Against The Wall

Chapter Seven

Wake up, I hear a voice in my head. Wake up. I roll around, tangled in my sheets, and suddenly, my eyes pop open. Last night, I fell asleep in Matty’s arms. I did. I really did. Peeling my covers back from my face, I look over at the empty space next to me and my heart drops like the thud of a bowling ball. He left. He didn’t even stick around to say good morning. It’s not like we did it or anything. We just slept. Oh son of a shiznit. Damn it. That’s even more intimate than screwing for Christ’s sake. I’m a frickin’ idiot. I totally spooked him, didn’t I? I scared him off. A wham bam thank you ma’am would’ve been better. I’m such a terrible non-girlfriend. I’ve been out of the loop for so long, I don’t know how it all works.

Do I call him now? Do I pretend like nothing happened? Well, nothing did happen. What do I do? I slept, as in actual slumber, with Matty and now he’s gone and I have no effing clue what to do next. I wrestle myself out of bed, and make my way to the bathroom. Looking at myself in the mirror, my eyes try to look away from the hopeless romantic before me. As much as I tried to fight it, deep down I think I wanted it to work. I never realized it until now. Waking up alone, after a night without sex, standing in the bathroom, I feel like total shit. The last thing I want to do is wash my face or brush my teeth.

I run my fingers through my hair. What did I do? I silently ask, gazing down the drain of my sink. How metaphoric. My love life has totally gone down the drain. Thank God for my students and my awesome ability to teach, or I’d start posting FML all over Twitter and Facebook. Okay, maybe I wouldn’t go that far. But really, I’m pretty crappy when it comes to dealing with guys.

“Good morning, Shel?” The sound of Matty’s voice startles me. I look up and see his reflection in the mirror. Leaning up against the door frame, his arms are crossed over his chest and he’s smiling. Smiling. That’s a good sign, right? Well, he’s here. He didn’t leave. I guess I didn’t scare him off?

“Hi,” I utter back. I focus on him, right there in the mirror. He’s real. Not just a mirage. He’s standing right behind me. I'm tempted to pinch myself but I don't want to look like an even bigger idiot than I am.

“Why don’t you do whatever it is you do when you wake up, and come to the kitchen, I got us breakfast.” He takes a step toward me, bends over, and kisses me on the top of my head. I could just faint. My legs are mush, and I think my heart just stopped for a beat. Before I can react or turn around to give him a proper hello, he’s gone. Out the door, and I can hear his footsteps throughout my house. What is it I do when I wake up? Hmm. I normally do nothing but grab a book, or watch TV with a bowl of cereal. I shut the door so I can pee in peace and try to think of what to do next. Finally, I decide to splash some water on my face, glide some deodorant on, brush my teeth, moisturize with some smelly lotion, and pull my hair up into a twist. Should I do make-up? Nah. He’ll probably laugh at me for doing as much as I did already. He knows I’m simple.

Immediately, I start cracking up when I see what’s on my kitchen table. Captain Crunch cereal. How does he know these things about me? First the beer, and now this. My favorite cereal.

“When was the last time you went grocery shopping?” He chuckles. “I had to go to the store. It was either that or we were going to have beer and yogurt for breakfast.”

“Hey, don’t judge. It’s the breakfast of champions.” I sit down across from him at my table. “Besides, I’ve been sleeping over at Mel’s a lot lately.” He pours me a bowl of cereal and hands me the milk.

“Will this work?”

“Hell yes, this is my favorite cereal. I could eat the whole box for breakfast, lunch, and dinner today.” I stop talking so I can stuff my mouth with a giant spoonful of sweet crunchy bites.