Special K

The apartment was nice and comfortable looking- all beige colours and sofas that you could get lost in. The wooded furniture was in warm colours, and the lights emitted a yellow glow to the room. I wished I could come home to this every night, it looked so much like heaven and my aching body agreed ravenously.

“Okay, there’s three bedrooms and seven people- I’ve got two sofas, what does everyone want to do?” called out Harvey, closing the front door and slipping his shoes off next to it, nudging them out of the direct path of the door.

“I’ll take a sofa” I mumbled, too struck with fatigue to really care where I slept- besides, the sofas looked comfortable and the thought of sharing a bedroom with someone was far from appealing. I sunk down onto a sofa and let go of my suitcase, letting it flop to the ground next to me, emitting a small puff of carpet fabric.

Everyone else sorted themselves out two to a room, and then dragged their stuff into their respective areas, talking a lot more quietly now but talking none the less. Harvey went into a wardrobe to fetch me an overly fluffy pink blanket- and handed it to me with a smirk, telling me it was his ex-girlfriends and that she had a thing for pink fluffy things. Not really listening, I accepted the blanket and lay straight down onto the sofa- intent on sleeping there and then.

“That can’t possibly be comfortable” I peeked my head up from the covers to see Jon sitting on the other sofa, smiling softly at me. I yawned then sat up again, wanting to sleep so desperately but unwilling to be so rude to Jon.

“It’s alright. Cold, though...” I was still wearing my grey vest-top, black jacket and jeans (Let’s not forget socks. Socks are what makes or breaks an outfit) but the cold was still getting to me. God knows why, because just a few hours ago I had been baking in a car and I couldn’t fathom why the weather changes were so sudden. Jon looked amused, and thoughts of my own outfit made me look more closely at his- which led to me realising all he was wearing was his three quarter jeans and, in fact, had his lean body on full display.

Jon had an impressive body, don’t get me wrong, but I felt instantly uncomfortable in his presence. Because he was gay, and I was undecided, and I hated the fact that Jon was extremely attractive- and just making me want to test the waters, but he would never let me do that, and I didn’t want to. Testing the waters meant a possible relationship and some physical contact- something I wasn’t altogether used to and wasn’t completely prepared to be used to.

All in all, I was confused. I don’t know if it was because I was tired I suddenly saw everything I liked about Jon, or if it was because I liked everything about Jon- because several hours ago on the plane I felt nothing for him – except the mild appreciation that he was okay looking- and suddenly every looked amazing.

I needed to sleep, but sleeping in clothes wasn’t comfortable, and neither was sleeping cold- but I was tired so, to be honest, I didn’t care. So I wanted Jon to go to bed and let me sleep.

“Jon, I need to sleep” I murmured, no longer caring how civil I sounded. Jon quickly nodded and pulled himself up from the sofa, bidding me a small goodbye and heading off to the room he shared with my sister. I watched his naked back retreat to the bedroom then settled back down onto the sofa, letting the darkness at the corner of my eyes overtake me completely.

<Wake up>

My eyelids slowly opened up, fighting off the lock of sleep that had previously bound them. My body felt rested but a little oddly angled- to be expected while sleeping on a sofa but-

There was another body next to me, and my breathing stopped altogether as my eyesight cleared and prominent shoulder blades came into view- Jon’s prominent shoulder blades I had seen retreating into a bedroom last night. Slowly becoming aware of the rest of my body, I realised our legs were tangled together, and he was pressed very closely to me, and his form was buried in the pink blanket also.

Needless to say, I was confused.

That was until I heard a giggle and my heart sunk- quickly piecing together Hayley’s trademark laugh and something unusual happening. Her and her pranks, really.

With care, I slipped myself into an upright position, making sure not to knock Jon as I looked around the room to where Hayley and the dark haired girl- Maria was it? - were trying to stifle laughter. When they saw me they burst into full-out laughter and I felt Jon move against me, coming to because of the volume of the noise.

“Hayley you rat” I murmured, stretching out my arms and hoping Jon would get up soon. I really wanted a shower, and some food wouldn’t be so bad.

