Chapter Five
Before all that had happened, something had to happen with Beverly and James. Otherwise, Beverly probably wouldn’t have called Aubree.
Beverly and James hopped up the stairs, Beverly in front, taking the stairs two at a time, James was just doing one at a time, yet he was still at her heel. Beverly went to the hall closet, and got out some sheets, and a quilt.
“C’mon.” Beverly muttered. She walked down the hall all the way at the end was the guest room, next to it was her room.
Beverly walked cautiously into the guest bedroom. It’s cream-colored walls still looked fresh and new and the soft white carpet looked like no one had ever walked on it.
“Father is crazy about this white carpet, so try to keep it clean. Please.” Beverly said half-smiling.
“Yes ma’am.” James laughed.
Beverly tossed the sheets and a quilt onto the bed, even though the bed was already made.
“I-I don’t really know why I brought that. I mean. Use the quilt if you get cold or you can just put it on your bed before you go to sleep if you know that you get cold in the night or whatever. The sheets. I don’t know.” Beverly paused before deciding to throw in a joke, “if you wet the bed. Please change the sheets.” James laughed. Beverly loved his laugh. It showed the little kid side of him. Which she loved. “I don’t think I’ll be wetting the bed. But if I do, I’ll be sure to use those sheets and wash the other ones.” They both just looked at each other. No one knew quite what to say. Beverly knew she should probably leave now to let him get situated in, but she didn’t want to.
“So…” James started. “I should probably get changed before dinner.” He smiled at her.
“Yeah. Right. Me too.” Beverly nervously laughed.
“I’ll see you at dinner.” Beverly headed to the other side of the room.
“Bev? I hate to guide you in your own house. But the door is that way.”
“I know.” Beverly laughed. “My bathroom connects to your bathroom, well, it’s the same bathroom, and there are two doors. One door leads to my room, one leads to your room. You get it.” Beverly smiled at James.
She opened the bathroom door.
“Its really good to see you again James.” Beverly said before she could even think about saying it.
“I’m really glad to be here Bev. I’ve missed you.” That made Beverly’s heart melt. James looked vulnerable right now. It showed that nervous, romantic side of him. The side that was Beverly’s favorite. Wait, why am I thinking about we aren’t even together! Beverly thought to herself. Which made her a tad bit sad. She thought she’d gotten over him by eighth grade. Apparently she hadn’t.
“Well. See you at dinner.” Beverly smiled.
“And then maybe we can hang out or something after. Do you like Scrabble?” James asked.
“I don’t know if we have Scrabble.” Beverly looked down.
“I brought it. I always bring it everywhere. I love Scrabble.”
“Well then, Scrabble it is.” Beverly smiled. She wanted to run over and hug him again but she decided against it. She went into her total leopard print bedroom. Her carpet was white like the guest room and her parents room, but a leopard print rug that was a bit farther and wider than her bed, was underneath her bed, her bed in the far right corner, her dresser on the right by the door, and a window seat on the far left corner that stretched almost all the way to her bed, but then stopped for her night-table that had a picture of her and her cheer team in a standing human pyramid, and Beverly sitting on Georgia’s shoulders, Georgia was the top person on the human pyramid. Also, there was an antique lamp on the table, with beautifully carved mahogany wood and a light that would make the whole room relaxing but also fun. Perfect for a girl’s night of gossiping and chick flicks that she usually had with Aubree, Vivienne, Alyssa, Joelle and Georgia. Any assortments of the team pretty much. Or Beverly’s out of school friends, Alyssa and Vivienne. Beverly had been friends with Alyssa since they were babies. She and Vivienne had been together through hard times, heartbreaks and many, many laughs and almost more memories. Her bed had a big canopy over it, which was light, but see-through leopard print. Her duvet cover and pillowcases were leopard print, the cushion on her window seat was leopard print, though her walls were white, she had a couple posters. One above the door, one above her beanie bag, which that was of course leopard print, and on the same wall as her door. She had a flat screen TV across from her bed & above her beanie bag. She had one way above her lamp on her night table. She also had a lamp next to the bathroom door. She had odd little falling off stickers of leopards on the wall as well. Her bathroom door was on the left most wall, near the far end of the room.
She took off her cheering uniform, and set her pompoms down on her desk. She took off her little black track shorts and untied the red ribbon from her hair, and took out the stretchy elastic clear band that held her hair up underneath her ribbon. She went into the bathroom, making sure that the other door was locked so James wouldn’t accidentally walk in on her. She finished un-dressing, put the shower on cold and jumped in. Though the temperature was quite cold for her taste, it made her feel refreshed. She washed her face, hair and body. She washed the dirt off her ankles and washed the white fuzz that had come off from her socks from in between her toes. She began to sing the song that had been stuck in her head the whole day, “Oh, I just can't get enough, how much do I need to fill me up.It feels so good it must be love. It's everything that I've been dreaming of.I give up. I give in. I let go. Let's begin.Cause no matter what I do,Ohhh ohh my heart is filled with you.I can't imagine what it'd be like, livin’ each day in this life without you…without you.” She knew that that wasn’t exactly how the lyrics went. But she sang them over again. Then she realized that she had assumed that no one could hear her because her parents were downstairs, but then she remembered James and hesitated, wondering if she should keep going when she heard: “Yeah! You sing it girl!” It was James. At first Beverly felt embarrassed then she began to laugh and sing louder: “The way you take my hand is just so sweet and that crooked smile of yours it knocks me off my feet!!” Beverly belted. She had to strain in order for her voice not to crack on that last note but she did it. Then she began to smile like an idiot when she heard James laughing. He sounded really close, almost like he was in that room. Beverly shut off the shower; she was done washing anyways. She peaked out from the shower curtain. James sat on the counter where the sinks were. Beverly gave a little shriek.
“James!” She yelled in a whisper; half worried that her parents would see,
“I’m naked!” She was trying not to laugh. James chuckled, “Well no really, I had assumed that you would be taking a shower in your clothes, is that not what people usually do?” James smiled.
“But the I locked the door!” Beverly could feel herself start to smile.
“I’m a teenage boy Beverly.” Hearing him say her name, especially when she was naked, gave her a happy glittery feeling. But he continued, “Teenage boys know how to pick locks, they will need those skills for certain purposes.”
He winked at her, and then jumped off the counter. Beverly wasn’t quite sure what he meant, but she knew it had to be something dirty.
I mean; this is James we are talking about.
James got Beverly one of the clean white towels. He handed it to her over the shower curtain. She wondered how see-through the leopard print shower curtain was. You don’t think about things like these until you wish you had.
This situation felt sexual to Beverly. I mean, it wasn’t like he was in the shower too, but she still felt like she was breaking her parents rules. At first she felt bad, but then she decided that her parents rules were rubbish anyways.
“Beverly! James! Dinner!”
