Rebel Love Song

I woke up to the sound of male giggling, which was not a sound I’m used to hearing. I cracked one eye open and saw all five of them standing around the bed. I was pretty sure they hadn’t seen me open my eyes, because they were still snickering about something. Then Jeremy stuck out his tongue and I just had to speak up.

“Put that shit away Jeremy. If I wanted to see a fucking creepy tongue, I’d go look at Gene Simmons.” I rolled over, making sure to keep the blanket on securely. Everyone burst out laughing.

‘I’m telling Sammi.” Jeremy pouted.

“Whatever dude. What’s she gonna do? Hit me with a camera?” I giggled.

“You’re mean. I like that.” Ashley started to lift up the blanket to get under it with me. I rolled myself up in it like a mummy. Everyone looked at me like I had two heads.

“Sammi stripped me last night and my jeans are missing.” I said as explanation. Ashley’s eyes lit up, probably imagining me naked.

“I didn’t see Sammi take your jeans off.” Jeremy said slowly.

“So who the fuck took my pants off?” My eyes were probably as wide as dinner plates.

“Um…” Jake looked at his shoes. “I did. But you told me to!”

“What?” I gave him a weird look.

“I came in to see if you were awake cuz I didn’t know if you were gonna spend the night or go home or what, and then you opened your eyes and started babbling shit at me and told me to take your jeans off cuz they were uncomfortable.” Jake looked pretty uncomfortable himself.

“I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about, but that sounds like me so I’ll let it slide.” I had a habit of sleep-talking. Like sleep-walking, except you say stuff and don’t remember it. And I told them so.

“So you could tell me to have sex with you and then you wouldn’t remember it?” Ashley asked.

“I would hope you wouldn’t, especially since I would probably beat the shit out of you once I woke up and figured out what happened.” I sat up, making sure the blanket was still securely wrapped around my lower half. “Jake, where the fuck are my pants?” He tossed them to me. Everyone was still standing around.

“What are you waiting for?” Andy asked, cocking his head to one side.

“Really? You’re asking me that?” I stared at him. “You know what, fuck this.” I stood up, blanket still wrapped around my waist like a towel and shuffled into the bathroom to put my pants on.

Now, normally I would have been totally fine with just pulling on my jeans in front of them, but the underwear I was wearing had a hole in them and I didn’t need them to see that.

“For future reference, if you wake me up in the morning and you don’t provide coffee, I will be a massive bitch to you. Just as a warning.” I said when I came back out. “Unless you’re a three year old girl.”

“Warning taken.” Ashley said. “So, what’s on the agenda today?”

“Moving my stuff.” I checked the time on my cell phone. “Jesus Christ, why are you guys up so early?”

“Ash spent the night on the couch, Sammi sent Jeremy, Andy and CC are just here early.” Jake shrugged.

“Whatever. So, who wants to come help me pack up my shit?” I slipped my feet into my shoes and put my hoodie back on. I’d have to change my shirt when I got back home.

“That’s your cue kid.” Ashley punched Andy in the shoulder gently.

“How old are you?” I asked him.

“19. They act like I’m 5 years old though.” Andy glared at Ashley.

“I always have been a cougar, if that makes you feel any better.” I winked at him and grabbed my keys from the nightstand.

“On second thought, I’d like to help.” Ashley stepped forward, pushing Andy out of the way smoothly.

“Nope. It’s Andy or no one.” I shrugged. “Come on kid, I’ll show you my sex dungeon if you’re good.”

“I like her.” Andy trailed after me out to my car. I waved goodbye to the guys and drove away.

“There’s some boxes in there that Sammi and I couldn’t fit into my car yesterday, so if you could load those up I’ll start in here.” I said once we got into the house.

“Sure thing.” For such a skinny kid, he’s pretty strong. I took a deep breath and opened Jules’s door. It still smelled the same, like Jules’s perfume and an underlying sense of illness.

What clothes of hers that wouldn’t fit me I packed into a separate box. All the furniture in this house was going into a storage locker, in case one of us got married and I needed to move out.

It’s sad that a person’s entire life can fit into eight cardboard boxes, all neatly packed and labeled. I sat on the stripped bed, head in my hands. I hadn’t even heard Andy come back in.

“Are you okay Sky?” His voice made me jump.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.” My voice was low and rough. “This is where it happened you know. This is where she passed away.” Andy, to his credit, didn’t say anything, just sat next to me and put his arm around my shoulders.

“I miss her.” It’s the first time I’ve said it out loud. “I still feel like I can pick up the phone and call her for advice.”

“She’s still here with you.” I smiled sadly.

“I need to get out of here. Come on, let’s get back to Jake’s.” We loaded up the last of the boxes and headed back.

Trixy greeted us when we came in the door, jumping on my legs. She was a friendly little dog, I’ll give her that. I could easily get attached to her.

“Come on, giraffe boy and I need a hand out here.” I poked my head into the living room where they were all just sitting around.

I spent the rest of the day unpacking my stuff and getting everything set up the way I wanted it after the guys left.

“I’m making some macaroni and cheese. You want some?” Jake asked, poking his head through my door.

“The Kraft kind?”

“With the neon orange fake cheese? Fuck yeah!” He flashed the heavy metal horns and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“For sure dude.” I finished folding the last of my shirts into the dresser drawer and followed him into the kitchen. Trixy was sitting in front of the stove, waiting for him to drop something so she could eat it.

“Andy told me what hapened.” Jake said in a conversational tone, his back to me as he stirred the pasta.

“Little fucker.” I muttered, taking a sip of the Coke I’d been drinking.

“I know how corny this sounds, but if you need to talk to someone, I’m always around. Or if you need a break from child care or something.”

“Thanks Jake.” I hoisted myself up onto the counter opposite the stove. Trixy licked my bare foot. “No honey, my foot is not food.”

“That dog is persistent.” He laughed, tucking his hair out of his face. It was almost as long as mine was. I’d never had a problem with guys wearing tight jeans or having long hair. Jules was the one who loved clean cut guys.

Oh my God. What am I thinking about? Jake is my fellow godparent, not a dating prospect. Get it together Skylar, Jesus Christ.