Just Hate Me and We'll End It Here

Bailey

I let go of the bar of the old mower, and squint over at the back door of the house, though the sun’s sort of in my face. “Alex?” I call uncertainly.

He walks on over and I see that indeed it is Alex. He scratches his head, looking around at the nearly finished yard. “Wow,” he says finally. “I didn’t think a girl could do this.”

I frown. “You’re such a stereotypical boy, Alex. Just because my hair and nails are styled, doesn’t mean I don’t know how to do yard work.” I brush back my sweaty hair and sigh, leaning on the mower’s handle.

“That, I’m beginning to understand,” he nods slowly. “But where would you learn all this, anyways?” He asks, cocking his head curiously.

I shrug. “Did yard work for money as a kid, scrimping up what I could. Hard work never scared me,” I frown at him a little.

“Nothing seems do,” he says softly, just looking at me. “Well…” he says finally after a small silence. “If you want to finish it up, you can. But aren’t you a bit tired? You looked exhausted in the car,” he adds.

Glancing around the yard, I shrug again. “Doesn’t matter. I have night to sleep. And your yard was looking horrible as it was.”

“Our yard,” he corrects me. “And you’re probably right,” he wrinkles his nose, looking around the yard. “I’ll get out the edger, I suppose. Save weeding for tomorrow. And I was thinking about ordering Chinese. Sound good?”

I can’t help but give a little sheepish grin. “Sounds great. I was missing my food diet this weekend.”

He chuckles. “Diet full of carbs, sugar and grease huh? Know just what you mean.” Smiling peacefully he heads off towards the garage.

Frowning a little at my mistake, I shake my head but distract myself by turning back to the lawn and finishing it up, then heading out to the front to finish that up, too. Alex trails around nearby, edging the lawn and getting it cleared up. I’m done before him, so I sweep up too. He puts everything away and steps inside to order the food. My limbs are exhausted, so I take off upstairs for a quick shower.

I keep the water cool cause the sun was pretty warm. My skin had probably turned a little darker and I’d definitely been sweating. But at last I slowly climb out and start to dry off a bit. Still feeling pretty warm, I shift into some cut-off shorts and a tank, but I grab some knee-high socks and slippers, just in case. My damp hair goes into a long braid that hangs over my shoulder.

Sighing upon seeing my dirty clothes in the corner, I pick them up and head down to the laundry room. Then I figure Alex, who’s showering now, probably needs some things done, so I trek back up, find a huge pile and holding my breath I carry those down, too, starting a load.

Alex eventually comes down in some baggy jeans, barefoot and without a shirt, his hair curling and wetand gorgeous. Around that time, the food arrives and he pays and decides we should sit on the couch pillows, watching some movies.

We casually argue about which movie to watch, but feeling a little guilty I finally relent and let him turn on A Nightmare Before Christmas. He softly sings along, moving his head and tapping his feet to the beat, leaning against the bottom of the couch, only a foot or so away from me. It’s pretty amusing, seeing it from the corner of my eye.

Until I realize I’ve been watching him the entire time.

So quickly I turn back and completely focus on the movie, staring at it hard and trying to just look at the TV and watch the stupid movie already. Eurhg. And especially get my mind off certain people.

“See?!” Alex bursts and it makes me jump, dropping the empty Chinese food box. I blink and realize the movie had ended; I don’t even really recall it beginning, either… “I told you this movie’s amazing!” He continues jubilantly. “See?”

I stare at him blankly and then his excitement starts to deflate. I muster up a smile. “I see why you’re always loud and insane. You watch this movie too much,” I tease him a little.

“Because it’s awesome,” he tells me in an obvious tone.

“Whatever,” I roll my eyes, keeping to the fact that the movie’s completely pointless. “It’s figures made of clay who are totally evil. What’s there to enjoy?”

“Cause they’re clay! And evil! And cool!” He adds.

“Boys,” I roll my eyes and start cleaning up.

“Here,” he offers, grabbing a trash bag and we just sweep everything in, and I try to ignore and forget how our hands keep finding ways to touch each other, run into each other and everything…Not that we try, or anything, of course. It just… happens, you know, as we continue cleaning up.

“Oh, hey Bay?” He calls after I finish up at the sink and head upstairs.

Hesitating on the second step, I turn around to look at Alex. “Yes?”

“We’ve got um, an interview tomorrow. So… I was wondering if you might like to come?” He offers. “Uh… it would, you know, be some good publicity, I guess?” He scratches his head nervously.

“I… suppose,” I say finally, not really knowing what else I should say. No? But I couldn’t think of a good reason to say it… except that it means less time with him. But like I can seriously tell him that? I think not. Then there’s a moment of awkwardness. “Well, I’ve got…um, I’m going to bed.”

His face seems to droop a little, but he offers a small smile and a nod. “Yeah, of course. Jet lag and all. Night, then, Bailey.”

I manage my own small smile and nod. “Night, then.” I head up, leaving a quick phone call for my bosses, all three, and send a quick message to Missy, telling her how my weekend wasn’t the best or anything close to it, but then I brush my teeth and wash my face and climb into bed, Georgie jumping on top of my feet and keeping them warm.

Glancing out the window one last time, my eyes close and I prepare for sleep. However, in the darkness, comes a melody- from a guitar? It’s softly playing, probably Alex in his bedroom with one of those guitars. I listen for a while to the songs being played acoustically, until they finally pull me into sleep.