The Storms Of August

Chapter Thirty One: Sober

I woke up with a slight shake on my knees. All I could see of the gentle figure resting her hand on my leg was a shadow that blurred into the dim background. The sun was still sleeping behind the horizon, and only a mist of its true self was peering over the lip of my bedroom window. It's ungodly to be awoken before sunrise, but when the reason is something as heavenly as her it doesn't matter what hour it is.

"Get up," Demi whispered quietly, "I'm not going to school without you."

I groaned. I wanted to sleep to my hearts' content, but alas, a beautiful girl asked me otherwise. Slowly, I sat up and slid out of bed. My clock read 6:50. Fuck me. When I was changing, Demi awkwardly walked into the hallway. I said I didn't mind changing with her present, it was too early for vivid details on my skin to reveal themselves anyway, but she insisted the gentlewoman in her could not stay with her eyes tempted. Changing from sleeping bum to awake bum, I noticed Demi was in the same dark clothes as yesterday.

"Come on I'll find something for you," I said quietly.

"I'm ok. I can last one more day in this." Demi shrugged in her soft leather jacket, her hands tucked into the pockets at full arm extension.

I shook my head and found the closest I could get to Demi's style on my budget. Distressed black jeans, a faded NASA t shirt, and a vibrant red Nike hoodie she's snuck onto her slight frame once or twice before. Demi smirked, changed quickly, and we were out the door.

By the time we were on the road, the sun had reached to where rays beamed across the tar and leaves started to shake off their morning dew. The sun matched the birds and the grass and the leaves and the silent houses that ever so slowly dragged behind slightly speeding wheels, but not Demi. Her knuckles turned white against the steering wheel and her shadow vibrated ever so slightly like a vigorous tremor. The sun kissed cheeks of an island sun had faded into February too fast. She was pale; hollow. The only thing that could overcast the sun was her anxiety, or fear, or whatever pot of emotions we don't talk about. Demi followed speed limits. She stopped at signs and used her shallow eyes to look both ways. Demi does not abide rules that aren't her own.

It wasn't long before she noticed me scanning for her every sign of need and smiled weakly, gripping my hand in hers. "Don't worry sunshine, I just haven't had my coffee yet."

I smiled back as she pulled into the Starbucks a mile off course, but it faded once she looked to the menu as if she wasn't going to get the same "Venti iced coffee with skim milk, five pumps of caramel, and three pumps of mocha". She was cold, and not in the need a sweater way, but in a life fleeting way.

"You're chilly," I said with concern.

Demi handed me the caramel iced coffee with extra cream I ordered. "Someone is paranoid today." The easy look she gave me the second time around was a little more convincing, but I kept her hand in mine anyhow.

I felt more easy going into school knowing it would be three days without seeing Joe's face around, but almost immediately after we entered the busy parking lot in Demi's fancy car that started to change. People were staring. At first I thought it was the car, it is probably upwards of fifty grand being parked in a crumbling shit hole box full of minors. When we parked, Demi grabbed our bags and opened my car door. I hoped us leaving the scene would take eyes affections off of me, but again I was wrong. The eyes were never on the car but what was inside. Everyone was watching, pointing, staring. As Demi and I passed side by side, people started to move out of our path like we were emergency vehicles. In a last ditch effort I gave a pleading look to Demi, but this wasn't even normal for her. She had her hood up and her head down as she watched voices hush like her existence was duct tape.