The Hornsey Bay Chapters

Chapter 11 - When Morning Comes

Alicia gradually wakes up, her eyelids struggling to release each other.

She is bone tired and would love nothing more than to slip back into sleep, but something inside her is waking her up, nagging at her to remember that she shouldn't be sleeping so deeply. She needs to wake up!

At first, she has no idea where she is, but then she recognises the outlines of her bookcase, watery in the early morning light, slowly coming into focus. There's a drum playing a calming rhythm somewhere near her ear, though, which makes no sense.

A drum?

She also becomes aware of soft skin under her hand, and there are things a lot like legs entwined with her own! She is still trying to make sense of it all when Ranger groans and rolls over, pinning her underneath him, instantly reminding her about the situation she'd forgotten.

Confused to find an obstacle in his bed, Ranger raises his head, looking down at the girl with sleep-drugged eyes, unable to understand her presence.

Having him this close to her in such an intimate position snaps Alicia wide awake, and right now, she's feeling too flustered to be relieved that he didn't die while she slept.

Desperate to escape the overdose of weirdness she's subjected to, she pushes against his shoulders and upper chest, wiggling and squirming until he sluggishly releases her from his weight. Rolling away from him, Alicia is suddenly airborne for a second, and her landing on the carpet is not graceful nor particularly soft, causing her to let out a startled yelp. Every single muscle in her entire body is aching this morning.

Sitting up, Ranger watches her with a mocking grin. He bobs his head, acknowledging her impressive bed-dismounting skills. "Do you do any other tricks?"

Alicia also sits up, trying to glare him right out of her bed. She is tired and cranky, absolutely not in the mood for Mr Snarky. As if bleeding on her, causing her to physically over-exert herself and worrying her hadn't been bad enough, he'd kept her captive in her bed all night long. Now, he has the audacity to mock her? He might be amused, but she's not. Alicia is miserable. She intensely wants some time alone now.

Time without Ranger and his confusing body parts in the mix.

Ranger swings his legs off the bed to sit, unsupported, on its edge and winces. He is visibly paling, looking as though he's on the verge of passing out. He closes his eyes for a few seconds, then opens them again and with a groan he gets to his feet, staggers past Alicia, still seated on the carpet, and leaves the bedroom.

A couple of seconds later, she hears what sounds like him urinating in the bathroom, which means that he once again hasn't bothered to close the bathroom door. Growling, Alicia draws her knees to her chest, wraps her arms around their tops and hides her face between them. She cannot understand why Ranger feels the need to be as irritating as possible.

Even now, after everything they'd been through together last night!

She wants to get to her feet and close her bedroom door or, even better, the bathroom door so that she can wander in and out of her room freely, but she's too friggin' tired to bother. She decides it would be better just to sit where she is until she sees him enter his bedroom... and then she would weld his door shut. She misses Aunt Bernice, but she really hates her son.

From her position on the floor, she can see his bedroom door clearly. She must've pulled it shut when she fetched the pants last night because it is shouting "Snubs NOT Allowed!" at her from a red circle with a line drawn through it.

Snubs!

She hasn't snubbed him or anybody else even once in her life! Alicia doesn't snub people, and she's not a snob. She glares at the obnoxious sign on his door as if she can see the offender's face in it, and when her most recent memories of him flood her brain in swoon-worthy detail, she hastily looks away.