Underwater (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 2 - Small Orange Bottle

Here's an early update, the next one will still be this Friday :)

I woke up to the sound of a soft harp getting louder and louder. Whatever I'd been dreaming of started to fade as my alarm pulled me back into reality. My eyes slowly opened, seeing the grey early morning light reflect off of my blue walls. I pushed myself up and admired the way it shone through my window, waiting for my body to wake up. I wasn't usually up when the sun had already risen. I was used to the pitch black early morning and seeing the sun rise over the mountains while slipping on a wetsuit by the beach.

Surfing in the morning was one of my favorite experiences. The world would still be quiet, but the waves would be crashing, as loud as ever. They didn't have the same schedule as everything else. They'd crash throughout the day and especially through the night, dark and terrifying, until the first ray of sunlight broke over the east, and the fear factor would be gone. The water would be ice cold and sting my skin when I'd enter, but surfing that first wave of the day would wake me up quicker than anything else.

After getting up and taking a cold shower, I pulled on jeans and a long sleeved black shirt from my closet. That would work to cover up my arm well, but when I looked in the mirror, I felt my hopeful mood deflate. I didn't recognize the person standing in front of me. It wasn't me. My weight loss was obvious in the long sleeve, and I looked timid. Afraid.

I grabbed a baggy white t-shirt in frustration and pulled it on over my black one. I didn't let myself look too long in the mirror, knowing I'd only focus on the flaws and would get stuck in my room for hours.

I grabbed my bag and walked downstairs quietly, careful not to make enough noise to wake everyone else. I picked up an apple from the counter, not bothering to make myself a real breakfast- what was the point? I didn't need any extra fuel this morning, I sure as hell wasn't surfing.

I quietly grabbed my car keys and locked up the house, the cold morning breeze chilling my skin and giving me goosebumps.

Before she passed, my grandma had given me her car— a bmw from the eighties. At the time, she'd told me it was because she was too old to drive and that it'd do me better, but after she died I realized that she'd known her end was coming and wanted to leave me with something that would help me.

It was a nice car. Even with its many problems that we couldn't afford to fix, it'd always get me to where I needed to go. But the reason I loved it so much was because of her. She'd been gone a year, and it still smelled of her cheap, old, jasmine perfume. It would take me back to the times I'd sit in the backseat, peeking out the window while she drove me to the boardwalk by the beach. The breeze from the open windows would blow the smell of her perfume back to me.

By the time I got to Teo's I started to feel a familiar ache in my side. I pulled my bag to my lap and started digging through it, searching for my pain medication. I was focused enough that I hadn't seen Teo exit the house, and jumped when I heard the passenger door open.

He dove forward, crushing me in a hug. I held my breath as I felt his arm put pressure on the bite, but I smiled through the pain as he pulled away.

"I'm so glad you're back Oli," he said, leaning back in his chair with a smile on his face.

I returned the smile, feeling a small wave of relief knowing he'd be with me today.

My side gave a light throb as if to remind me I hadn't paid it any attention and I bit my lip, resuming my search in my backpack. I felt myself getting irritated after finding only my antibiotics. I could've sworn I'd put the other bottle in my bag last night.

I tossed my bag to the back in frustration after I couldn't find them and opened the middle console, looking through it knowing I wouldn't find anything.