One Summer

Chapter 9

I felt as though I was suffocating when I awoke the next morning. My sleeping bag was tight around my front and my back was pressed against the duvet I was lying on. The t-shirt I had slept in was stuck to my back by a light sheen of sweat. I started to roll over, but found that I was pinned down. Lifting my head, I was surprised to see Alex with his arm wrapped around my waist and his head resting on my stomach. I tried to lift his arm off me, but he was a dead weight.

“Alex,” I groaned, poking him in the back of his head.

“Alex,” I hissed again when he didn’t respond. He didn’t even flinch.

Frustrated, I sighed, running my hand over my face. I brought my hand up and smacked it into his shoulder.

“What?” He mumbled, burying his head into my stomach.

“Get off me.”

“Hmm?” He moaned, sleepily. I wriggled underneath him, and he quickly got up.

“Oops. Sorry about that.”

I pulled the sleeping bag off me and revelled as the cool air of the morning danced across my skin.

“How did I end up being your pillow last night?” I whispered to Alex.

I saw him shrug slightly. “Chris was farting in his sleep, and the stench was unbearable, so I moved over here. The part where I used you as a pillow, that was totally unconscious on my part. You’re really comfortable, by the way,” he added, throwing a wink in my direction.

“Yeah, well you’re really not. Your fat head nearly crushed me to death.”

Alex scoffed quietly. “My head is not fat.”

“Yes it is. It’s full of all the egotistical comments you tell yourself everyday to make yourself feel good,” I teased.

“Why do I need to tell myself all these egotistical things, when you do it for me?”

“I don’t do it to be nice.”

He laughed softly. “I know.”

“What are you doing today?” I asked him.

“I don’t know. You’re meeting Jake later, aren’t you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Are there any secrets in this town?”

Alex turned to face me, a strange expression flitted across his face. “Is it a secret?”

“Of course it isn’t. I meant it as a general comment.”

“My dad saw Jake at the store earlier,” he said by way of explanation.

I nodded.

“Where is he taking you?”

“We’re going into town and then we’ll decide once we get there.”

A strange noise left Alex’s mouth. “He hasn’t planned it out very well.”

“Why would he need to plan-“ I stopped mid-sentence, suddenly understanding what he was getting at. “It’s not a date.”

Alex replied with a sceptical look.

“It isn’t! Jake and I have been friends for a long time. If anything was going to happen between us, I’m sure it would have happened already.”

“You do know that he likes you, right?”

I laughed loudly.

“Shhh!” Alex whispered, covering my mouth, as not to wake anyone.

“He really doesn’t,” I chuckled.