Different

Chapter 11

~ERIN'S POV
Saturday. My favorite day of the week. I get to relax, take some time off to go exploring or sit outside in a hammock with a good book and a glass of lemonade. But, this Saturday was wet and rainy out. As my eyes slowly opened to the sound of the dripping outside of the window. Sure, rainy days are nice if you weren't planning to go out. I groggily get out of bed in my flannel pajamas to the bathroom. And of course, Sara is still sound asleep in her room. She can sleep through anything without an alarm clock. As I walk towards the bathroom, I let out a huge yawn and rub my eyes. I flip the switch and my eyes squint in the bright light. "Dang it." My hair is matted to one side of my head. I've always been an absolutely awful sleeper, like a bear is basically how you would describe me. I head out of the bathroom and grab a change of clothes for after my shower. But before I go back into the bathroom, I check my phone for any messages from Taron. There are two from him, one from Griffin​, that nerd in my science class that has a crush on me. He's not my type though, with the braces and the bright red hair and freckles. He's too skinny and short. No offense to him though. 'hey suga. Wanna get together tonite?', the text read. I refuse to answer to the stupid text, since I've told Griffin before that I'm not interested in a relationship with him. Then I read the messages from Taron. 'Hey Erin, what are you up to? Wanna go get some coffee or something? Love you :)'. A smile twitched onto my face as I read the sweet message. I replied, 'hey T. I would love to get coffee, how about at 5 this evening? I'll be doing stuff this afternoon. Love you more <3'. As I send the text, I head to the bathroom for  nice, relaxing shower. I took my phone with me to listen to music. I open my Lewis Watson album on Spotify and contently close my eyes at the sound of his comforting voice.
My shower lasted about 30 minutes, since I like to feel the hot water pour onto my back. I like smelling the steam and the aroma of my lavender-mint shampoo and vanilla body wash. I like running my hands across the sleek surface of my long dirty blonde hair. To stand alone in a shower also means one doesn't have to face the problems of this world. The hurt and pain caused by the actions of one another. The unpredictable truth of suffering and sorrow. I feel as if I'm in a place of peace and comfort, a jungle maybe. Out in the sea, a lost island far from society. The birds sing their happy songs, the monkeys laugh as they jump through the trees, and the tigers and leopards watch carefully as they slink across the plant-covered earth. My imagining is interuppted by the ringing from my phone. I sigh heavily, seeing that now I have to come back into the real world. I turn the knob and grab the towel I had brought with me and dry myself. I ring out my hair, then braid it to the side. I wipe the condensation off if the mirror with the back of my pruney hand. Before i even finish wiping the mirror, my phone rings again. I roll my eyes at the loud, obnoxious noise, but I shuffle to the small table on the wall parallel to the sink, where my phone sits. A smile creeps onto my face when I see the name of the caller. Taron. I quickly pick up the phone and press the button.
"Hey you."
"Hey yourself, beautiful." A light giggle emits from my mouth, at the groggy voice of a sleepy, just-woke-up Taron.
"Are you doing anything right now?" I roll my eyes knowing that Taron was already told this in formation. "Taron. We've gone over this already! Have you already forgotten?" I can hear him yawn through the phone. "Oh, really? I must have fallen back asleep or something." I giggle again, knowing that this is normal for Taron. "Look, Taron. I love you and all, but you really need to get your sleeping schedule together. I don't wanna end up with someone who can't turn their brain on."
His laugh causes my mouth to hurt from smiling so widely.
"Oh, so you think you're gonna end up with my forever?"
"Well, not unless you pull yourself together." He laughs again. Naturally, i start to laugh too.
"So, what did we talk about?"
"Well, I told you I would be busy this afternoon, but we'll get coffee around five." I could hear the smile creep across his face. "Ok. I like that," he yawned again, "love you, babe". My cheeks flush with color when he calls me babe for the first time. "Love you more. Babe." Then I hang up. My face hurts so much from smiling the whole call. Everytime I speak to Taron, I get shivers. My body just feels, comfortable. I feel like a new person when I'm around him. I feel like I did when I was a young girl. With my brother, and my mom and my dad. I always get those memories of when we all lived together in a small town in Michigan when we stayed at my mother's parents house. The good grandparents. The grandparents that treated me so badly last year of high school were my dad's parents. I hated Grandma Lyn. She hated me. And that's how we stayed till she died of a heart attack five months after her husband, Grandpa Gordon died because of cancer. She started smoking, drinking, going out late to parties that were way too young for her. She slapped harder, she yelled louder, she spat farther.

Sometimes I wished Steven would just come back again to protect me from the awful world I lived in after everyone died. He was always there for me, no matter what. When I was 9 years old, I was on my way back from school when a biker nearly killed me. He was speeding down the sidewalk, which first of all, is not meant for bikers. He came right up behind me, and all I remember was blacking out. The next thing I knew, I was in a hospital bed with Steven standing right next to me, holding my small hand. My parents weren't there, because they were "on a trip", so 15 year old Steven was there to keep me safe. Today, I have a scar across my right leg from when the biker ran over me and the bike chain gashed my leg and almost took out my right pinkie.
My brain automatically must have told my tear ducts to start filling up with water, because now all I see in the mirror is a sad, shriveled-up ball of water. Also known as, normal me. I still sometimes cry myself to sleep, but not as much now that Sara is here, and I have, Taron. I still haven't told him anything about me except a little bit about Steven.

After I finally got out of the bathroom from my shower, I head over to my closet to pick out my outfit. The crisp, November air in Kentucky causing my bones to ache for the weather back in Michigan. Maybe someday I'll get to visit my grandparents, on my mom's side, again when I go back up. I pull out a pair of blue jeans from the dresser, and a thick, knit sweater from a hanger in the closet and grab my fuzzy boots. "I'm going out Sara! Don't eat all the hummus! Bye!" And here's to a new day. A new me. And groceries. Joy.

*TARON'S POV
"Ugh, I don't wanna get out of bed." My roommate, Alex, immediately found something to say to me. "Look London boy, you just got here what, eight weeks ago? And you already have a girlfriend, so I think the least you could do is wake up, get outta bed, and make yourself look presentable. Girls love that kinda stuff. Trust me. She'll be all over you tonight, if ya know what I mean." Alex sent a wink my way. "Yeah Alex. I know what you mean.  But don't you think it's a little too early in our relationship for that?" I start to pull myself out of the bed I was once comfortable in. "It's never too early mate." He says while brushing this teeth. I walk to the mirror and look at my crazy hair. "What were your relationships like Alex?" I hear him spit into the sink and then the water trickle from the faucet. "Oh god. Why do you want to know?"
  "I don't know. Just looking for advice, that's all." I go to the laundry hamper and smell a few shirts. Then I pull out a some what clean one and put on some pants. "Well, I've dated many girls," he came out of the bathroom and sat on my bed. "They were all brats though, none of them were right for me. But I think you got a good girl man. Erin is awesome, you're lucky no one else took her before you did." I smile to myself and turn to look at him. "Well, she's all mine so don't get any ideas." He rolled his eyes at me. "So. How do I look?" Alex stood up and looked at me head to toe, he is quite taller than me, and he gives a nod. "Go break a leg." I slap his arm and head out the door.

A/n Hey y'all! Sorry I haven't updated in a long time, I've been pretty busy lately with school and such. And also sorry I left you on a kinda cliffhanger, I just really needed to post a new part :) hope y'all liked it, please vote!!!

Erin