Daime

Before

We spent the entire day just in the house, making it our place. I hadn't really put any stuff up or anything, of unpacked my bags; but since Leo was going to live here too, we might as well unpack. We discovered an attic; I had no idea how I'd missed that one all along. The attic had another mattress that we pulled into the bedroom where I'd been sleeping; might as well sleep in one room because from the looks of it, we were going to be seeing a lot of each other. Leo unpacked his large bag; he'd actually brought board games! I loved board games, totally. I was a bit anxious about sleeping together in one room, and had suggested we'd use separate rooms, but I couldn't really counter Leo's enthusiasm. I just hoped I was going to stop talking in my sleep, because I knew I did. I'd always done that; my brother used to record me sleeping. It gave me some serious trust issues; don't trust people with their mobiles when you're trying to sleep. It was a good thing phones no longer worked, I guessed. Either way, I was up for some embarrassing conversations when Leo heard me, but we were going to be so much together there wasn't really space for secrets. Speaking of secrets; I was supposed to get my period in a week. Now that was going to be fun...

"Daime?"

"Yeah?" I said, looking up, to another of those flashing smiles. It appeared and disappeared within seconds, but the effect of that smile lingered.

"Are you okay? You didn't respond?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just lost in thought" I smiled. If only my smile had the same effect on him as his smile had on mine. It would make things so much easier.

"Oh well. Beat me to the living room?" and before he could blink, I stormed out the room, jumped down the stairs and put my hands in my side, waiting for him as he calmly came downstairs.

"How was that fair?"

"It wasn't". I smirked.

"I'll get you back, girl."

I simply shrugged and let myself fall down on the sofa. "You need better reflexes, that's all."

He raised an eyebrow, and turned around. "I'm going to get something to eat, you want any?" He called over his shoulder as he was in the kitchen. "Nah, I'm good."

I was a bit hungry, but I'd learned to cut down on food, and we were just going to sit in here and do nothing anyway.

Leo came back into the room, chewing. "Whaddayawannadoo?"

"Finish your food before you talk, mister."

He just rolled his eyes at me and walked over to the corner, where we'd placed our games and books.

"Are you up for some ass-kicking in Monopoly?"

"Totally!"

He kicked my ass. That's all I'm gonna say about it. But we had fun, loads. I realized how much I'd changed lately. In school, I was a bit of a bitch, I guess. You know how they say that bullies are mean because they have some kind of trouble themselves? Well, I wasn't a bully, but I wasn't as nice as I could be around people. I was just too shy to be myself, I suppose. I'd had friends in high school, but then I moved, and we lost contact, naturally. I understood; but I never made any friends in my new school, so I just stuck to being by myself. But I could no longer uphold that attitude. Leo was exactly one of those guys that I'd never spoken too; playing in the football team, one of the most popular guys in school, breaking every girl's heart when he smiled that smile. I think all of this changed both of us, for good. It had become so much easier to just behave the way I wanted too. I wasn't sure if it had anything to do with the feeling that we were some of the last people on this planet, perhaps.

"Whatcha thinking about, girl?" I frowned at Leo's attempt to an accent.

"What was that supposed to be?"

He just laughed. "I don't know, I wanted to try something."

"Well, I'm not sure what you were trying but I think you failed."

"Well, I was serious. What were you thinking about? You looked sad."

I smiled a little, but it was one of those smiles you smiled to reassure someone, not because you meant it. "Just thinking about before, you know."

His expression softened, and suddenly I noticed his grey eyes, looking at me understandingly.

"So, what did you do before?"

"I was a high school student, in my last year, just like you, I suppose. I was planning to go to university next year... Although that would be this year."

I fell silent, realizing that at this time of the year, I should be making friends, taking classes, wonder about what I was going to do with my life. It sucked, really, realizing that I might never have any of that. I'd actually planned on going to university with one of my old friends, we'd run into each other before graduation and realized we wanted to do the same. But now, I wasn't even sure where he was.

"Doesn't it bother you that we have no idea where our friends and family are?"

He nodded, lost in thought, like I was. I wasn't even sure what had happened, although I could put together bits and pieces. You see, I was in a car accident before all this happened, and when I woke up, the world was deserted. I'd never felt as lonely, and I'd been afraid to ask Leo about what had happened, because I really didn't want the truth. So I surprised myself when I asked him.