“Hi Jon!” she called, signaling that Jon had now opened his eyes and realised his predicament. He groaned loudly and rolled from the sofa, sprawling out onto the light carpet and taking the pink blanket with him. The girls started to giggle again and I got to my feet, a little unsteady at first then stretched.

“Can I use the shower?” Hayley nodded and rolled her eyes, commenting about how I would live here soon, and then pointed towards the door next to the open kitchen. Biting back a retort, I followed the path she had pointed out and touched my hand to the wood of the door- pushing it open with ease. Without another look back to see what everyone else was doing, I stepped into the bathroom and closed the door, twisting the lock with a harsh tug.

The bathroom was sizeable really, not the biggest I’d seen but it was just a bathroom, and it wasn’t required for it to be anything fancy. The walls were a light blue, the floor tiled with white and the shower and sink were cast in a spotless white- mirrors hung from the walls and various bottles were revealed by a slightly open mirror cupboard above the sink.

I selected a towel from the radiator and lay it out on the floor for when I came out before switching the heat up to full and turning on the shower. While it warmed up I removed my clothes from the previous day- which by now felt like a second skin- and cast around for somewhere to put them. Unable to find a place I cast them in a pile together near the door, then went back over to the shower to check the temperature.

Perfect.

Without further hesitation I stood under the warm blast and pulled the shower door shut- preventing the water from leaking on the tiles outside. I stood still for a moment- enjoying the sensation of water running down my body, uncoiling the muscles in my shoulder and back- and easing the mental tension gathering in my mind. God, showers were like magic, I swear.

<Breakfast>

The others had returned to their rooms, leaving it safe for me to venture from the bathroom and head towards my suitcase in search of fresh clothes- which I’d previously forgotten to take in with me. My mind was inadequate at working such hours after waking, especially after such a long trip.

Holding the towel tightly around my waist, I leant over and unzipped my case, lifting the lid and moving scarves and hats from the top where I’d organised them before leaving. Pulling out a plain grey top I placed it on the sofa where the pink blanket was folded neatly, and went back in search of jeans- or maybe 2 quarter lengths.

“Hey hot-stuff” A familiar voice echoed from across the apartment- I glanced towards it and saw a fully dressed Hayley- cheeky fox like grin plastered over her features. Determined to ignore her I dug further down into the case, pulling out the first garment my fingers came into contact with. Hayley crossed the room and sat down next to me- unfolding the chosen t-shirt and looking it up and down.

“Do you have anything that’s not grey- or black... or white?” she questioned, placing it back down on the sofa after scrutinizing it. I pulled up a pair of grey skinny jeans and some white trainer socks, peeking up at her from under my soaking hair. She rolled her eyes at my appearance and I stood up straight- picking the shirt up from where she had placed it.

“I’ve got that crème top- the one we got when we went to that beach-”

“-Two years ago. Come on, your dress sense depresses me” Ignoring her statement, I took the clothes into the bathroom and locked it shut; glad to be away from Hayley. Don’t get me wrong- I loved Hayley. But I left all the colourful clothing and excitable statements to her. I preferred to express colours in my art- I liked to make my statements through brush strokes and forms. Compared to my art I was bland, a blank canvas.

“Gustav! I’m making toast, and you’re having some!” I heard Hayley yell- an excitable ‘yay’ came from somewhere else in the apartment and for the sake of having any breakfast, I should hurry up.

After pulling on my outfit and dumping the old clothes on top of my now sealed suitcase- I wondered over to the kitchen where Jon and Hayley sat at the counter, chewing on toast and sipping on some red juice. Hayley stuck her tongue out to me and pushed a plate towards me. Skilfully avoiding Jon’s gaze – this morning’s embarrassment was starting to catch up on me- I took the plate and leant up against the counter, taking small bites.

So maybe when I’d woken up I had been hungry, but in all honesty I wasn’t one of those people that could stomach much in the morning and I could only manage half of one piece before deserting the plate in search of coffee.

“First cupboard on the left- there’s some water in the kettle- you just need to heat it back up. Everyone else had some before they left- but I doubt you noticed that”

“Thank you”

I’ve never been so glad of caffeine in my life.