A Wink and a Smile & the Land is Ours

Chapter 4

Drop it like its hot by Snoop Dogg blasted in my ears and I let out a pained groan. Jay had set it as my alarm a week ago. Despite being a killer song, it was not enjoyable to wake up to in the morning. I slammed my hand onto my phone several times in attempt to turn it off. The song had already gotten to the chorus when I finally realized that beating my phone like it was an unwanted insect was not the answer. I pried open my tired eyes and shut off the alarm. I tugged opened my curtains, winced, and immediately shut them. The sun was glaring at me, reminding me once again that I was not a morning person. I trudged around my room aimlessly, debating whether I actually had to be at school today, or if I could just take a day off and go back to sleep. The responsible side of me won and I grudgingly slipped on my school uniform. I ran some mascara through my eyelashes and started to braid my hair in a French braid. When I got to the end of the braid I glanced around my room, trying to find an elastic band only to realize that they were all in the bathroom. I sat there for a good five minutes trying to convince myself to not be lazy and walk the ten feet to my bathroom.

After a weak pep talk, I slogged to the bathroom and flung open the door.

A small scream escaped my lungs as I saw a half naked man in front of me.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" I yelled at Mikhail. His hair was wet and the steam filling the room made it evident that he had just gotten out of the shower. There was a towel wrapped around his waist, hanging dangerously low. As much as I don't want to admit it, my eyes were transfixed on his stomach that looked as though it was sculpted by the gods. I tore my eyes away from his abs and brought them up to his smug face.

"Good morning to you too." He said in a cheery voice. "Celia was using the shower in our bathroom, so I had to use yours."

I scrunched my eyebrows together. "It's too early in the morning for pleasantries." I mumbled as I brushed past him. I opened the cupboard under the sink and pulled out a hair elastic and a can of hair spray. Mikhail started humming as he grabbed a second towel and attempted to dry his hair. I glanced up at him and furrowed my eyebrows together. "How on earth are you so cheerful in the morning?" I asked rhetorically.

He laughed in response. I stood up and started walking towards the door.

"Eliza!" he called out as I headed out of the room. I wipped my head around to see what he was yelling about.

"I'm all for the naughty school girl look, but you might want to do that up before you leave." He continued as he pointed at the button up shirt of my school uniform. I glanced down and realized that the first five buttons were undone, leaving majority of my bra showing.  A slight blush made its way to my cheeks as I pulled my shirt together. Of course, I did the most mature thing I could think of; I scowled and threw the can of hair spray at him.

"Ouch! Jesus, Eliza! I'm just trying to help you out!" He called at me, humor lacing his voice.

"You're an asshole." I called over my shoulder as I made my way back to my room. I couldn't stop the genuine smile that made its way onto my face.

                                                                ~ 

"Thirty six!" Jay called out.

"Nah, it has to be at least forty by now! Have you been counting right?" Gabriel laughed.

Jay, Gabriel and I were currently sitting in English class, counting the amount of times our teacher, Mrs Berrie, could say the word "Mmmkay". She was a stout women in her fifty's who had a habit of pausing at the end of each sentence and saying "okay" in a hilarious voice. Normally, I would be all for making fun of a teacher, but today I just couldn't get into it.