A Small Voice

Chapter Twenty-Two

"And you, that weresometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath Hereconciled."Colossians 1:21

I woke up on the following Saturday, alone. Tammy was gone and the window by my bed was open. The cool air sneaking in from outside accentuated the coziness I felt underneath my warm blankets. I looked at the clock resting on the nightstand; it was twelve in the afternoon. Holy fuck. I was pumped. Not only did I sleep like a baby, I slept until twelve! I couldn't remember the last time I'd had so much rest. I liked it; it felt amazing. After living with crippling insomnia for so long, the feeling of a solid eight hours spent asleep completely invigorated my body. I stretched my arms and sat up, wishing that Tammy was still naked beside me, but also aware that if we were caught together, that would be the end of our adventures in Bible College. That said, the end of Bible College did have a nice ring to it, and a sexy, nude girl under my covers seemed worth the risk.

I looked around the floor at the empty beer bottles and scattered clothes from the night before. What a bad girl, I thought to myself, smiling, while trying to come up with a plan to discreetly dispose of the clutter, evidence of a vice that would also guarantee our expulsion from school.

The phone rang. It broke my train of thought. It was odd. Rach always phoned right before bed. She was basically the only one who ever called me. My parents would call once every month or so, but it was an always awkward and brief conversation. I picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Dan."

"Hey, Rach."

"What are you doing?"

I paused. Over the last year, our interactions had become a pretty rigid routine. My mind started to race as to why she was asking. Did she know about Tammy? I felt my blood go cold.

"Nothing, just getting up, actually. I finally had a great night of sleep." I instantly slapped my forehead with my hand, an unconscious reflex—my body pointing out my idiocy. If Rachel knew about Tammy, this was literally the most stupid thing I could say.

"Oh, awesome. I've been worried about that. You have been looking so tired lately. I was even going to hook you up with some of my foundation to cover those dark bags under your eyes."

I laughed. "You felt bad and were going to give me your makeup?"

She giggled, "Yeah."

"Well, it doesn't seem like you're using it lately, so I guess I will take it."

"Are you implying I don't put on makeup anymore?" she questioned in a silly, sassy tone. "Maybe it's because I am so pretty, I don't need makeup."

I laughed again. "Well, you know what they say, if the barn needs a painting..."

"Ha, exactly! You're the barn, Dan, you're the barn."

I was the first to give in. "Touché."

"Touché," she agreed.

Our flirty banter felt fantastic. It had been a long time since we'd talked like that.

She continued, "Do you want to meet up at the cafeteria? I'm starving."

"Don't you have music practice on Saturday afternoon?"

"Yeah, but I decided I would skip it. I'm so busy, we never get to hang out. I miss you."

"Uh, yeah. I would love to meet up. I really miss you, too."

"Perfect, give me fifteen minutes."

"Sure."

I couldn't believe she was skipping out on practice; this was completely out of her character. I was pumped. I jumped out of bed, still naked and smelling like an evening of drinking and sex. Plus, the cotton shirt that Tammy wrapped on my shoulder was now completely affixed to my skin via the dried blood. I slowly started pulling it off while I simultaneously kicked my dirty clothes around on the floor, frantically searching for a towel. Unfortunately, my other foot stepped on one of the empty bottles. I lost my balance and was momentarily airborne, then landed right on my back. I tried to curse, but all my breath was gone. Although, the acrobatics did finish the job of removing the shirt from my self-inflicted wound, now once again bleeding profusely. I closed my eyes for exactly three seconds, and then successfully caught my breath.

"What the fuck?"

It's all I could say.