A Friendly Experiment

A Sleep-Walk to Remember

TANNER:

It was weird, living with a girl.  It wasn't how I'd imagine it.  She wasn't annoying or overbearing whatsoever; she was perfectly fine.  I kind of felt bad, because I'd fallen asleep as soon as I hit the bed; I didn't even introduce myself.  Luckily once I woke up, she's saved a slice of pizza for me and we introduced ourselves.  Of course, I knew who she was already, but just in case she had no idea who I wasn't, I went through all that introduction stuff. 

Her name was Petra Lewis.  I remember her from Middle School, but she'd changed so much.  She used to have braces and be awkwardly tall, but now she was shorter than me.  The braces were gone too, and she looked great without them.  She may have even looked good with them.  There was no doubt she was pretty, with her long blonde hair and blue eyes.  I found myself getting lost in her eyes, which sounds stupid, but it was so true. 

Besides her looks, she was also super nice.  She was quieter than I remembered, but then again she probably thought the same about me.  Back in Middle School I didn't care as much about my looks or how I sounded to girls, but now, I cared a lot.  I wonder if Petra is the same way?  It's hard to imagine us having the same thoughts though, we seem really different.  She went more towards the Drama department and I went to AP Classes.

"So, Tanner, did you like the beef?" She asked, snapping me back into middle Earth.

"What? Oh, the beef?  Yeah, it was good." I stuttered, probably looking like a total idiot. "Who knew David could cook, right?" She gave a little laugh and set her plate down on her dresser. 

"I know, but I'll let you in on a little secret." She whispered, coming over and sitting down next to me on my bed.  She came really close to me and my heart started racing; she smelled like milk and honey.

"Sure." I whispered.

"I cooked this meal, and told David that he could pretend it was him, so that people wouldn't all leave the first night because of his poor cooking skills." She giggled a bit, and laughed a bit too.

"I knew this cooking was too good for him!" I said, slamming my fist on my knee.  She smiled at me and gave another laugh. "But, you, on the other hand, are a fantastic cook!" I complimented.

"Aw, no, but thanks." She blushed, playing with a strand of her hair.

"Really, you are." I said, giving her a little nudge.  She smiled at me again and then looked down at the floor.  Were we flirting?  Oh shit!  This isn't good.  I mean, it's great, but I need to be professional. "Uh, so do you want to play like a board game or something?"

"You have a board game?" She asked.  I nodded and opened up the linen closet; David had stocked it full of board games and card games.

"Holy crap!  It's a gold mine!" She smiled, bouncy off of the bed and to the closet. "Which one do you want?" She asked.

"How about..." I trailed off, looking at all of the games.

"Scrabble!" She shouted.  I shrugged and gave her a nod, and then pulled out Scrabble.

"My vocabulary skills are pretty bad ass, so I'd watch yourself." I warned.  She laughed again.  I really didn't think that I was that funny, so she must have been flirting.  Right?

"Well, you're looking at the Fremont Elementary 4th Grade Spelling Bee Champion." She sassed back.  I laughed too.  Why was I laughing?  Jesus, I need to get ahold of myself.

--

The game was pretty equally matched, but she ended up winning.  I tried to convince her that I let her win, but she didn't believe me for a second.  After we put the game away, I realized that it was already 8:30.