Change of Heart (NaNoWriMo 2011)

Chapter 18

Jariel woke up with the sun from the window streaming in his face. He let out a yawn and tried to sit up, only to find that something, or someone, was preventing him from doing so. He leaned up to see Dawn, who was sleeping soundly, sitting up against him, her head resting against the back of the couch. He smiled and slowly tried to get up without disturbing her. He tried to remove his legs from behind her, but found he could do no such thing without having to move her, which in the end would lead to her waking up. He sighed and laid back down, giving up. That is, until Dawn started to stir and opened her eyes, looking over at Jariel with a confused look on her face.

            “Did I fall asleep out here?” she asked, letting out a yawn and sitting up just enough so that Jariel could remove his legs, which he found were a bit numb.

            “You must have.” He laughed. Dawn blushed and stood up.

            “I’m sorry! This is so embarrassing!” she apologized, her face turning redder.

            “Hey, I’m not mad.” Jariel said, trying to make her feel better. “It could happen to the best of us.”

            Dawn tried to smile, but Jariel guessed that she was still a little bit embarrassed about what had happened. She ducked out of the living room and in to the kitchen, where Jariel could hear her making herself a bowl of cereal. A couple of moments later he could hear what he assumed to be Annette’s bedroom door opening down the hall. She stumbled in to the living room wearing batman pajama bottoms and a superman pajama top. Her black hair looked like a birds nest on top of her head, and her make up that she had forgotten to take off was all around her eyes. All together, she looked like hell.

            “Tough night?” Jariel asked, hoping to make the tension between them go away. He knew that Annette didn’t like him, and he really didn’t blame her. He was a stranger that was living in her home, which was supposed to be a safe haven for her.

            “I don’t even wanna talk about it.” She groaned. “So, you’re Jariel, right?”

            “Yep.” He nodded. “And you must be Annette. I’m sorry for kind of barging in to your home. I know you weren’t too happy about it…” his voice trailed off.

            “I was being a jerk then.” She waved off his apology. “I should be the one apologizing, so I’m sorry for storming out and making it seem like it was your fault.”

            Jariel paused, shocked that she was apologizing. He thought that it was his fault, he was the one who persuaded Dawn to let him live with her, out of pure selfishness on his part. He just nodded to her, and attempted to smile. When, in reality, he didn’t really deserve the apology. He was becoming selfish just like the humans he had called scum. Who was he kidding? He was a hypocrite. Dawn had showed him that not all humans are horrible scum like he pictured them to be.  Maybe, at least a little bit, he was having a change of heart. But only a little, microscopic, bit. He would never admit to that.

            Annette returned the smile and went to join Dawn in the kitchen. Jariel stayed in the living room, letting out another yawn. He turned on the television, happy to see Saturday morning cartoons on, instead of the news, for a change. Annette and Dawn came out to join him after they ate and they watched cartoons together. Dawn asked Jariel if he wanted anything to eat, but he told her that he wasn’t hungry at the moment, which was a lie. He just didn’t feel like getting up, especially since all three of them were getting along right now.

            “Gotta love Saturday morning cartoons.” Annette laughed after they finished watching Tom and Jerry. Jariel and Dawn nodded in agreement.