Don't Let This Memory Fade Away

I woke up the next morning with my face pressed into Jack’s chest, his arms wrapped loosely around me.

“Shit.” I whispered, carefully removing myself from his hold. I looked over to his face as I stood up. He was smiling a slight dreamy smile. I turned away from him, a smile now upon my own face, and headed to the bathroom.

I looked into the mirror before me, and as expected, I looked horrible. My mascara had run down my face and my eyeliner was smudged all around my eyes. My hair was a greasy mess, knotted and tangled, sticking out in every which way. I sighed as I turned on the shower.

It wasn’t until I stepped out that I realized there were no towels, and stupidly enough, I hadn’t brought any clean clothes in with me. The ones I had on I had already put down the laundry chute.

“Dammit.” I whispered and peered out of the bathroom door. Jack was still asleep, thankfully. I would have to run into my room really fast, grab some clothes, and then run back into the bathroom. A bold move. I took a deep breath and proceeded to tip-toe in. I had just reached my dresser when the unwanted occurred.

“Farah?!” Jack screamed.

I screeched as I dove to the end of my bed where he wouldn’t be able to see my bare body.

“What are you doing?!”

“I’m getting clothes!”

“Why are you naked?!”

“Because I don’t have any clothes you moron!”

“Why don’t you have a towel?!”

“Can you stop shouting questions at me and let me get some clothes please?” I waited a few moments “Are your eyes closed?”

“Yes, Farah.”

I peered up from my hiding spot to make sure he wasn’t lying. He was indeed telling the truth, so I quickly grabbed the first things I touched out of my drawer. When I turned around, of course, Jack was staring.

“Jack!” I screamed, though not at all surprised. I covered myself with the clothes in my hands and moved towards the bathroom.

“I’m sorry! I couldn’t help it!”

I was so embarrassed. I didn’t want to leave the bathroom. Jack had just seen me naked. No boy had ever seen me naked. My face burned red as I slid to the ground.

I dressed slowly, dreading going back into my room. When I was done, I huffed out some air, opening the bathroom door slowly. Jack looked over and chuckled.

“What?” I asked.

“You, naked.” He said smugly.

“It’s not funny Jack. You’re the first guy to ever see me naked and that’s not really how I wanted it to happen.”

He shifted uncomfortably on the bed. “I’m sorry, Farah. I really am. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable about it, which won’t happen but I don’t know. I’m just rambling now.” He pushed himself off my bed and approached me. “You know, you look so beautiful with no makeup.” He put his hand on my face and I blushed.

“Thanks.” I said, and he started to lean in. I quickly turned away.

“Come on, let’s go get some breakfast.” I said as I walked towards the door. I heard him sigh from behind me, and then he followed me out the door.

I slid down the banister as usual, and once at the bottom, I saw Jack at the top looking down at me.

“You can, too, if you want.” I told him.

“Really?” he asked excitedly, and I nodded. Of course, Jack being Jack, once he got going he didn’t know how to stop. His momentum sent both of us tumbling to the ground, and after the brief moment of shock passed, the laughter set in.

“Farah?” Elliot asked as he walked up to us, a confused look on his face.

“Oh, hey Elliot.” I said through my laughter. I couldn’t remember the last time I was this happy.

“Did Jack stay last night?”

“Yes, he did. I hope that’s okay. I just really needed a friend last night.” I answered, hoping to avoid punishment.

“Understandable, but don’t make this constant occurrence.”

“We definitely won’t, thank you for understanding.” I pecked him on the cheek, something he quite clearly was not expecting. But hey, why not play up the family card to make this whole backstory more believable?

Jack and I made our way back to the kitchen. I offered to prepare him some breakfast, though I was an awful cook. All he wanted cooked was bacon and eggs, and while I was preparing them, he raided the cabinets and the rest of the refrigerator.

“How are you so skinny?” I asked as I placed down the finished bacon in front of his already oversized pile of food.

“Ya know, with all the physical activity I get, it’s pretty easy.”

I laughed “Yeah, video games, great workout.”

“Shut up.” He said and threw an orange peel at my head.

“I have an idea!” I said as I threw the trash away “Let’s go do some /physical activity/.”

“Ha, no thank you.” Jack replied as he began to make the bacon his next victim.

“You do realize I’m talking about video games, right?”

“Yeah yeah, bacon comes first.”

I rolled my eyes. Typical boy.

*****

After nearly an hour of video games in the game room, the doorbell rang.

“I’ll be right back.” I told Jack, giving him a small smile. He was growing on me, quickly.

“Well look who it is.” I said, deadpan, after I had opened the door.

“Hi, Farah. I’m sorry.” Alex smiled sheepishly, taking a step towards me.

“Okay.”

He gave me a look with those deep-brown eyes. “Do you forgive me?”

“Not really.”

“Knew this was going to be a waste of time.” Woah, that was a quick change in mood. “Shouldn’t have listened to Zack and Matt.”

“You had to be told to come and apologize? Are you really that pathetic?”

“I wanted to, just not this soon. They made me do it now.”

I stared at him blankly. “Okay.”

“I really like you Farah.”

“Oh yeah, it really shows.”

At this, he had nothing to say.

“I think you have some feelings you have to sort out with Lisa before you come running to me, okay, Alex? Just leave me alone until you get it figured out.”

He clenched his jaw, looking away from me. He still had yet to say anything.

“Well, I’ll see you on Monday.” I said and started to shut the door.

“Wait,” he said and took a step forward “Did Jack come find you yesterday?”

“Yeah, he did.”

“What happened when he did?”

“He came back here and comforted me while I cried.”

“When did he leave?”

“He didn’t.”

His eyes widened at this. “Did you guys do anything?”

“Not your business.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but I shut and locked the door before he could. I sighed and turned around to see Jack walking towards me.

“Was that Alex?”

“Unfortunately.”

“What did he say?” He asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“A forced apology.” I shrugged. “I just told him I think he has some feelings that he needs to work out for Lisa, and until then to leave me alone.

“Well I can’t see the competition.” He said, sliding his arm around my shoulder. “Race you back to the game room.”

“It’s on.”