With Cameron gone the house was suddenly too quiet – too big. I despised the idea of being alone. I could sit in my room for hours with no social contact as long as I knew someone else was in the house. The moment I was alone I felt uneasy. Pushing the topic to the back of my mind, I began to clean. I cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed the carpet and tidied my small room, not that anywhere really needed it.
I checked my phone – Cam had left an hour ago... I'd only been alone for an hour. Distracting myself has always been tedious. I had my mind set on spending the holiday break with friends, shopping and writing music. Maybe I should have gone to Maria's house as well...
Hunter was busy, he told me, and couldn't meet me at the studio. I'd have gone alone except that I didn't have access. There wasn't anyone else I wanted to spend time with.
I stomped lazily up the stairs towards Cameron's room and then back down at the same pace. It hurt how hard I plonked down on the second step and I rubbed my buttcheek, pouting childishly. I got my phone out and checked facebook.
1 friend request
Without thinking, I clicked it. His stupid pouting face made me panic and un-click it. My vision blurred for a moment while I stared at the place his stupid, gross, annoying face had been. I glanced around as though worried someone would see, but I clicked the notification again. His profile picture sent a jolt through my chest. My hand ran through my hair, nails raking my scalp, and I opened his profile.
I don't remember how long I sat there staring at his picture, scrolling down his wall, grimacing at how corny his statuses were. I didn't try to prevent the impulse to suddenly text him:
Are you free to write?
My hands trembled when it set in what I'd suggested. If Percy came over it ultimately remedied my loneliness, but it also put me in a huge house alone with him. I wouldn't have admitted it then, but there was a larger part than I thought that had secretly craved that.
The buzzing of my phone made me jump.
Now? Where?
My fingers went white on the sides of my phone at his careless banmal, but I ignored it. Hunter had given me a task – Percy and I needed to write a song together – and I planned to see it through.
Mine
~
Letting Percy into my house was something my mind told me not to do. This was my turf. I was about to let the guy I hated most in the world just walk all over it. With that thought carefully suppressed I opened the front door a few moments after a knock. Percy's shoulders were lightly dusted with snow and a black snapback protected his hair and face. He looked cold but not too uncomfortable. I stepped out of the way to allow him inside, not even meeting his eyes.
Slowly, although unsure, he stepped inside. "Wow..." I heard him breathe. I looked up at him, but his eyes were wandering my home while he stepped out of his sneakers. His expression could be described as 'overwhelmed' and possibly 'impressed.' His gaze brushed over the kitchen, the dining room, the lounge-room, the staircase, and ended on me. The way his eyes lingered below my face made me feel exposed in my loose white tank-top and shorts. My arms crossed slowly almost to hide myself from his gaze.
"This place is..." Percy dragged his gaze up to meet mine and I suppressed a shudder. "...really nice." He said it like he wanted to say something with more impact, but he refrained.
"Thanks." I dragged my eyes away as I said it. "Do you want anything?" I asked, meeting his eyes again briefly.
"I'm fine."
I nodded and offered to take his coat. I couldn't suppress the shudder that time as his distinct smell washed over me, not to mention the sight of his arms bared by his black singlet. I bit my lip when I turned away to hang the warm coat up. I began towards my bedroom and heard his socked feet padding slowly behind me. My heartbeat had picked up, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. I breathed deeply and focused on what we were going to do – write.
"Wahh, your room is so clean," he exclaimed the moment he looked inside. I closed the door behind him and went to sit at my desk. My hands clenched while I offered my bed for him to sit on. "Have you got any ideas for what to write about?" he asked, saving me the horror of another awkward silence. I faced forward so he was beside me. That way I could still look at him, but it was easier not to.
"Not yet," I mumbled, stroking a hand through my hair. I rested my elbow on my desk to prop my head up. "I have a lot of lyrics but I don't think any of it is going anywhere. I feel like starting fresh."
Percy answered me without a hitch as though he wasn't staring right down the arm gap in my tank-top. "I agree – we need to write something together." His eyes on my bare flesh were distracting as hell. "I know I could write about how good that scoop-neck looks on you."
"If you're done being a pervert we can start brainstorming," I accused. I barely noticed the British leaking into my voice until he fired back in his own American accent.
"At least I'm making suggestions, Princess." My anxiety had always been a cause for my accent to surface and he wasn't making me feel any better.
I glared, partly due to the nickname and partly because his stupid nasal Satoori annoyed the hell out of me. A few seconds of frustration ended in an epiphany. Percy definitely noticed the dramatic expression change on my face.
"What, what is it?"
I turned to him slowly. "Why don't we write a song about Satoori?"
A few moments of hesitant consideration later and a smile began to creep into his features.
"Yah, won't that be too cheesy?"
"Of course not; nothing I write is cheesy."
He shook his head. "Aren't you a bit confident?" he asked following an amused scoff.
"No point in doubting real talent," I said with a shrug and pulled my notebook from a black satchel on my desk. "And stop using banmal with me."
~
