correction, I love it.

My mom has yet to cross our path though. She's been tasked with more late afternoon shifts so by the time we get home from school, she's long gone. There are some nights where I won't hear her come in until eleven p.m. or twelve a.m.. Her hours are still very unconventional but it's better than the night shifts. I hate seeing her work night shifts.

They drain her badly. By the time she gets home she's practically a walking zombie, only functioning with the power of a hearty midnight meal during her break and five cups of coffee throughout the night. She's absent in my daily life, but at least when she's here in the mornings, I'm able to talk to her. Which I've done a lot more often as of late. She looks happy with these new hours. The morning glow was lost on her when she was forced to sleep during the day so she'd be awake and ready. Now that it's returned, I'm ecstatic to have my mom around again.