Bad Rep

TWO

I jolt awake, surrounded by darkness, the remnant of a scream still echoing in my head.

I sit upright, my heart slamming against my ribcage as I gulp in breaths, my body coated in a light sheen of sweat. I glance back at the clock to see that it's just past four in the morning.

Eli groans in annoyance, rolling over to face away from me.

Disoriented, I get out of bed and stumble to the bathroom, flicking on the light and bracing myself against the counter. I take a few more deep breaths before searching my pale, sweaty face in the mirror. I'm no stranger to nightmares ever since the accident, but it's been a while since one has affected me this bad.

Turning on the faucet, I splash my face with some cool water before patting it dry with a hand towel. I give myself a few more minutes to compose before sneaking out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where I turn on the coffee maker. While the coffee is brewing, I take a seat at the kitchen table, trying to recall fragments of my nightmare.

Before I even realize it, Eli's alarm clock is going off at five and I've been sitting at the kitchen table for nearly an hour, lost in my thoughts.

I listen as Eli crawls out of bed and starts the shower, the sheets rustling and the pipes whining. Twenty minutes later, he emerges in a tank top and gym shorts, ready to hit the gym. But not before making his protein shake, of course.

"You're up early," he comments, rummaging through the cabinets and the refrigerator for all the ingredients to make his over the top shake.

"Yeah... Nightmare," I confess.

He only hums in response before the loud grinding of the blender cuts through the air, dismissing the conversation even further.

Unsettled, I get up from the kitchen table to fill myself a cup of coffee, dancing around Eli standing between the counter and the island to reach the refrigerator and grab the creamer. I start to add a hefty splash when I feel Eli's eyes on me, assessing the amount of creamer I'm adding to my coffee judgmentally, making me cut the pour short. The coffee isn't nearly as light as I'd like it to be, but I reluctantly cap the creamer and put it back in the fridge, suddenly self-conscious. Has he always given me such judgmental looks without me noticing?

Feeling small, I grab my coffee mug and sit back down at the table, taking a tentative sip. Bitter. But I try not to let it show on my face.

Eli finishes up with his protein concoction, pouring it into a plastic blender bottle and screwing the cap on. He puts everything away and places the glass blender in the sink after giving it a quick rinse, unplugging its base from the wall. "So I'll pick you up after work today and we'll get you singed up at the gym?"

I set my coffee down, head jerking back in surprise. "Today?" I squawk.

He gives me an impatient look. "You're the one that said you wanted to get back to the gym."

"Yeah, but I meant something along the lines of—"

"Next week?" he finishes my sentence for me, voice patronizing. "That's what you always say and you never do."

If possible, I shrink even further, starting to imagine how Alice must have felt in Wonderland after drinking that potion—but in my case it's too bitter of coffee.

I guess Eli has a point. I've been pushing off the gym for a whole year now. Maybe I just need to stop relenting and put on my big girl pants and force myself to finally do something I don't want to do.

I take another sip of my coffee, the bitter liquid settling uncomfortably in my stomach. "Okay. I'll start today," I agree softly, reluctantly.

Eli straightens, his face still tense, but he looks more pleased than he did sixty seconds ago. "Alright. I'll pick you up after you get off work around four. That'll give you half an hour to get ready."