Perpetually Dreaming

Chapter 10-Late Mornings

((1544 words))
Chapter 10- Late Mornings

    There was no dramatic yelling this morning, quite the opposite actually. I woke up with Liam in my arms, him snoring softly still. The gorgeous morning light shined brightly through the still open windows, allowing me to see what was going on around from my comfortable position. The bags at our feet had been near emptied over the two days we've been here, clothes were thrown everywhere and assorted socks finding themselves in the crevice of the mattress. There wasn't much activity below from the sounds of it, aside from Will and Em cooing sweet nothings at each other. The sleeping bag was strewn over the edge of the loft, about to fall off and down onto the whispering lovers below me. I could reach over and grab it so it doesn't, that would be possible and probably very nice; instead, I pushed it over with what little force i could muster this early and listened to Will groan in annoyance.

    I snickered quietly to myself, listening to Will suffer without being able to do anything to help himself. My somewhat hushed laughs still caused Liam to stir in his sleep, seeming to be awake now. He rolled over and faced me as he began to regain consciousness. A smile crept across his face as he opened his eyes, throwing a hand over my waist and pulling me close. The air was stuffy feeling and being so close to his face, breathing his used air, didn't do much to help the bad atmosphere. As much as I love being close to him, We have as long as we want to do this kind of thing. Not like we don't have all week... or the rest of our lives really. I mean he lives close to my Starbucks and considering the overpopulation of those coffee shops it means he also lives somewhat close. Least I think that's how it works.

     I sat up, moving Liam's arm off me (with minimal protests), and went to pick out an outfit. The weather seemed to want to only go up in heat, so I reached for a silky feeling pair of shorts and the most breathable tee I could find--a beat up Panic shirt. Grabbing my bathing necessities and some undergarments, I hopped down the ladder and headed out the door, noticing Ally and Zach had disappeared. I'm sure those hooligans haven't gotten up to much, but it's hard to say. On one hand, they could be enjoying a wholesome breakfast together, as couples do. On the other, I'm pretty sure if someone screamed no one would hear, leaving the murder option open.

    After stumbling across the gravel driveway and greatly regretting my decisions to not wear shoes of any kind, I found the bathhouse and looked at the row of doors with a sign that said "showers" above them. Opening the only door to not have an occupied or out of order sign on it, I noticed that the small room was actually pretty nice for being in the middle of the forest.   From the sounds of it, the shower I had chosen was right next to the only one to have people in it. The sounds of their shower droning on in small unevenly-spaced raps, as what sounded to me to be two people arguing meshed into the rhythm.

     I wish my morals were strong enough to keep me from listening in, but they aren't. I laid my clothes and such down on a chair and pressed my ear to the adjacent wall, careful to not make a sound. Though it was cleverly blocked by the water's sounds, I could tell that it was Zach and Ally having a heated argument. 'Their words weren't clear, but I could tell it was bad. Words like "not working out" and "time for a break" floated into my ears, and I suddenly realized the peril that their relationship was in.  Ally is known to break the hearts of guys for good reason; I can't find one for this. Maybe it's the distance? If so, she only has a little bit left of college before she can literally go wherever. Heck, they could move in righ-

     Oh wait no they can't, I forgot America has terrible immigration policies, especially when you take into account the fact that we're founded on the promise of safe immigration for all persons. I'd have to look up Canada's policies, but I'm sure they're no better. Well actually-- wait no, not the time for this.

    Zach makes her happy, I can't imagine why other than the distance they would break up. Thoughts rushed through my mind of when they could've fallen out of love in the few days I'd known them to be together, but none seemed to fit. I was contemplating this still when they turned off the water and left, leaving me in disarray.  Hope seemed fleeting, but so did the window in which I had the bathroom to myself, so I quickly took off my pyjamas and set them on the stool, hopping into the shower.

    The water didn't stay warm for long, shocker, so I finished quickly and got dressed, realizing that my hair would burden for the rest of the day. I took the hair tie off my wrist and quickly wrapped my knotted, soaking hair into a bun with the promise to deal with it later. A promise that was negotiable, but somehow I knew that I'd be forced to deal with it. Sometimes I want to cut it all off, but it's taken three years to get this long and I can't just get rid of all my hard work.

     After a few more moments of thought, I stepped out of the shower and walked back to the hut, hoping Shelby was awake to help. I had nearly gotten up safely, when a golden rooster noticed me. I laughed as it ran up to me, knowing that I'd just have to swat at it a couple times to get it to go away. When it came near, it pecked at my feet, causing me to yelp in pain. Ignoring the spikes of pain caused by the gravel, I ran to the hut and slammed the door behind me, gasping for air.

   The rest of the group gave me confused looks as I attempted to regain my breath, but I made no effort to tell them what had happened, out of shame. I walked over and sat on the now-upright futon that Emily and Will had slept on, taking my hair out and beginning to brush it. The knotts seemed to gather near the ends, thank god; if they'd been any closer to my scalp this would've taken hours. Pulling out half of it, I quickly brushed my hair as the others sat around and talked about video ideas, including one where they just pointed at different trees and gave them names. That one was my favorite.
       Liam finally made his way down the ladder, only to lay beside me with his head in my lap. I smiled as I brushed his mess of curls out of his face, looking into his intense icy blue eyes. Noticing everyone else staring with little smirks, I snapped out of the trance and suggested my own video idea: "Why don't we all just go into town tomorrow and like, vlog the art and stuff? I'm sure the local artists would be excited for the hype, and, from what I've heard, the college is solely dedicated to art? So like maybe also pop in and get some paints, have a little Bob Ross moment?" I could tell I was rambling, but I wanted to advert their thoughts before I had to talk about my relationship status.

     They seemed excited enough about the idea, which means that we'd probably go through with it. I felt like a champion, but then I realized the one person that's smart enough to reject my proposals isn't here. Shelby's date thing completely slipped my mind! Oh I hope she's having fun, I don't really know the protocol for two girls on a date but I hope what they want to come out of it does!

    I realize now that this means that when we go into town we'll only have my jeep for transport, so that'll be super uncomfortable for the six of us, but we can make do I suppose. The time seemed to pass obnoxiously slowly as we talked, everyone keeping secrets from one another sure does make conversations slow down. The tension was killing me and I didn't really want to deal with it any longer, so I suggested that we just go to town right now and see what Shelby's up to.

     The crew of misfits and I walked down to my Jeep, Liam fiddling with his curls the entire time before giving up and "borrowing" Will's hat. Will normally would have thrown a fit and ended Liam for this brand thievery, but Will was obviously trying to keep it on the kind side so that Em would say yes.

     We crammed into my Jeep and drove off, not knowing the horrors that awaited us in town.