Whispers that Scream

Chapter Eight

Jane

After Adam's abrupt escape, Jane's body finally reacted to her own damp state as if his words had reminded her body to feel the cold. She shivered and went back inside, heading straight to her shower. She stood in the shower in an attempt to get warm with the scalding water burning her and steam filling the room so thickly, that she couldn't see the door that led to her bedroom. The hot water finally ran out, and she was unwillingly forced out of the shower. She wrapped a towel around herself and wiped the steam off of the mirror.

She hesitated for a second before opening the towel and baring her naked body to herself. Her eyes were drawn to the scars peppering her front, and she twisted around to look over her shoulder so she could see the other scars located on her back. Some of the scars were barely visible and had faded away over the years, while others were still raised and puffy. She lightly traced a raised horizontal scar just above her belly button. Her lip started to tremble. Her eyes narrowed, and she lunged towards her plastic brush on the counter. Her hands were shaking, and her fingers were white from gripping the brush so hard. For once, her shaking wasn't from fear but from anger. Her eyes caught her scars again in the mirror, and she reared back throwing the brush with all of the strength she could muster.

"Look at what you fucking did to me!" she snarled.

The brush hit the mirror handle first shattering the glass in a loud crack. Her chest heaved up and down and unnoticed tears rolled down her face. She stared at her now distorted reflection for a few moments before heading out of the bathroom and getting dressed in her pajamas. She headed straight for the couch eager to take advantage of the tranquility that a rainstorm during the day could bring.

She pulled her soft blanket up to her chin and tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable on the leather cushions. She was tempted to pull out her phone and start researching everything she could find out about autism, but that didn't seem fair to Adam. That would give her preconceived notions about him that he clearly was trying to avoid with this whole arrangement. No, she would find out about him by observing him when his mask was down.

For the first time in months, Jane felt like that stasis she had been in had begun to dissipate. Something new had happened. Something that would move her in a new direction. A good or bad direction was yet to be seen, but it was movement and that felt important to her. She didn't know exactly what Adam had in mind with their arrangement. Would they hang out every day? Would they continue as they had been, but those few precious interactions between them would be more honest now? She didn't know but found herself wrestling with a surge of energy that she hadn't felt in years. Excitement? Yes, excitement. She remembered the feeling from years past.

The next day Jane woke up around mid-morning and pulled herself out of bed with a mighty groan. She didn't feel different than yesterday. She still slept well past the time that should have been an adequate amount of sleep. She still couldn't find the energy or care to fashion her appearance as she got ready for the day. Yet, her mind which had been imprisoned in the past, was if ever so slightly finally looking forward to seeing what the future would bring today.

She headed to her kitchen to eat breakfast and searched for a clean bowl and spoon for her cereal, but couldn't find any. A minute later she had poured Frosted Flakes into a mixing bowl she had found and was using the spoon from the rice cooker to shovel the cornflakes into her mouth. The smell of fresh coffee filled the kitchen as her single cup Keurig brewed her second coffee of the morning.

Just as she had finished eating her breakfast and was trying to reorganize the dirty dishes in the sink to make room for the giant mixing bowl, a knock sounded at her door making her jump. She warily went to the window to peer out onto the porch and saw Adam standing in front of the door, tapping his hip and rocking on his heels. He was wearing almost the exact same outfit as yesterday, but today, it was a red t-shirt with Ray-Bans covering his eyes. His hair wasn't combed and hung down on his forehead instead of gelled back. He was also a day out from shaving, giving him a slight shadow on his chin and cheeks. She stared at him through her window and decided that she found this version of him much more attractive.