Teachers Pet

72: Completely Truthful

        I jumped when the screen door creaked open, my phone slipping out of my hand. It landed beside me, screen down. I hurriedly shoved it into the pocket of the hoodie I was wearing, trying not to look like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. My heart thrummed almost painfully as Jill stepped out into the darkness of the sunroom. The throw blanket that was resting on the back of her futon was now tightly wrapped around her body.

       "Sorry... Didn't mean to scare you." I nodded, not really sure what to say to her. I was still so angry, but I knew we needed to talk. Things couldn't stay like this between us, not again. Jill took slow steps to the wicker chair in front of me before taking a seat. I didn't miss how each movement of hers was hesitant. When she pulled her legs up to her chest, she let out an exasperated sigh. Her breath clouded in front of her in a thick fog. It was cold out here, but it wasn't freezing. Or maybe it was and my body was just numb to the winter air.

       "What are you doing up?" I struggled to ask. The effort taken to force myself to speak, I knew, was much too obvious. She could see it on my face if she didn't hear it in my voice.

       "I couldn't sleep," she nearly whispered. Her eyebrows were knitted together as she measured my expression. I think she was analyzing the tension in the air that clearly hadn't been there before she joined me in the sunroom.

       It was tranquil before she opened the screen door. I could think about today's events and go over everything. My mind kept wandering elsewhere to places I wish it didn't. When my thoughts started to creep into that dark place, my phone found its way into my hand. I was already pulling up David's number but before I could call him, Jill interrupted.

       I think I was grateful she did. I'd already been debating whether or not the decision to make the call was wise. Calling him didn't feel wrong, but I wondered if it should. Even though he reassured me that it wouldn't be an issue, I still wasn't completely sure. If you need someone to talk to, I promise you I will answer, he'd said to me. It didn't feel like a promise made lightly...

       "I couldn't sleep either," I told her with a nod. We should both be asleep. It was almost three in the morning. When I snuck out of her bedroom about an hour ago, I thought she was deep asleep. From the way Dean drooled onto his pillow, I knew he was certainly asleep. His mouth had been ajar and light snoring had been coming from him. I never minded it before, but tonight it had been one of the many factors of why I was awake.

       I didn't even know he was supposed to spend the night. When it got late, he'd simply kicked his shoes off and plopped down in the middle of Jill's bed. He didn't even change his clothes. He just threw his hoodie over the door and that was that. It was the same hoodie I wearing now. Not just because it had been the most convenient thing to grab, but because I really needed a sense of familiarity right now.

        So much has changed in my life. So much at one time, it seems. How many times had Dean left this same hoodie at my house not because he forgot it, but because he knew it was my favorite one of his? He knew I liked the way it engulfed me, the way the fleece inside was soft against my skin. Sometimes he even spritzed it with his cologne before leaving it for me.

      Sitting out here, it was a little easy to forget about everything. I'd closed my eyes and inhaled the smell of his cologne. Simpler times came rushing back to me. One memory, in particular, stuck out more than the others. It feels like it was forever ago. Dean and I had been climbing up the small tree in front of my house one summer. I can't remember why we thought it was a good idea to climb to the top, but I'd fallen before I could even get to the second branch.