Balconies

Chapter 2

I love waking up on bright, sunny days. The sunshine falls through the curtains and gives me an excuse to go out on the balcony. When I wake up the first thing I do is attack the curtains. I tie them back and open the sliding glass doors to let in some fresh air. I can hear birds chirping and it makes me think of those Disney princess movies which kill the moment. I walk out on the balcony and see that the curtains to Brandon’s room our opened. Inside I can see him sleeping shirtless in his untidy bed. The blue comforter is the only thing keeping me from seeing his boxers. His dark, long hair falls across his face and it just makes him seem all the sexier. I love how his chest moves up and down in a pattern of care free breaths.

        Reality hits me dead on and I realize I am practically stalking him right now. I stand from my chair and walk back into my room, closing the sliding door a little. I hate having to pretend he isn’t all I think about. I just wish I could be lying beside him right now with his arms around my waist and his consistent scent of axe flooding my every breath. I glance back to see if he is still sleeping and notice his bedroom door is open and his blue sheets have moved to the floor. Great, my one chance to see him shirtless today and he vanishes before I can turn around.

        I go to my desk and unplug my charging iPhone to see that the eager sister of my dream guy has texted me three times asking if I am up. I can’t reply ‘Yes. I have been watching your amazingly hot brother sleep all morning’, so send a reasonable message and leave my room since the show is over. The hard wood stairs are cold on my feet and my foot steps are all I hear. My grandmother hasn’t come to check on me yet so the house feels lonely. In the kitchen, I search for all the required items to make me a reasonable breakfast. I can never find anything for breakfast but there is enough sandwich meat for lunch that it looks like a slaughter house. I close the fridge after finding some left over eggs and a new pack of bacon. I turn the stove on and wait for it to melt the butter in the pan for my eggs.

         After my burnt-to-a-crisp breakfast, I travel upstairs to see if my lover has come back to his room. To my surprise, he has made his way to the balcony and is enjoying his morning cigarette. I stand there in my room debating for at least ten minutes about whether I should go strike up a conversation or completely ignore him. I finally decide that I have nothing to lose since there is nothing I have with him. I make my way to the door and walk onto the balcony.

“Hey.” I say, leaning against the railing. He stands from his chair and walks over so we are closer.

“Hey.” He replies, blowing smoke out of his mouth. Something about that makes him a little sexier at the moment. I close my eyes to take in the sight and then open them to see he is standing directly in front of me.

“How has your morning been?” I ask as I try to make casual conversation.

“Good, I guess. What about you?”

“Fine. You planning a party anytime soon?”

“Yeah. You’re invited by the way. Next Saturday” I smile a little when he says I am invited. Is it because he wants me there or because Amber would invite me anyway so why not just go ahead and invited me?

“Is Amber making you?” I finally ask when the question keeps jabbing my mind like someone was poking me. I look into his eyes and then get too caught up in them to care if he even replies.

“No. You’re my friend too,” He says and then puts his cigarette out in the ash tray. I can’t believe he considers me a friend too. That is like so much better than just being his little sister’s best friend. I smile to myself and he gives me a ‘what the hell are you smiling about look’. I mask my happiness and then resume my regular ‘I couldn’t care less’ look.

“I got to go rehearse. Maybe I’ll see you later?” He asked if he would see me later! There has to be something going on with that. He has never said anything like that before. I can’t help but pinch my arm a little to make sure that what I have dreamed of for years was finally coming true and not just playing in my mind.

“Yeah. Amber has been bitching at me to come over all morning.” I reply trying to hide my anticipation. I just want to lie in his arms and listen to his bands’ songs over and over again until I memorize every beat as if it were my own heartbeat.

“Oh ok. Well, bye.”

“Bye,” and just like that I am alone on the balcony, playing our conversation over in my head again and again. I just want to come right out and tell him how I feel but, that is a disaster waiting to happen. Like a million bombs falling on Amber and me, it would kill us both as best friends and then I would go back to being just the neighbor next door. I walk from the railing over to the door and slide it up. As I step inside, I catch a glimpse of Brandon looking out the screen doors as me. If only he knew.

        After getting dressed and straightening my hair, I give into the massive complaints of Amber and decide to go over to her house to keep her from dying of potential boredom. I travel to her house and then float up the stairs to her room so she can complain about it being too hot to do anything. As I walk into her blinding pink room, I see her and Brandon sitting at her desk and looking at pictures. Pictures of every party they have had. All of the people are too drunk to care about having pictures taken and posted onto Brandon’s Facebook.

“Hey.” I say as I walk in and sit down on Amber’s bed. The soft pillows surround me and I feel like taking a nap.

“Hey.” Brandon and Amber reply in unison. Their eyes are glued to the screen as they scroll through hundreds of pictures of people grinding against each other and drinking until they are hallucinating. Don’t get me wrong, it’s always an awesome party but, people leave feeling like they are going to vomit in the bushes.

“Well. I am going to round up the guys and practice in the garage.” Brandon says as he stands from the chair and walks to the door. He smiles at me and waves a small good bye. I smile back and get the same feeling of love I always get when I see him. He always gives me a reason to fall even more in love with him.

“Keep it down this time!” Amber bitches after he leaves the room as she turns in her chair to face me.

“So. What do you want to do?” she asks in a sweeter tone and then walks to her bathroom to start heating up her curling iron. I take that as a sign that we are going somewhere. Just like that I am off my feet and in the bathroom helping her decide what to wear. The whole time I do this, I think of how I wish I was getting ready for a date with Brandon and not helping Amber zip up her tube top.