Not Long At All

Chapter Four

David's POV:

      The girl was sleeping by the time I pulled into a parking spot in front of my apartment. I hung my wrists over the steering wheel and softly banged my head against them. I was in a psychiatric ward. I was being pumped full of anti-psychotics. They would kick in any minute now. I glanced over to the passenger seat, half convinced my delusions would come true.

      But instead of waking up to a white walled asylum, there was a young brown haired girl asleep in my car. Her forehead was pressed up against what was left of the window, I watched as it fogged up and cleared back with each breath. Looking through the windshield at the old brick apartment complex, I tried to push everything that had happened to the back of my mind.

      The real question was what to do with the girl. Sarah. The name was vaguely familiar. Maybe a friend from grade school. I raised my eyebrows and blew the air out of my cheeks, I needed to figure something out. Driving her home seemed dangerous, she was obviously caught up in some bad stuff. But maybe being near her would be dangerous too.

      "Hey." She half yawned it as she sat up in her seat. Rubbing her eyes, she leaned forward to see, "Is this where you live?"

      It was obvious in her voice that she was surprised, if not a little disappointed. I'd seen her house and it wasn't exactly cheap. My apartment, on the other hand, could make a cozy meth hideout or something else dismal like that. The fire-escapes that lined the outside of the brick building were rusted and coming loose in places. I saw it through her eyes and a hint of embarrassment nudged at me, "Yeah. This is it. This is... it."

      Sarah quickly tried to cover her reaction, "It looks... very urban. Very cool."

      I tugged the keys from the ignition and twisted in my seat to face her, "Look, I need to be honest with you."

      I tried to judge her emotions before continuing, "I have no idea what to do with you. I don't know what you're caught up in, and I don't want to. Either way, you can crash here tonight while you figure something out. After that though, you're on your own."

      Sarah opened her mouth but closed it, seeming to think something over. After she worked out she nodded, "Sounds fair. Thanks for everything."

      Unclicking her seatbelt she got out of the car and began walking towards the stairs. I waited for her to be out of earshot before rolling my eyes and mimicking her, "Thanks for everything," I dropped my voice back to normal, "I ran someone over for you, you ungrateful..."

       "David!" Sarah stood on the third stair, gesturing to me, "Where is it?"

       I slammed the car door behind me before joining her, "Fourth floor, number five."

      She frowned, "Don't apartments normally have like... triple digits?"

      I went around her on the staircase and kept walking, "I guess."

       The two of us made our way in silence, finally reaching my door. The landing was dimly lit by a moth covered light and a mildew smell clung to the walls. I ignored it and hooked my keys around my fingers, struggling to use my right hand to open the door. Humidity caused it to stick and I shouldered open, stepping inside before flipping on the lights.

      I'm sure everyone has had that moment when you realize that your place isn't as neat as you remember it to be. The problem with living alone is you never know the extent of your damage until someone else sees it. Papers and vinyl records were scattered over a desk in the living room. The couch had disappeared under a mass of clothes and pillows. The dining room table was an antique of the past, its main purpose now was to house piles of sheet music and CDs. Perhaps worst of all, was the Playboy magazine sitting on the coffee table.

       My face reddened when Sarah's eyes fell to it before looking back at me with a half smile. I shook my head, mouth open, no words coming out. Finally, I stumbled over myself and nearly smacked it off the table, "It's not... ha... no... different... see I... look."

      I waved at her to follow me and opened the door to my bedroom. My bed was a mass of more pillows which was embarrassing, but I was taking one thing at a time. The floor was scattered with magazine clippings and paper. In the middle of it all was the beginnings of a collage, all glued onto a piece of paper board. I pointed, "I make these as a sort of hobby and I needed..."

      I trailed off in thought, mentally rearranging where the blob of blue paper would go. Sarah finished my sentence, "A naked lady?"

      I nodded, "Yeah, but she'll be covered mostly."

      Sarah nodded, examining the room, "You need to clean more."

      I kicked a sweat jacket under my bed, "Probably, huh?"

      Turning to leave, I was stopped by her voice, "What's this?"

      I faced her and saw the glass orb she was holding in her hands. I frowned, shaking my head, "I don't know. I think I bought it somewhere. I used to think it was a paper weight, but it's too round."

       A sudden desire to impress her came over me and I made my way towards her, "Hey, want to see something cool?"

      Scooping the ball from her, I held it in my hands before sliding it over my wrist. It rolled around the backside of my right hand, falling when it traded to my left. I laughed, "Well, normally it works but... I guess I need to wait for my hand to get better."

      Sarah didn't laugh with me, but instead stared at me, a sort of mystified look on her face. The moment stretched in silence and I broke eye contact, unsure of what to do. She spoke, very softly but with great weight, "You really don't know who you are. Do you?"

      It was eerie, the faraway look she had. I almost would have believed her if I didn't already know the truth. She was familiar though. I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd seen those eyes a million times before. I swallowed, shifting my weight away from her, "We should sleep. You can stay on the couch."

      She stared at me for a moment longer before abruptly heading out into the living room. I stood still, the weight of the glass orb still resting against my foot. Bending over, I picked it up and stared at it. Where had I seen those eyes?

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      Hello my lovelies! ^_^

      I am so happy I finally wrote! I have been suffering writers block, school work, ASL practice, theatre work, and most of all... holiday stress! 0_0

      I hope you all had a magnificent Thanksgiving! Please tell me about it in the comments (do I have any black Friday shoppers out there?)

       Also, a shoutout to @iejdiwga! I don't know why, but you're comment got me back on the wagon, and I am so grateful for it.

       Word of the week: idiosyncrasy- (ihd-ee-oh-sync-rah-see) A quirk or odd behavioral trait. We all have our idiosyncrasies.

      Until next time then! As always:

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