Lost in Stereo

Jade's Point of View

Around midnight, everyone went to sleep, exhausted from the early morning wake-up. Around two, I stumbled out of my bunk and I headed into the bathroom to relieve my bladder in private. Of course, this did not last. As I was getting ready to wipe, Jack burst in with q-tips and started cleaning out his ears in front of the mirror. “Ha-ha! Forced bonding!”

“But I’m not cleaning my ears…” I trailed off, half-sleepily. It finally dawned on me that Jack was in there, invading my privacy as usual and I woke up instantly. “Jack, what the fuck?! Get out!”

“No,” he argued. “I have to tell you something.”

“While I’m on the toilet?” I raised an eyebrow. “You have absolutely no sense of boundaries.”

“Oh, right,” Jack smacked his forehead. “Didn’t think that one out all the way, sorry. Do you want me to wait outside while you wipe your vagina?”

“Jack, pee doesn’t come out of the vagina, there’s another hole for that,” I told him, annoyed.

Jack looked at me as if I had just told him that a purple unicorn was about to swoop down and steal the bus away. “I think I’ve been lied to my whole life, then.”

“Just get out!” I yelled at him. Jack ran out, still holding his dirty q-tips and looking scared. I finished up in the bathroom, fighting the overwhelming urge to slam the door shut when I emerged. Jack was waiting for me right outside the door and pulled me further into the front lounge. “You and I need to talk.”

“About what?” I asked, though I knew what he probably had to say to me.

“This thing between you and Alex seriously needs to stop,” Jack said. “I’ll be damned if I have to listen to you fight constantly for three months.”

“He starts it, though,” I protested. “He just takes everything I say as like a personal attack or something.”

“Well, I don’t know what to say about that,” Jack said. “He’s my best friend and you’re my sister, so I’m not gonna get in the middle of this. But for the love of God, please stop fucking fighting.”

I crossed my arms uncomfortably, rolling my eyes. “Fine, okay. What do you want me to do, talk to him?”

“I think that would be helpful,” Jack shrugged. “Anywho, I’m gonna go to bed now. I was waiting for your nightly pee to talk to you.”

“Goddamnit,” I muttered as Jack got up and went to his bunk. I sat in the lounge for a few more minutes, trying to decide what to do. Finally I stomped over to Alex’s bunk and threw back the curtain surrounding it, poking him sharply in the shoulder. “Hey, wake up!”

He jerked awake, throwing his arms up by his face for protection. “Ah! No, no more ketchup!” I stood there looking at him for a moment as he lowered his arms. “Oh, it’s you. What do you want?”

“What were you even dreaming about?” I asked, and then shook my head. “No, you know what? Never mind. I need to talk to you.”

“About what?” Alex groaned tiredly. “Can’t it wait until morning?”

“No,” I replied. “What I have to say, I just need to say now.” Alex started moving slowly, so I gave an annoyed sigh and grabbed his hand, dragging him into the front lounge. I could hear Alex’s feet hitting the floor in an ungraceful manner, trying to keep his balance.

“Do you fucking mind if I wake up a little first?” he demanded. “Fuck.” He wiped his eyes, clearing them of sleep as I tapped my foot impatiently. “Okay, now what do you want?”

“I’m done with this,” I explained. “This whole thing between me and you, I just can’t do it. I don’t want to constantly argue. We have the same friends, and the incessant bickering makes them uncomfortable. We’re just gonna have to deal with each other. We’re not fucking five year olds.”

Alex sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly. “Well, I don’t know what you want to do, then.”

I crossed my arms and started shifting my weight from one foot to the other. “Ignoring each other is just not gonna work. We already know that.”

“I know,” Alex nodded. “You’re completely unbearable to be around.”

“Yeah, well you’re no peach either,” I told him. “Your feet smell because you always lie about showering.”

“No, I don’t,” Alex protested.

“Yes, you do,” I insisted. “Did you shower today?”

“Yes,” Alex replied automatically.

“That’s a lie,” I said. “We didn’t stop anywhere that’d you’d be able to shower.”

“Well, maybe I showered at my house this morning,” Alex shrugged. “You don’t know that.”

“You hate morning showers,” I rolled my eyes. “That’s how I know.”

“Fine,” Alex said. “I didn’t take a shower. So what? I’m still clean.”

I let my shoulders droop and sighed, throwing my hands up. “This isn’t going to work. We know each other too well to ignore each other.” I sat down on the couch, Alex taking the seat next to me.

“You’re right,” he said. “There’s no way we’re gonna be able to do this. We know each other too well. You know I like to lie about showering and you know that my penis curves to the left, and I know that you have a dog-earred, underlined copy of American Psycho in your room and that you hate monkeys.”

I let out a small laugh. “Well, the monkey thing isn’t that hard to figure out.”

Alex laughed as well. “By the way, why is your copy of American Psycho dog-earred and underlined?”

“Well,” I said darkly, “you never know when you might have to kill someone.”

Alex looked scared for about half a second and then chuckled as he realized that I was kidding. “I miss this. Just us talking and actually laughing.”

“Yeah, I do too,” I admitted. I turned my head towards Alex and he brushed a stray piece of hair away from my face and leaned in to kiss me. His lips felt warm and familiar against mine and I kissed him back. He was starting to pull me onto his lap when I realized how badly this would end. This would go too far, I’d get attached, and he’d break my heart. Again. I broke the kiss. “Alex.”

“What?” he asked, his eyes closed.

I removed his hands from my waist and pulled away, getting up. “I can’t.” He didn’t say anything else as I walked out of the lounge and into the back where my bunk was. I laid down and pulled the curtain shut, probably bothering Skye who was sleeping across from me. I curled up and pulled my pillow toward me, feeling on the verge of tears.