what the water gave me - h.s.

cheaters never win

October.

"Q-U-A-I-N-T-L-Y. Quaintly." Johnsy declares her word choice with confidence and certainty.

"22 points, bitch. Beat that!" She laughs as she continues to flaunt her 'oh so clever brain'.

I shake my head, dismissing her antics, and stare at my Scrabble words before me. All I have is a bunch of random consonants, what the hell can I play with that?

I smirk and casually steal a glance at Johnsy sitting across from me to see she's reaching for the bottle of wine to refill her glass.

I quickly and nonchalantly wave my hand over my letters. The arbitrary characters of the alphabet occupying my Scrabble letter tile rack blur from their previous figure to a whole new layout of symbols.

Just as my best friend returns her focus back to the board, I am placing my new tiles down.

Jo's sanguine expression quickly morphs into a vast look of disbelief.

"T-R-E-P-I-D-A-T-I-O-N. Trepidation. With two triple letters and a double word." The growing smirk on my lips burning bright as she starts to count the points, still in a state of shock.

"How the fuck are you always so good at every board game we play?!" She whines and I let out a chuckle, taking a sip from my wine glass.

"Guess I just have the universe on my side," I say with a shrug. "Hey, I will give you credit for 'quaintly' though, that was a good play," I raise my brows at her, hoping my playful cheating didn't dampen her spirits too bad.

She sticks her tongue out at me before taking a sip of her wine causing me to laugh at her.

"So, enough games, tell me about this date!" I beg of her. I've been trying to get her to tell me about her first date with this mysterious man she's been seeing all night.

A soft smile plays on her face, "Well... he's very quiet but he's super sweet. I don't know, it was a really good time. We're going out again tomorrow night."

A giddy sequel leave my lips at her confession, "Oh my god! That's great! I'm so happy for you, you deserve a good man." A smile grows tenfold on my face as I continue, "Now, what's his name?"

Her eyebrows narrow at me as she's mulling over the idea of telling me or not, "Hmm..."

"Please..." I draw out, giving her my best puppy dog face.

She rolls her eyes and sighs out, "Fine. Fine, his name is Mitch." Her annoyance by my persistence quickly fades at the mention of his name.

I smile wide and tackle her in a hug, "My little J, finally exploring the world of dating." Giggles flow out of our mouths and echo around our quaint apartment.

As I release my hold from her and sit back with my arms behind me on the floor she draws out, "Heyy... I date, I just have standards." I laugh with her on that statement, softly shaking my head.

Suddenly, the humming starts once again.

The whimsical, enchanting tune echoing around my head puts me into a tranquil state. The quiet croon that occupies my thoughts every now and again has been more persistent as of late.

I mean, I'll never complain as the lovely and soft voice I hear never fails to put me at ease and swaddle me like a warm blanket. The song, never a poor choice, is the energy suffuse I desperately need. Lullabies charging my spirit with a single melody. Each note more beautiful than the last, singing sweet nothings to me as if it's a secret only I know of.