Choice

ch. 8 - shop

Thursday night was one of the most enjoyable nights I had in a long time.  After getting over the brief, unusual moment between Jake and me, we settled into our sleeping bags and began to eat.  In between the first two pizzas, we began to watch the first movie but no one seemed to be watching; we were conversing over gossip we heard around school.

            When the movie was over, we played Truth or Dare.  I was afraid Liz and Josh were going to sneak in a question regarding Alloid and such. Instead, we were busy trying to get Jake to confess a crush he accidentally admitted.  (I tried to read his mind but he would not say--think--the name).  Around eleven o'clock, we finally decided to sleep.

            I felt extremely happy to sleep--given today's events, but then thoughts of tomorrow night made me feel sick to the stomach, probably the pizza. 

            Of course, there was a fifty percent chance it all would resolve itself, same chance for the opposite.  I was mostly worried about Josh's reaction.  I knew he meant well, wanting me to be safe.  I loved him but I could never see things his way.  In addition, Liz… what could I say about Liz.  She would probably be upset that I had not told her.  We had never gotten any talking time together; we were drifting apart.

            There was nothing left to do 

            Unless Alloid had the power to reverse time, our choices were going to have to play out.  What surprised me was that I felt no regret to the choice I made; it saved me already.  It saved Jake too.  The worries tumbled around and made me sleepy.

The next morning, I woke up feeling a bit light in a way.  I was neutral.  When I went to the kitchen, Jake, to my surprise, was making breakfast.

            "What brought on this lovely occasion?" I asked, smirking.

            Jake nearly dropped the frying pan in surprise.  "Well … I just thought I'd do something nice for everyone," he said with a boyish smile.  He turned to make sure the bacon wasn't burning while I got lost in the funny patterns his rumpled hair made in the morning.  I finally snapped out of it before he noticed and began making scrambled eggs along side him.  Every now and then, he would nudge me and I would nudge him back. 

            I had just put the eggs back in the fridge when I turned to find Jake incredibly close to me, an unreadable expression on his face, his hand on the fridge door--he was probably going to open it.  Instead of moving back like I thought he would, he put his hands around my waist while I put my hands on his shoulders; he had me up against the refrigerator, his body perfectly against mine. 

            We looked into each other's eyes; not one thought was in our heads.  I was sure this was an involuntary action our hormones were making us do as we slowly leaned in for another kiss, millimeter by slow millimeter… yesterday… all over again…

            Until we heard Liz and Josh coming, in which Jake and I immediately broke it up.

            He quickly went for the bacon, which was burning--like my face.  I quickly got the eggs onto plates, all the while avoiding eye contact with Jake, Josh and Liz.  I didn't read his mind and he didn't read mine, which was good because I was excessively confoodled.  I was putting the little mental alertness I had in the morning on double time.

            "About time you did some cooking, Amy," Josh said, laughing. 

            I laughed at him, mockingly amused.  "Just for that," I said in my normal voice, "you're getting the burnt bacon."  Liz went to get some plates; Jake for the bacon--which was all burned, but still edible; Josh was coming from the fridge with orange juice; I had went for some forks and glasses.