Eloquence

Jordan stopped in front of door three-forty-two, rummaging through her pockets for her keys. She felt something cold against her finger tips, pulling it out and sliding the piece of brass into the lock. With a twist and a click, she pulled the door open and walked inside the apartment. The setting sun cast an orangey-yellow glow throughout the space, filling it with it's warmth. She sighed, kicking off her shoes and stepping off the small rug at the door.

"Jordan?" Her mother peaked out from her bedroom. "Oh, honey! You've been gone for nearly three hours. What were you doing?"

"Just wandering around." She shrugged, sliding her hands into her pockets. "Met a person."

She smiled, stepping out of the doorway. "Really? What's her name?"

"Uhm, his name is Andrew." She shrugged. "He was okay I guess."

She pursed her lips. "A he, huh?" She chuckled. "Was he cute?"

Jordan scoffed. "He wore a scarf around his head."

"That doesn't make him ugly." She insisted. "It makes him... Interesting."

"Well, I couldn't really see what he looks like." She shrugged. "He was wearing sunglasses."

Her mother made her way into the kitchen, taking a purple mug from the top shelf of the china cabinet and filling it with water from the tap.

"I think next time you see him, if he's wearing sunglasses again, take 'em off." She smiled, sipping the luke-warm water. "Get a good look at him. I want to know what he looks like."

"Why?" She tilted her head to the side.

"Because, Honey." She laughed, placing her cup in the sink and wrapping her free arm around her daughter. "I can see a relationship in your future."

"I thought your fortune-teller days were over." She raised her brows.

"Once a fortune teller, always a fortune teller." She sighed.

"Mom." Jordan gave her a look. "You weren't even a real psychic. You were eighteen, and you pretended to be one at the carnival as a summer job."

"Have you been smoking?" She sniffed.

"No." She said quickly. "Don't change subject."

She laughed. "You smell like cigarette smoke."

"Still changing the subject..."

"Did you smoke?" She furrowed her brow.

"No, I did not smoke, Mum." Jordan groaned. 'I do not smoke."

"Good." She smiled. "Smoking's bad."

"I know." Jordan smiled assuringly, sliding into the living space and collapsing on the sofa.

"Your father's going to be home soon." She sat down on the arm of the couch. "You should change. He'll smell you and think you were smoking."

"Okay." She stood up from the couch, staring longingly at the plush cushions as she made her way down the hall.

"You promise you weren't smoking?" Her mom called after.

"I promise!" Jordan said, pulling open her closet doors. "It was Andrew."

She heard quick footsteps approaching, and her mother appeared in the door way. "He smokes?"

"Yepp." She pulled her dress over her head, pulling her cream undershirt past her belly button after it had ridden up her torso.

"How old is he?" She hissed.

"Seventeen." She shrugged.

"I'm not sure I want you hanging around older boys, Jordan." She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Teenage boys are just--They're bad news, Hun. Especially when it comes to what they want from girls. Especially girls as pretty as yourself."

"Don't worry, Mum." She pulled her gray and cream pajama set from it's place in her dresser. "I don't really even like him."

"I especially don't want you hanging out with him if he smokes." She continued, as if she hadn't heard her speak. "That's just awful. Where is his mother?"

She chuckled. "Don't worry, Mom. I won't hang around him."

She eyed her daughter. "Good."

Pulling her hair into a high pony tail, and sliding her feet into her plush cow slippers, she made her way to her Mother. "How do I smell?"

Her mother walked into the room, taking the bottle of vanilla perfume from her vanity and spraying her gingerly.

"Mom! Mom!" She laughed. "You can stop now! You've successfully soaked me."

She giggled. "C'mon, breakfast at Tiffany's is on in ten minutes."

"Let's go, then!" She hollered, grabbing her Mom by the hand and dragging her into the living room.

----

Ding.

Glancing up from her sneakers, Jordan watched as the elevator doors slid open, revealing the lobby of her apartment complex. She looked around to make sure no one from her floor was around before stepped out, knowing that they'd surely notify her mother after seeing her exit the building at this time in the night.

The night air was cool against the skin exposed by her tank top, and she felt thousands of tiny goosebumps surfacing on her skin. She looked at the sky as a distraction from the dramatic temperature drop from that afternoon. The moon was in the shape of a crescent, glowing white in the dark, inky blue sky above. A few stars dotted the scene, sparkling like rare diamonds in the sky. It was quite a change from back home. From her house, she would have been able to see thousands of stars, glowing in the night. It just seemed like everything was different here. But, she still hadn't decided if it was for the worse, or for the better.

