It's Our Time to Shine
Laundry Service.
After a few slightly awkward seconds just sitting in the sofa with Quinn, Jepha and Dan, I finally got up and went with Bert.
As I followed him upstairs, I gave the other guys a confused look, letting them know that I wasn’t feeling comfortable at all.
I got no eye contact whatsoever. Nothing.
“Go get your clothes and I’ll get mine”, okay?, Bert said as I stood outside his room.
“Yeah, okay”, I replied, entering my own room and emptying my red backpack, for then to carry the dirty clothes in my arms out to the hallway.
I went inside his room where I found him kneeling on the floor with his back turned against me.
I didn’t make a sound as I approached him, before I suddenly heard whimpering.
He was crying. Bert was crying.
At my great surprise, I was insensitive enough to actually cough as I took another step closer.
“Oh, hi!”, he burst out in a cracking voice, hearing him sniff with his back still turned against me.
“Hi…”
I wasn’t sure what I was going to say next at that point, neither what to do.
“Fucking cold”, he added as he once again sniffed, now wiping his nose with his sleeve.
Fucking liar. Bert was too proud to tell the truth.
“Yeah. So, are you ready?”, I asked, still carrying my dirty clothes.
“Just a sec”, he answered before taking all of his clothes from his bag and carrying them out of the room.
“We gotta do the laundry in the basement”, Bert continued.
“That’s okay.”
“Yeah, ‘cause the washing machine downstairs”, he explained while the both of us headed down the stairs to the living room.
Downstairs, Quinn, Jepha and Dan had already gone outside, probably rollerblading since that was their plan for the day.
“Mom?”, Bert called, looking around to see if he could find her.
“In the kitchen, honey”, Mrs. McCracken replied.
“Me and Lina are gonna go do some laundry, so we’re headin´ down the basement.”
“But, Robert – I can do the laundry for you, you know that, right?”
“Yeah, mom, I know. But me and Lina wanna do it together if that’s okay?”, Bert asked.
To me, he sounded like a 10-year-old boy. It was adorable.
“Of course, I that’s what you want. Oh, and before I forget; Daniel, Jepharee and Quinn went outside. They told me to let you two know that. They were… What was it again – rolleballing?”, Mrs. McCracken said, clearly not quite sure with the term.
“Rollerblading, mom. Rollerblading.”
”Yes, precisely – rollerblading”, she repeated with a smile as she continued doing the dishes.
“But we’re gonna go downstairs now, so…”
“Yes, you do that, kids. I am going to church as soon as I finish the dishes here, so you’ll have to make it on your own, then.”
“Okay, mom. We’ll be just fine”, Bert smiled before he and I left the kitchen and into the living room again.
“It’s in here”, he said, making me follow him to see where he was going.
“Watch your step, I don’t want you to fall.”
“Thanks”, I responded, blushing as I walked behind him down the wooden steps, making them squeak every time we took another step.
“Okay, so here we are”, Bert announced, dropping his pile of clothes on the floor.
The laundry room, as I from now on called it, smelled like wet concrete and the air was moist as if you were standing next to a waterfall.
We both sat down on the floor next to each other and took all of our clothes, and put them into the washing machine, clothing by clothing.
“Oh, sorry!”, he burst out as he bumped into my shoulder. “You okay?”
“Yeah, no worries”, I said smiling before I continued stuffing my clothes into the washing machine.
“This is nice – you know, doing laundry with you”, Bert suddenly said in a raspy, yet sweet voice.
“Yeah, it is…”
“Okay, so what do we do now?”
“What do you mean?”, I asked, slightly confused.
“With the washing machine. I mean, all of our clothes are in there now, so what do we do?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never really done my own laundry before.”
“Haven’t you? Hah, me neither. Mom’s always done it for me. Or Quinn.”
“No, never done it before. Mom has always done mine too”, I confessed, feeling my cheeks getting warmer.
“Fuck, we’re so alike! If I hadn’t had a dick, I could’ve sworn we were twins or somethin´”, Bert giggled.
“Fabric softener!”, I suddenly exclaimed. “That’s what we need. And soap!”
“Yeah, exactly! Hell, I never would’ve figured that out if it weren’t for you. Fucking glad I have you around here.”
“So, where’s the fabric softener and soap?”
“I have no idea. Let’s go look.”
As the both of us were looking around and trying to find the items, I kept feeling the basement’s cool beneath my feet.
The entire room seemed to be made out of concrete, and if I weren’t mistaken, I would’ve taken it for being a bomb shelter.
“Here – found it!”, Bert said as I saw him leaning towards a couple of boxes that were stacked in the corner.
“Great! Now we just need to figure out where to put it”, I responded.
I really had no idea on how to function a washing machine.
