Dead Air

Chapter 6

So sorry about the wait guys.  I'm a loser who spends way too much time at school.

                Daniel groaned and rolled over to his side, groping blindly for his phone.  He grabbed it off the bedside table, blinking in the sudden light.  8:30?  “Shit,” muttered.  He jumped off his bed quickly, scrambling to get out of the room.  The door swung open just in front of him.

                Reagan stood there holding a bowl of cereal.  “Hey there.  I was just coming to wake you up.”

                “I have to get Paige up.”

                “She’s already at school.  I got her up when your alarm went off.  I thought you could use more sleep,” he explained simply.  He took a spoonful of his Lucky Charms and pushed past Daniel, sitting down on his bed.  Daniel leaned against the wall next to his door and ran a hand through his hair exasperatedly.  “Your mom is still sleeping.  She didn’t get back until really late last night.  Are you doing anything today?”

                “You’re too perky in the morning.  I have to finish some unpacking, and I work at noon,” he muttered.  He folded his arms over his chest and tilted his head.  “Why?”

                Reagan shrugged, eating another spoonful of Lucky Charms.  “Wondering if you were going to be hanging out with that new boy toy of yours.”

                “He’s still in school.”

                Reagan’s eyebrows shot up.  “You mean high school?  As in the school you’ll probably be teaching at next year?  That’s insanely creepy.”

                Daniel rolled his eyes and pushed himself off the wall.  “He’s nineteen right now.  He won’t be a student next year,” he explained, walking around the room and digging through boxes.  “Besides, I don’t work there yet.  I probably won’t even end up at the high school.  It really isn’t even that bad when you think about it.”

                “Nineteen?  So, he’s dumb?”

                “No.  I need to shower.  If you feel the need to continue talking about my personal love life, we can continue in there.”  He sauntered out of the room, hearing Reagan jump off the bed behind him.

                “Hey, wait up!  I didn’t mean for it to sound like that.  But you have to admit….  What does he look like?” Reagan asked, following closely on Daniel’s heels.  He sat down on the bathroom counter, sitting pretzel-legged against the mirror.  Daniel shut the door quietly and started running the water.  “Not that I’m going to try to steal him from you or anything.  I’ve got Alex to make me happy.”

                Daniel paused in his preparations, his hands on the waist band of his shorts.  “He’s got this black shaggy hair, and his eyes are the most amazing shade of blue-gray.”  He proceeded to strip with his back turned towards Reagan as he talked.  “He’s got pretty much the same build as I have.  A little more muscular maybe.  An inch or so shorter, too.  His lips are full and sexy.  That’s all you get.”  He stepped into the shower, pulling the curtain into place behind him.

                “Where’d you meet him again?” Reagan asked around a mouthful of cereal.

                “We were at some party after a football game about a week ago.  We talked for most of the night.  I teased him a lot.  He didn’t find out my name until two days ago.  It would have been fun to keep it that way, but that guy from next door…”