She trailed her fingers along the rough, deep red bricks as she turned into the alley, letting the darkness swallow her as if it was some sort of monster. Using her Mother's mobile phone as a flash light, she crept toward the staircase, searching for the teenage boy she had grown so accustomed to seeing there. Her brows furrowed when she realized he wasn't there, waiting for her like he usually did, but she sat down none the less. She hadn't seen him in almost two weeks, due to the fact that she hadn't left her home in that time. Her Mother was always there, watching her every move.

She wondered if she should call for him; make some sort of noise in hopes of him hearing it and hopping out his bedroom window. The idea was quickly forgotten when she thought of the scolding she may receive from anyone else she may wake. One thing she had learned about city folk was never to wake them up. They were cranky on their own, and waking them from a restful sleep only made things worse.

She shrugged the lack of Andrew off, deciding that she didn't come here to talk to him. Though she would have never in thousand years guessed before her move here, she liked the alley. She liked the darkness, and the sense of being completely alone. The way any second, something could jump out of the opaque blackness and snatch her made her feel slightly dangerous. It was like a thrill to her. Andrew being her was only a perk. Someone to talk to; amuse her with his antics. She also felt sort of safe around him. Like, if anything did happen to jump from the shadows, he'd be there to save her. She had to admit, she did like having him around. Even if he was kind of annoying.

So she sat and waited. She waited until the sun was peaking out above the buildings. It pushed the inky night sky aside, replacing it with an array of pinks, oranges and yellows. She could hear the traffic pick up, and the morning light was starting to make the space slightly less intimidating. The cool air was now warmer against Jordan's skin, and she didn't have to curl up tightly to feel comfortable in the temperature.

The warm breeze and the sounds of fast-moving cars was oddly comforting to her, slowly lulling her into a calm, barely-conscious state. She was vaguely aware of her head dropping forward so her chin was pressed to Ber chest, because her neck could no longer hold the weight up. Her shoulders slumped, and her body leaned against the railing. She wasn't fully asleep yet, only conscious enough to know that she liked how she felt right then.

"What the..." She heard a mumbled voice, but chose to keep her eyes shut. "Jordan?"

She groaned, lifting her lids unwillingly. Instantly, she was looking into the eyes--Well, sunglasses--Of Andrew. From behind the plastic frames, she could see his light brows were furrowed, and his lips were in a tight line.

"What the hell are you doing?" He hollered, his face contorting in a scowl. "It's bad enough that you walk into dark allies at night, but sleeping in one?! Are you kidding me?"

"I didn't mean to." She said defensively, having not taken a liking to his scolding. "It just happened. I didn't mean to fall asleep, and I wasn't really asleep. I just closed my eyes."

"Oh, okay. So you weren't sleep." He shook his head. "But you're here, in an alley, from probably extremely late at night to seven o'clock in the morning."

"My parents were arguing." She said quietly. "I really didn't want to be there, okay?"

His face softened, and he slowly lowered himself on the space beside her. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. I don't really have the right to do that, b-"

"Yeah, you don't." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"-But I'm just worried, okay? I'd hate it if I found out something happened to you while you were coming to see me."

She shifted on her seat. "I'm not here to see you... Exactly."

"Right, right." He laughed, rolling his eyes. "I just worry, okay?"

"You shouldn't worry." She raised a single brow, watching as he removed that same pack of Marlboro cigarettes from his pocket, sliding one out and pushing it between his lips. "God, seriously? You're going to kill yourself!"

He laughed, lighting the end. "You shouldn't worry.." He mimicked. "You don't care if I die. You care about how your clothes will smell after."

He smirked, and Jordan watched as the ribbons of smoke from released from his mouth. "I do care if you die."

"Well, I won't die. And any ways, there are greater things to worry about." He smiled.

"Oh yeah?" She raised a single brow. "Like what?"

"Rapists, murderers, bears, sharks-" He smirked, glancing down at her. "The return of the Spanish Influenza."

"Pfft." Was her simple reply.

"You're really quick on the witty come backs today." He noted, and she shrugged. "So, uhm... You want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" She furrowed her brow. "Witty come backs?"

"No." He laughed. "Your parents."

"Oh." She shrugged. "They're just arguing."

"All parents argue."

"Not mine. And the things they say to one another--It's just something I don't want to hear. It makes me upset that they're apparently so in love, but they say those things."

"Maybe they're not in love any more." He sighed.

She frowned. "I don't want to think about that."

"I know you don't want to." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "But maybe it'll be better to think about it, and be prepared if they drop the whole divorce thing on you, rather than it being completely unexpected. You know?"

She stared at him from beneath her lashes. "I suppose."

"My parents got a divorce when I was your age." He smiled assuringly. "So, before when the signs started coming up that it could be a possibility, I just sort of thought about it, and let it sink in. It hurt a lot less in the end."

Jordan leaned her head on his shoulder. "Parents are stupid."

Though he was surprised by her gesture, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder none the less. "I agree."