“Yeah. Gotta find some sort of room for it or something. Like, a chamber. Man, we suck!”
“Hmm, what about here?”, I asked, pulling out what I think was some sort of drawer inside the washing machine.
“Yeah, that’s the secret chamber!”, Bert giggled. “I’ll pour the washing powder in there.”
And before I knew it, he filled the chamber completely full with the powder.
“Are you sure we need that much?”
“Rather a lil´ too much than a lil´ to less, huh?”
“I guess you’re right”, I said smiling, now pulling out another chamber, before realizing that it maybe was for the fabric softener.
“And what about this chamber?”
“I have no idea. Let’s fill it with fabric softener. I bet it won’t hurt”, Bert replied enthusiastically.
“Okay, so now we’ve filled the washing machine with washing powder, fabric softener and God know what. What do we do now?”
“Start it, I guess”, he said, having a confused look upon his face while fumbling with his fingers.
“Yeah…”
“So, what’re you waitin´ for?”
“Me? Why me? I haven’t gotten any more clue than you do”, I laughed, looking at him with a weird face expression.
“I don’t know. We gotta think.”
“What if we push this button?”, I asked, now pointing at a round, orange button.
“Seriously, I’m blank. Aren’t we supposed to choose a washing program or something first?”
“Yeah. I mean, I think so. Nice one, Bert. What about 40 Celsius? Is that normal?”
“Sure, sounds agreeable. What’s that in Fahrenheit?”
“Got me. I’m European, so we use Celsius. But I think it's at least over 100 Fahrenheit. Maybe we should go ask your mom?”, I suggested.
“Fuck, no. We’ll handle this just fine, you and me. Besides, she’s probably half way to church already”, he answered, smiling at me as he randomly started pushing buttons on the washing machine.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“No, so we’ll just have to hope for the best and see what happens”, Bert said, now pressing the round, orange button that said ‘ON’.
“Okay, so what now?”, I asked, putting my hands in my pockets.
“We could just hang out down here – I mean, if you wanna?”
“Sure, that’s okay.”
Suddenly, I met Bert’s eyes, seeing those bright, crystal blue eyes sparkle; something they always seemed to be doing as they met mine.
He smiled at me, followed by a little shy giggle as he took some of his black, long hair and put it behind his right ear.
I loved his movements. The touches he made. So synchronized. Bert gave me shivers that went all the way down to my spine, and without him even doing a thing…
As I followed him upstairs, I gave the other guys a confused look, letting them know that I wasn’t feeling comfortable at all.
I got no eye contact whatsoever. Nothing.
“Go get your clothes and I’ll get mine”, okay?, Bert said as I stood outside his room.
“Yeah, okay”, I replied, entering my own room and emptying my red backpack, for then to carry the dirty clothes in my arms out to the hallway.
I went inside his room where I found him kneeling on the floor with his back turned against me.
I didn’t make a sound as I approached him, before I suddenly heard whimpering.
He was crying. Bert was crying.
At my great surprise, I was insensitive enough to actually cough as I took another step closer.
“Oh, hi!”, he burst out in a cracking voice, hearing him sniff with his back still turned against me.
“Hi…”
I wasn’t sure what I was going to say next at that point, neither what to do.
“Fucking cold”, he added as he once again sniffed, now wiping his nose with his sleeve.
Fucking liar. Bert was too proud to tell the truth.
“Yeah. So, are you ready?”, I asked, still carrying my dirty clothes.
“Just a sec”, he answered before taking all of his clothes from his bag and carrying them out of the room.
“We gotta do the laundry in the basement”, Bert continued.
“That’s okay.”
“Yeah, ‘cause the washing machine downstairs”, he explained while the both of us headed down the stairs to the living room.
Downstairs, Quinn, Jepha and Dan had already gone outside, probably rollerblading since that was their plan for the day.
“Mom?”, Bert called, looking around to see if he could find her.
“In the kitchen, honey”, Mrs. McCracken replied.
“Me and Lina are gonna go do some laundry, so we’re headin´ down the basement.”
“But, Robert – I can do the laundry for you, you know that, right?”
“Yeah, mom, I know. But me and Lina wanna do it together if that’s okay?”, Bert asked.
To me, he sounded like a 10-year-old boy. It was adorable.
“Of course, I that’s what you want. Oh, and before I forget; Daniel, Jepharee and Quinn went outside. They told me to let you two know that. They were… What was it again – rolleballing?”, Mrs. McCracken said, clearly not quite sure with the term.
“Rollerblading, mom. Rollerblading.”
”Yes, precisely – rollerblading”, she repeated with a smile as she continued doing the dishes.
“But we’re gonna go downstairs now, so…”
“Yes, you do that, kids. I am going to church as soon as I finish the dishes here, so you’ll have to make it on your own, then.”
