The Guide To Becoming a Chameleon

7. Oh, His Smile

"Shut." I groan at the alarm clock and slam it, "Up."

For a moment, I'm in bliss. The pillow under my head is cool, but not cold and it smells like vanilla shampoo. It's perfect, the sun is streaking through the window, birds are chirping, it's like a fairy tale moment.

The alarm clock wasn't supposed to sound like that.

My eyes fly open when I realize it. This is not my room. I shoot up straight and look around. My heart slows down when I realize that the room is familiar. Natasha comes in, carrying a table with breakfast on it.

How did-
I kissed Jake last night. My cheeks heat up and a smile creeps onto my face. The thought makes me want to curl myself under the covers and squeal.

"Morning." Nat says, "I gotcha breakfast in bed."

She sits beside me and sets the table in front of herself. It's blueberry waffles dripping in maple syrup. Oh, it's perfect, I'm starving.

"How did I get here?" I ask.

Nat rests her face on her hand and looks at me, an unreadable expression on her face.
"You look fresh today." She says.

"Nat."

"You don't remember? Oh, of course you don't remember, you were knocked out cold." She says, a dangerous anger gleaming in her eyes, a contrast to her sickly-sweet smile. "You know, imagine my surprise when I get a call from my best friend at nine in the night. I pick up, and instead of her voice, it's a guy's. He tell me that he has you and then asks me where I live and if I'm available."

She pauses, "That would be quite polite for a kidnapper, now that I think about it. Anyway, ten minutes later, he shows up in my porch with my best friend unconscious in his arms with her hair messy and lips red and swollen."

I blink at her and she continues, "My first instinct was to start shouting at him because-" She swallows, "But before I could get a word in, he told me, and I quote to, not be too loud."

I bite my lip.

"I put my best friend to bed upstairs and am about to demand answers until I see his shirt," She bites her lip too and smirks, "crumpled and his hair messier than usual."

I'm quite positively blushing at this point.

"So, I'm calm about it. Kind of." The dangerous gleam returns. "And you know, we have a little talk about our little common friend."

I swallow, "What kind of things did you talk about?"

She takes a deep breath and looks me right in the eye, "Things I should've heard from you instead. You didn't tell me the nightmares were this serious."

I look down, finding the comforter more interesting all of a sudden. "I'm sorry." I say, "I didn't want to worry you and you had your own stuff going on too, you know?"

"That's bullshit!" She shouts suddenly, making me jump. "We're best friends for god's sake! Your health is always my first priority."

She suddenly pulls me to her and I freeze for a moment before hugging her back and awkwardly patting her back.

"I'm sorry I wasn't a good friend." I say in a small voice.

"Oh, shut up." She commands and pulls back. Wiping her face, she smirks mischievously, "Now, tell me everything. All the deets. Did you two engage in-"

Nat drives me to school in her dad's old Toyota Corolla. We have the presentation today and I intend to win. I even prepared speech cards for both of us. I don't see Jake when I enter the library in the morning and I am somehow thankful for that. I doubt Jake can ever make anything awkward with his sarcastic remarks but I'm not about to risk it. The other three teams rush decorations and speeches while I wait for him. Minutes pass, and I finally shoot him a text.