Side By Side

3.

Lissa passed out on the couch shortly after the commercials ended. Little snores escaped her lips as she snoozed. I sighed and decided the worst thing I could do would be to attempt to carry her up the stairs which would result in both of us taking a tumble. So instead, I turned off the T.V., draped a blanket over Lissa, and tiptoed up the stairs, avoiding the fourth stair up being well aware of how loudly it creaked sense all the times Lissa had woken up Nancy were depicted in her texts.

Finally reaching the solitude of my bed room, I sunk onto my bed and rubbed my eyes, they were swollen from tears and tired. I was restless and there wasn't much to do in this house without Lissa conscious and Nancy away painting, not that I had any particular motivation to do much of anything.

To my right, warm golden rays of light shown through the window reflecting off the hardwood. I gazed at the window getting a hint of the sunset I assumed was a fiery masterpiece. Standing and feeling the cold floor beneath them, I let my feet carry me to the window. Instead of an incredible sunset painted onto the sky by the fading sun its self, I got a clear view of a window directly across from mine. Blue curtains shielded my view from inside so I was left with a faint silhouette of a person.

I directed my gaze to the left a little, and I was met with the sunset I wanted. I propped myself up on the windowsill, resting my back on the frame, a leg on either side.

The sun set fire to the clouds drifting over the horizon with blazing rays of orange. The sky was stroked with purple, a few yellows and pinks melded in. Orange rays flew back at my face and warmed my body in the presence of the cool damp air outside. It wouldn't have even taken dads amazing photography skills to take a nice picture, or my moms flowing writing to make you feel warm and comforted.

"It's nice, huh?" a voice said shocking me out of my daze. I flinched and fell to the floor with a crashing thud followed by a flood of pounding foot steps up the stairs. In bursted Lissa.

"Addi? Are you okay?" She asked. I frowned at her as she helped me off the floor in. Both our gazes shifted upwards to a chuckling boy who I recognized from the pictures in Lissa's bedroom. At first glance he almost looked ordinary. Plain brown hair and standard eyes to match as well as a neither overwhelmingly tall or short height opted for normality. For some reason he made these otherwise underwhelming features seem bright and distinctive.

"Jake! You idiot, you nearly scared her half to death!" She scolded from the window.

"Jake," I registered looking at Lissa then back at Jake through the opened window, "football Jake?"

"So Lissa's told you about me then?" He asked with a grin. I turned to Lissa.

"Yes, but she forgot to mention that you could see right into the room," I said more directed at Lissa than Jake.

Lissa tensed and grinned awkwardly.

"Hey, Addi, my friend Jake lives right across from your window. Be sure not to wear that ratty old shirt," she said in a joking tone. I frowned.

"A bit late don't you think?" I mumbled. Lissa and I pivoted towards Jake, who in one swift motion stood up straight and stuck his had out the window for a handshake.

"Jake walker," he introduced. Hesitantly, I approached the window and stuck my hand out to grip his, keeping a firm hold on the windowsill so I didn't lean too far out and fall.

"Addilyn Blake," I told him letting a small, standard smile slide. My hand retreated back into my room and I looked away from Jake, mostly because I didn't want him to look at me for much longer.

"You can call her Addi," Lissa told him. Turning towards her quickly, I knitted my eyebrows. I didn't usually let people, strangers, call me by my nick name, especially considering that's what my parents called me.