Close My Eyes,and Fly

BRRRRRR BRRRRRR BRRRRR

Aaron awoke to the obnoxious emergency broadcast service message scrolling across her television screen. “This is just a test of the emergency broadcast system” the official voice said before flickering off and regular programing continued.

‘Ugh how irritating’ she mumbled, swatting around the cluttered coffee table for the remote. Her eyes shot open as she recognized the breathing of the cushion she was currently sprawled on top of.

“Jack!” she hissed. “Jack wake up! You slept over!” she barked, shaking him gently. He stirred in his sleep, swatting her hand away from his chest as he attempted to curl over. “Jack!” she said louder and his eyes popped open.

“I’ll take it you’re not a morning person” he said, yawning and stretching his arms, folding them behind his head as he beamed at her. “Whats the big deal? I have no place to be” he said, running his fingers carelessly through his hair.
“ Yeah but I’ll be in big trouble if my parents find out I had a boy sleep over” she said, standing up. She began to putter about, picking up last nights purse as she hurriedly ran her fingers through her tangled hair. Behind her Jack laughed.

“How bout we go get some breakfast” he said finally, standing up and walking over to the kitchen where she was rummaging through cabinets for something to eat. She turned to look at him in a huff, staring down at last nights clothes.

“Fine, but let me get changed” she said, brushing past him. Jack hooked her waist and pulled her in kissing her abruptly on the lips. Aaron couldn’t help but panic over her potential morning breath as she broke away. “ Thats going to take some getting used to” she gasped, running her hands nervously through her hair.

“Go!” he said, laughing and kissing the top of her head. Aaron smiled and scurried upstairs to get ready.
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“Ya know I thought breakfast would be nice, but lunch sounds good too!” Jack called up the stairs as he glanced at his phone for the time.

“Oh shush you!” Aaron yelled, running a brush through her hair “I’m almost ready!” She ran down the stairs after trying to conjure up the cutest outfit she could.

“You look great, now lets go!” he said, grabbing her hand. The two of them opened the front door and paused.

“Oh good morning dear!” Mrs. Caillage beamed. She was holding her hand up as if to knock. Aaron dropped Jacks hand and awkwardly shifted her bag on her shoulder.

“Mrs. Caillage, good morning! What can I do for you?” She said politely. She glanced over at Jack who was smiling his perfect charming grin.

“I wanted to know if you would like to join me for brunch?” She said gesturing to her house, she had left the front door wide open.

“Oh we were actually on our way out.” Aaron panicked, glancing over at Jack for support.
“Brunch would be great!” he beamed, looking over at Aaron and nodding in encouragement.

Aaron felt her stomach lurch as they made their way across the street to her neighbors eccentric house. She didn’t have any idea what they could possibly talk about but she had a feeling this would be the most awkward brunch of her life.

“So tell me dear how long have you two been together?” Mrs. Caillage asked once they were seated in her green house. There was an assortment of breakfast and lunch foods that had already been prepared and Aaron got the feeling that she wouldn’t of ever taken no for an answer.

“Oh well actually..” Aaron stammered, glancing over at Jack. She didn’t know exactly what they were right now. A kiss last night and a kiss this morning didn’t exactly spell out relationship.

“We’re actually just close friends” Jack said, looking over in her direction and winking. Aaron sighed in relief. It would be a lot easier to explain to her parents that a close friend slept over rather than a boy friend. That is if this got out.

“And Jack where do you go to school?” Mrs. Caillage asked, un-phased by the awkward silence that was filling the room.

“I actually go to school with Aaron” He said politely, sipping at the glass of ice tea that was insisted upon arrival.

“And do you have any brothers or sisters?” She continued, she was non-chalantly buttering an English muffin as she spoke. Aaron realized she had no idea if Jack had any siblings, in fact she didn’t know much about him at all, except that his father had left.

“No its just me and my mom” he said shortly, his eyes were focused on the pieces of pancake he had cut up and was now carelessly pushing around his plate with a fork.

“And what does she do?” Mrs. Caillage asked.

“Jesus what was this 20 questions?” Aaron thought, glancing over at Jack who shifted uncomfortably.

“I really don’t think he wants to get into it” Aaron interrupted. She sensed the danger of poking into Jacks personal life. She didn’t want him to expose anything if he wasn’t ready, especially in the presence of her nosy neighbor.

“Of course dear” Mrs. Caillage said, a slight smile across her lips.

There was no more personal conversation as brunch continued. Mrs. Caillage went into detail about her plans to redecorate her house. She had chosen deep plum colored curtains to hang in the dining room, or something like that. Aaron was absentmindedly listening, she couldn’t help but focus on Jack who was politely nodding and folding his napkin nervously in his lap.

“Well its been lovely having you two over” she said finally, standing up as she began to clear the plates off the tiny glass table.

She two of them politely thanked her and asked if she needed any help cleaning up. “ No thank you, you two probably have plans anyway” she said, wandering around her kitchen, humming the same tune from last night.

Aaron anxiously took Jacks hand and led him out of the house, the two of them wandered down the street in silence until she paused and glanced back at the house curiously. Finally she spoke.

“Jack I want you to tell me about your family.” she said finally, glancing up at him with curious eyes. Jack pursed his lips and then sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

“Okay, but we need to go someplace private to talk.” He said finally, taking her by the hand and leading her down the road to a part of the neighborhood she had never been.