I Hope That's Me

Keely Rubick had her 4’11” body curled up on her bed while she reread her lines in the latest Starkid Production. Her best friend and roommate, Jaime Lyn Beatty, was in LA for an audition this weekend, so it was lonely at their little Chicago apartment. Especially this night, because it was the first big blizzard of the midwest winter. The entire city was hushed and still with the fast-falling snow.

It was so quiet, that Keely physically jumped when the sound of someone buzzing her apartment blared. Instantly, she stepped over to her window and pulled aside the ancient, pale yellow curtain.

“Joe?” She asked aloud as she made out his recognizable blue pick-up truck parked up against the curb. She hurried out of her apartment and down the stairwell. Punching in her lock code, she opened the door.

“Hey there,” Joe Walker said with a half grin.

“Joe, it’s one in the morning, is everything Ok?”

“I’m sorry, did I wake you up?”

“No, I’ve been up. You forget I’m a bit of an insomniac...” she shrugged.

“I’m really sorry, I was just at the theater late rehearsing and, as you can see,” he gestured to the blustery, blinding snow, “it’s pretty bad out here. I drove two blocks and almost killed myself, like, five times. There’s no way I was gonna make it to the south side, so...” he shifted his weight between his feet, “mind if I crash here?”

“Of course I don’t mind. Sorry, um, shouldn’t have left you standing out there in the cold so long, come in...” Keely cursed herself for sounding so awkward as she shut the door behind Joe and followed him to her apartment.

“Can I get you a drink?” She asked after they were inside and she turned towards their small kitchen. “We don’t really have much to offer... Just orange juice and water, actually...”

“Water works,” he said, looking around the the artwork on Keely’s walls- her brother was a student at the Cleveland Institute of Art- as he sat on the scratchy, red vinyl sofa. “Why were you rehearsing so late?” Keely asked as she grabbed a couple of glasses from the cabinet.

“Nervous, I guess.”

“You? Why?”

“Well,” he began to explain as Keely handed him a glass and sat next to him, Indian style. “This is the first time I’m not singing as some kind of crazy, accented character like Voldemort or Umbridge or Up. I’m playing a more real dude. I don’t want to suck it up.”

“Please. You’re the last person I’m worried about.”

“Really?”

“Joe, we have Joey Richter... OUR Joey Richter... Playing a diet and exercise guru. If he can pull THAT off, then you can do anything.”

Joe laughed in that raspy way of his, rubbing his stubbly haven’t-shaved-since-Sunday chin. “Maybe you’re right.”

“Can I ask you another question?”

“Yeah, what?” He asked, confused.

“Why come here?” Keely asked genuinely. “I mean, Dylan lives two buildings over, Lauren and Moses are closer to the theater than I am. Why here? Why me?”

Joe really thought about this for a moment, as if the reason why hadn’t occurred to him yet either. “I guess you were just the first person I thought of, Keely.”

They sat in silence for a moment, locked eyes, while Keely tried to decipher if this moment was just a moment or a “moment.” When the quiet had extended for just a little too long, Keely automatically jumped up off the sofa.

“You can take my room.” She began to ramble. “This sofa’s not a sleeper and since I’m a bunch smaller than you it makes me sense for me to sleep out here.”

“Keely, I won’t make you do that. I-”

“I insist!” Her voice cracked. She hurried over to the hall closet and began to pull out some blankets for herself.

“Are- are you sure?” Joe asked tentatively, watching Keely buzz around the room.

“Yeah, um, yeah,” she said. “First door on the left.”

He sighed, “whatever you say. You’re the boss,” before getting up and walking down the hall. Keely avoided catching eyes with him. “Hey, Keely?”

“Yeah?” She peeped (secretly thinking how happy she was that she cleared all the dirty dishes out of her room earlier that day).

“I’m glad I came here. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be trapped in a blizzard with.”

Keely softened at this, losing some of that nervous tension. “Thanks, Joe. I’m glad you came here too.”

Smiling at something Keely was unsure of, Joe ran a gruff hand through his buzzed, dusty brown hair before lumbering off towards Keely’s room. When the door clicked shut, Keely let out a deep breath. Her whole body felt a bit electric.

He was glad he came here, she kept thinking as she laid down on the modest sofa and curled up under her favorite zebra Snuggie. Hoping that the butterflies in her stomach would let her sleep tonight, she shut her eyes and enjoyed the colorful feeling of knowing Joe was just in the next room...

----

Daylight broke what felt like eternities later. Keely awoke with the scratchy imprint of the sofa on her cheek. For a moment, she couldn’t remember why she was out there in the first place. When she did, she instantly sprang up wide awake.

Like a meerkat peeping out of the ground, her eyes grew wide and she looked around. No sign of Joe getting up yet. No sound at all. Made sense, it was still early, and what with Keely being an insomniac and all, being up earlier than the rest of the world was nothing new to her.

A wave of embarrassment hit her. She had acted like such an idiot last night, getting all flustered because of a few stupid seconds of prolonged eye contact. She flopped back down to the sofa and slapped her own forehead, reliving the humiliation for a few moments. Then, figuring there was nothing better to do now, she propped herself up, tied her long, strawberry blonde hair into a messy bun, flipped on ESPN, and stepped into the kitchen to pull together something for breakfast.

Just as she had cracked a couple eggs into a heating pan, she heard rustling coming from down the hall. A door squeaked open, and a sleepy looking, shirtless Joe padded into the room, stretching his rather toned arms. When he saw Keely, he yawned, and then relaxed into a soft grin.

“What are you smiling at?” She chuckled, looking up from the stove for only a moment. He shrugged.

“You,” he said simply. “It’s just funny. Sportscenter on, you making breakfast, me walking in the room half naked. It just seems... Right. Doesn’t it?”

Keely didn’t know how to respond to this. Instead of saying anything, she just cleared her throat and continued to stir the eggs sizzling in the pan.

Joe sat down at one of the stools by the counter and watched her with a bemused expression. Keely tried her best to ignore him, which was incredibly difficult seeing that the young man was shirtless and did NOT have a bad body to look at... The eggs continued to crackle and cook.

“Looks like the snow stopped.” She pointed out, nodding her head in the direction of the window, where the chilly Sun was sinking in to the white, blanketed morning.

“What, are you kicking me out?”

“No!” Keely exclaimed, nearly dropping the black spatula in her hand. “I just, I mean, I was just-”

“Keely, CHILL.” Joe laughed. “You are, like, the EASIEST person to mess with.”

Keely blushed tomato red. “I know...” she sighed.

“It’s cute.”

“Cute?”

“Yes, cute.” He said. “I like being around you, Keely. And If you ever need someone to go to in the middle of blizzard, I hope that’s me.”