XIII. Heat
I was laying in the dark, a headache forming in the back of my head. I wasn't quite sure why it was there, but it was and I didn't bring any painkillers with me. I felt the irritation grow at the constant throbbing at the base of my skull.
All was silent at the moment considering it was currently somewhere around two in the morning. I had been tossing all night and ended up laying there, staring at the ceiling when I gave up on sleep.
I grabbed my phone off the night stand and dialed Mae's number. I hoped she was awake. I didn't want to wake her up randomly in the night.
A sleepy voice answered the other line and I felt myself heat up at the thought that I had woken her up.
"Hey, I'm sorry if you were asleep. I was assuming your phone would be off if you were and-" I began rambling as I usually did with her and she cut me off.
"No, no. Its fine. I couldn't sleep. I was just scrolling through iFunny." She yawned and I briefly wondered if she was lying to make me feel better. I hoped not.
I smiled even though she couldn't see me and let out a soft sigh, whispering a response, "I kind of miss you." I nibbled my lower lip, nervous about her response.
"I miss you too." Her voice was also quiet and I fell curious about why. She wasn't very loud on the phone, but she wasn't this quiet.
"Is someone there?" I yawned mid sentence, hoping I would sound more curious than jealous. I hoped I didn't sound jealous at all. I wasn't.
"Yeah. Henry and Jessica are in here. They were gonna leave, but they fell asleep so I figured I'd let them be." She replied even quieter than the first time. I glanced around and mumbled my own response.
"I'm in a motel room with Daniel and Viola." I frowned, realizing she didn't exactly know who Daniel was. "The guy that came with Viola when they barged into my house the other day." I added.
"Oh. Why?" She sounded slightly irritated.
"They kind of kidnapped me. Not really but a similar idea." I gave a little laugh and glanced at the two again.
"Oh. Who's sharing with who? Beds I mean." Her voice sounded cold, almost detached. I pouted and rolled over, my back to my roommates.
"I have a bed to myself." I hoped she would warm back up with this information and was relieved when she was.
"Oh, that's good. More room for you to roll around." She joked.
"I'm not that bad of a bed buddy." I pouted even though she couldn't see me and pulled the blanket up over my head.
"No, you're not. You cuddle a lot, though." She giggled in a hushed tone and I felt myself relaxing into sleep mode.
"I'll have my own room tomorrow. Wanna Skype then?" I silently prayed she'd say yes and curled up in fetal position.
"Yeah, that sounds good." She, too, sounded ready for sleep now.
"Okay. Goodnight." Midway through my statement, I slipped off into dreamland, phone still clutched in my hand.
*
It was a rude awakening when I was shoved off my bed at five in the morning with a single hand. I glared up at the culprit, Daniel, and sat up, rubbing my injured side. He rolled his eyes at me and began making my bed, the only thing not yet cleaned in the whole room. I noticed Viola was gone and figured she was waiting in the car.
Daniel randomly nodded and I realized he must have been responding to my thoughts. I found myself a little unsettled by the lack of privacy and made my way outside. I spotted Viola reapplying lipstick in the car and climbed into the backseat.
"Gee, you look beautiful." I mumbled, completely put off by my own fuzzy pajamas. She shrugged and met my eyes in the review mirror.
"Even Sirens need a little touch up occasionally." She smirked at my shocked expression. I locked that piece of information in my mind as if it held some double meaning and remained quiet as we waited for Daniel.
He climbed in the passenger seat ane we pulled out of the parking lot, driving away from the known and entering the unknown.
