Never Again

Chapter Ten

Short chapter, sorry...! 

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I wake up to an awful screeching noise. Groaning, I roll over in my bed and hit my alarm clock only to find that it isn't there. I open my eyes to bright sunlight and yellow walls, and I panic until I flashback to yesterday: leaving my family behind, my mother never coming to see my off, the plane ride and then the scary ride through the rain to that God-awful bar, that man... He brought me to Octavia's flat. Sitting up, I yawn and get out of bed. The screeching hasn't stopped, so I cautiously make my way out to the kitchen and find that the noise of Octavia's singing.

"Gah! Good morning!" she yells upon seeing me. She turns off the music and pulls out a seat. "Coffee?"

"Oh, um, sure." I quietly say. She pours the steaming liquid into an oddly-shaped cup and asks if I'd like cream and sugar. I shrug and she pours them into the cup, stirring the contents. Passing along the mug to me, she refills her own and sits next to me.

"So, how'd you sleep?" I just shrug and take a sip of coffee. "What?"

"Huh?"

"You made a face when you took a drink of coffee. Not enough sugar?" She holds up the sugar pot.

"No, no that's not it." I say, shifting in my seat. She stops short and says that it must be the cream then. I give a tired smile and tell her to stop. "Octavia I don't like coffee, okay?" She blinks a few times and then bursts out laughing.

"Oh you silly, why didn't you say so?" She takes the cup out of my hands and pours it down the sink.

"I didn't want to seem rude or ungrateful," I mumble, looking at my hands.

"Oh pish-posh, she says, waving her hand back and forth. "So, if not coffee, what do you drink, New York?" She grins at me.

"I like tea?"

"Tea!" She flits over to a cupboard and begins to rifle through its contents. "I don't have much tea," she says.

"That's okay, really." Octavia frowns but I give her a smile. "I'll just take some water?" I quickly stand up and fill the mug with tap water.

"Fine, but only for today." She pops into the fridge and pulls out a tray of eggs. "I'm a bad host; I am completely out of food." Walking over to the stove, she pulls out a frying pan and starts to crack eggs into it. "Scrambled eggs okay? And be honest," she laughs. I do as well, requesting that she goes light on the salt. She mock-salutes and adds more pepper than salt to the sizzling eggs. She sets a good-sized portion to two plates and slides one in front of me. "Bon appetite!" We both dig in, silence taking over the kitchen. Out of the blue, Octavia burps and we both burst into a fit of giggles. We continue eating when she asks, "Do you want to come shopping with me later? I can show you around the town!" I ponder the question, wondering if I should go and explore and get to know Octavia, or if I should just go back to bed and sleep.

"How about this?" She snaps in front of my face and I focus on her again. "You look completely knackered, am I right?" I find myself nodding yes. "So, I propose that you go back to bed for a couple more hours and then a shopping spree: clothes, food, and decorations maybe?" She grins as I yawn.

"Yea, yea, okay." Octavia collects our dishes and brings them to the sink.

"Go to bed, sleepyhead." She pushes me out of the kitchen. Shuffling back into my room, I crawl into the foreign yet warm bed and close my eyes.

~~~

"Honeybee, I know you're tired, but if you sleep too long it will throw everything off even more!" Octavia creeps into my room and the flops onto my bed. She starts to shake my shoulder and I playfully groan.