“Okay, mom. We’ll be just fine”, Bert smiled before he and I left the kitchen and into the living room again.
“It’s in here”, he said, making me follow him to see where he was going.
“Watch your step, I don’t want you to fall.”
“Thanks”, I responded, blushing as I walked behind him down the wooden steps, making them squeak every time we took another step.
“Okay, so here we are”, Bert announced, dropping his pile of clothes on the floor.
The laundry room, as I from now on called it, smelled like wet concrete and the air was moist as if you were standing next to a waterfall.
We both sat down on the floor next to each other and took all of our clothes, and put them into the washing machine, clothing by clothing.
“Oh, sorry!”, he burst out as he bumped into my shoulder. “You okay?”
“Yeah, no worries”, I said smiling before I continued stuffing my clothes into the washing machine.
“This is nice – you know, doing laundry with you”, Bert suddenly said in a raspy, yet sweet voice.
“Yeah, it is…”
“Okay, so what do we do now?”
“What do you mean?”, I asked, slightly confused.
“With the washing machine. I mean, all of our clothes are in there now, so what do we do?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never really done my own laundry before.”
“Haven’t you? Hah, me neither. Mom’s always done it for me. Or Quinn.”
“No, never done it before. Mom has always done mine too”, I confessed, feeling my cheeks getting warmer.
“Fuck, we’re so alike! If I hadn’t had a dick, I could’ve sworn we were twins or somethin´”, Bert giggled.
“Fabric softener!”, I suddenly exclaimed. “That’s what we need. And soap!”
“Yeah, exactly! Hell, I never would’ve figured that out if it weren’t for you. Fucking glad I have you around here.”
“So, where’s the fabric softener and soap?”
“I have no idea. Let’s go look.”
As the both of us were looking around and trying to find the items, I kept feeling the basement’s cool beneath my feet.
The entire room seemed to be made out of concrete, and if I weren’t mistaken, I would’ve taken it for being a bomb shelter.
“Here – found it!”, Bert said as I saw him leaning towards a couple of boxes that were stacked in the corner.
“Great! Now we just need to figure out where to put it”, I responded.
I really had no idea on how to function a washing machine.
“Yeah. Gotta find some sort of room for it or something. Like, a chamber. Man, we suck!”
“Hmm, what about here?”, I asked, pulling out what I think was some sort of drawer inside the washing machine.
“Yeah, that’s the secret chamber!”, Bert giggled. “I’ll pour the washing powder in there.”
And before I knew it, he filled the chamber completely full with the powder.
“Are you sure we need that much?”
“Rather a lil´ too much than a lil´ to less, huh?”
“I guess you’re right”, I said smiling, now pulling out another chamber, before realizing that it maybe was for the fabric softener.
“And what about this chamber?”
“I have no idea. Let’s fill it with fabric softener. I bet it won’t hurt”, Bert replied enthusiastically.
“Okay, so now we’ve filled the washing machine with washing powder, fabric softener and God know what. What do we do now?”
“Start it, I guess”, he said, having a confused look upon his face while fumbling with his fingers.
“Yeah…”
“So, what’re you waitin´ for?”
“Me? Why me? I haven’t gotten any more clue than you do”, I laughed, looking at him with a weird face expression.
“I don’t know. We gotta think.”
“What if we push this button?”, I asked, now pointing at a round, orange button.
“Seriously, I’m blank. Aren’t we supposed to choose a washing program or something first?”
“Yeah. I mean, I think so. Nice one, Bert. What about 40 Celsius? Is that normal?”
“Sure, sounds agreeable. What’s that in Fahrenheit?”
“Got me. I’m European, so we use Celsius. But I think it's at least over 100 Fahrenheit. Maybe we should go ask your mom?”, I suggested.
“Fuck, no. We’ll handle this just fine, you and me. Besides, she’s probably half way to church already”, he answered, smiling at me as he randomly started pushing buttons on the washing machine.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“No, so we’ll just have to hope for the best and see what happens”, Bert said, now pressing the round, orange button that said ‘ON’.
“Okay, so what now?”, I asked, putting my hands in my pockets.
“We could just hang out down here – I mean, if you wanna?”
“Sure, that’s okay.”
Suddenly, I met Bert’s eyes, seeing those bright, crystal blue eyes sparkle; something they always seemed to be doing as they met mine.
He smiled at me, followed by a little shy giggle as he took some of his black, long hair and put it behind his right ear.
I loved his movements. The touches he made. So synchronized. Bert gave me shivers that went all the way down to my spine, and without him even doing a thing…
♠ ♠ ♠
well, a promised to make up for the last update, didn't i? (:so this is a long one, as i said it would be. ;D
plus, you better look forward to the next one.
i'm gonna reveal a lil' somethin' somethin' then. ;]
xo,
lina.