BEFORE THE MORNING CAME

.08 - secrets of the flesh

michelle was always under the assumption that after having sex, she would be exhausted and fall immediately asleep. that was what the movies showed her, at least. on the contrary, after getting cleaned up and dressed, michelle and john b drove around the island in the twinkie, music blaring, and smiles painted on their faces. she had asked john b, "what about jj?" and he had replied with, "if he texts, we'll go back." other than that, the night was theirs and they planned to seize it. she felt like life was normal, that her and john b. were just hanging out on a warm fall night, and nothing bad had happened to them. the only thing reminding her of reality was her tingly skin. every time she tuned away from the music, she thought back to earlier in that same hour, when john b's hands gripped her bare hips, how his shaggy hair shook with each movement. she thought of the noises she had made, the small gasps and whispers between them as they checked in. she could still feel his hot lips on hers, and everywhere his hands had touched burnt like she had laid in the sun for hours on end.

she wondered if john b was thinking of the same things, seeing him take a break from tapping on the steering wheel and shaking his head to the music every so often. she wanted to ask him, but figured that she should not be so stereotypical in her concerns of "does he still like me?" she didn't know if john b. even wanted to talk about it, so she would allow him to initiate the conversation. until then, she rocked on to the early 2010's hip hop.

eventually, jj did text, and berated them from the back seat as they drove back to the chateau.

"guys, the whole point was for you to actually go to the party, not just sit around in the car." he whined.

"we did go, we just got bored." john b. insisted, looking at his best friend through the rear view mirror. michelle was completely turned around in the front passenger seat, facing jj.

"you didn't seem to miss us." she rebutted, quirking an eyebrow. "at least, not until you needed a ride home."

"that's not fair!" a drunk jj pointed out, extending his finger towards the girl. "i was on a blind date!"

"oh yeah?" john b. asked. "she just have been blind. look at you."

jj scoffed, finally finding himself at a loss for words. instead of sputtering like an idiot, he sat back in the van and closed his eyes. as soon as his snores took over the van, john b. turned the volume knob on the radio, turning old songs from ludacris up.

of course, the trio arrived to the chateau safely, finding kiara and pope in separate hammocks, being swayed a sleep by the cool autumnal breeze. john b practically carried jj inside and tossed him haphazardly on the pull out couch, before looking to michelle, who was obviously contemplating if she would risk sharing the pull out that night, or if she should cede and set up a pallet on the floor.

"c'mon." john b. whispered, nodding towards the hallway. michelle froze and looked at him inquisitively. "things don't have to be weird." he followed up with a playful chuckle, seeing michelle's hesitation to follow him to his bedroom.

"i don't think anything's weird." michelle shrugged, though, it was painfully obvious that the girl was lying. she was afraid to join him in his walk to the bedroom, thinking of all of the possibilities that would come from that. what if things were different? what if she was just another notch on his bedpost, disregarding the past decade of friendship? what if sarah was home, waiting for him in bed? so many things could go wrong, but still, the girl followed the boy to his bedroom. she would probably follow him anywhere.

luckily for her, john b's bedroom was empty aside from the two of them. he passed her clean clothes and a "fresh" towel, which had been folded and stored in the closet for probably a year, then directed the girl towards the bathroom, assuming that she wanted to clean up with more than just an old, mildewed towel from the back of the twinkie.