"You smell like-" She sniffed. "I don't know... But you smell weird."

"Yeah." He laughed. "My friend spilled his drink on me at the party." He smelled his own shirt. "Yeah, that's definitely what that smell is."

"A party?" She glanced up at him. "Is that where you were?"

"Uh, yeah." He smiled, shrugging. "Normal Friday night thing, I guess."

"Did you get drunk?"

He pursed his lips. "I suppose I was kind of drunk. Not very much, though."

"Oh."

The two fell into an oddly comfortable silence, just listening to the sounds of the birds, the traffic and each other's breathing. Andrew was now subconsciously running his long fingers through Jordan's hair, brushing out the knots that had formed over night. Jordan nestled her face even farther into the crook of his neck, feeling herself slowly falling asleep.

"Well, uhm... I have to go inside." He removed his arm from her shoulders. "Shower and eat."

"Oh, okay." She nodded, sitting upright.

He stood up from the cold metal, shoving one hand in the pocket of his oddly tight jeans, and scratching the back of his neck with his other.

"Would you like to come inside?"

"Isn't your Mom home?" She asked curiously.

"No, she's on morning shifts. She left at around three." He explained. "Won't be back until dinner time."

"Oh, okay."

"So, do you want to come in?" His smile was crooked, only showing his teeth on one side of his mouth.

"Sure." She shrugged, rising to her feet and adjusting her shorts on her hips.

"'Kay." He smiled, reaching over and taking her hand. "Follow me."

She blushed, glancing down at their laced hands. "Okay."

A small smile found it's way onto his face as he climbed the stairs with Jordan a step below him. The metal frame shuddered beneath their weight with each step they took, and Jordan was worried that it would break from beneath her. They were a good fifty feet above ground, and the fall was a large one. She'd surely break a limb at least, if it did happen.

Andrew stopped, turning toward the window in front him. He glanced over his shoulder at her, wedging the tips of his fingers between the window sill and the frame. Jordan watched as his muscles flexed as he hoisted it up, his veins now more pronounce beneath his pale skin.

"You hop in first." He stepped aside, gesturing to the window.

"Uhm-" She paused, eying the confide space. "Okay."

"Don't worry." He smirked, as if he had read her mind. "if I fit, you'll fit. C'mon, you're tiny."

She sighed. "Okay."

She lifted her knee, placing it on the window sill, gripping it tightly to pull herself up. She could hear Andrew chuckle behind her, and feel his hands press against her lower back. With a tiny shove, she fell to onto the ivory carpet, glaring at him as he climbed in gracefully.

"Thanks a lot." She muttered.

"No problem." He smiled, extending a hand to help her up.

She stared at it for a moment before taking it in her's, and he pulled her to her feet.

"Is this your room?" She eyed all the posters on the wall, and the clothes littering the floor.

"Yeah, my room." He smiled, falling back onto his disheveled bed. "All mine."

"It smells like you." She mumbled, moving closer to the poster wall.

"Thanks." He chuckled, propping himself up on his elbows.

He jumped off the springy mattress, crossing the room and standing behind her. He looked her as she stared at all the pictures in utter intrigue, watching the way her lashes fluttered every time she blinked. Though he was a little older than she was, he couldn't help but to think she was pretty. He liked her reddish freckles that dotted her small, button nose, and the way she was always biting down on her thin, pink lips. She was different. Rather than spending her time giggling from behind a Zac Effron edition of Tiger beat like most girls her age, she was reading actual books about real people and real-life situations. She was much smarter than most when it came to school subjects, but was naive when it came to how the world worked. She was oblivious to the downfalls in society, but he kind of liked that about her. He liked the thought of being able to teach her things, and the way that little things seem much greater and more important to her.

He took a step forward, eying the one inch proximity between his chest and her back. He wanted to move closer, for reasons he didn't know. He wanted to touch her, but he blamed that on his over-active hormones.

"I'm going to shower." He said quietly.

She turned quickly, surprised at how close he was standing. "Oh, alright."

"Do you want to lay down?" He gestured to the bed. "I take long showers, so I'll probably be like.. Half an hour, and then I'll be making lunch. You look beat. Want to lay down?"

"Uh, sure." She yawned, following him to the bed. "Thanks, Andrew."

He smiled. "No problem. You need to sleep, and I understand what it's like to not want to go home."

She smiled, nodding her head. She slowly lowered herself onto the plush surface, watching him curiously. He sighed, making his way toward the exit of the room.

"Do you need anything else?" He asked, pulling a green towel from it's place draped over his computer chair.

"No, I'm okay."

"Alright." He nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Yepp." She bit down on her bottom lip. "Uh, have fun in your shower."

He chuckled. "I will."

And with that, Andrew left the room, and Jordan drifted off into a much needed sleep.