Chapter 7

 

Chapter 7

 

I was in a light sleep, I heard a female voice talking in the room, it was just a whisper. Even though I could hear it, I did not fully wake.

“He is really cute, I hope he will like me.” The female voice said. Then a male voice entered my head.

“Oh, I’m sure he will, everyone likes you, Laura.”

Now I knew it was Laura and Steve whispering together. I began to stir, I opened my eyes, they was looking at me, then they abruptly separated. Laura busied herself with some books and Steve went to the door.

“See you guys later.” He said and left the room. I sat up on my bed and looked at Laura who had her back to me.

“What was that about?” I asked her, she turned around and faced me.

“What was what about?”

“You two looking at me and whispering.” I said to her.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I have to take a shower now.” She replied, her voice infected with nervousness. Then she picked up a light pink towel which rested on her bed, and she made for the bathroom. I noticed that her face had turned a little red. She placed the towel on the floor, started the shower and shut the door and I heard the lock click. I erased the odd situation from my mind. I got changed into a shirt and charcoal trousers with black Loafers and headed out to find a nightclub.

     I returned to campus around half-past 2 in the morning. I was heavily drunk, I had phoned some friends that had gone to the same Upper school as me, they had met me in a nightclub called ‘The Cubeix.’ I said goodbye to my friends who had taken me back to campus, then I set out on a drunken adventure to find my room. I stumbled through the front doors to reception, then I started down one of the five halls that broke off from the reception area to find my room. I briefly fell into the wall but then I regained my footing, struggling, I carried on down the hall. I turned into another hall, stumbled and fell to the floor. I was now in pain, I think I had fell on my knee. I got back up, not giving up the fight to get to my room, I groaned in pain quietly and started to walk again. After what felt like five hours, I found my room, even though my sense of direction along with my other senses were impaired. Then the struggle to find my key began, I could not find it, I went through all of my pockets, then I found it in the pocket that I checked first. I clumsily inserted the shiny key into the lock and entered the room, nearly forgetting to take the key out of the lock. I swayed as I went to my bed, then I just collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep, not even bothering to get undressed or getting under the covers.

     I opened my eyes and was very shocked to see Laura’s body laying next to me, her face close to mine. It felt like my heart missed a beat. I jumped up and shouted.

“Oh, Jesus!” I banged my head on the ceiling, pain struck me just like the ceiling did. Laura woke sharply, her face ghostly-white with shock. I saw that Steven was half-sitting up in bed looking at me. His hair was standing up and his eyes filled with sleepiness.

“What’s wrong?” Laura asked, she was breathing a little faster than normal. I don’t think she really knew where she was. Steven did not speak, he just kept looking, like he was watching two girls fight in the street. A headache had already started, half because I had banged my head, and maybe the other half was a hangover taking shape.

“What’s wrong is that I woke up with you next to me.” I explained to her. I was half shocked, half angry. Then it seemed to appear to Laura’s brain that she was in my bed, not hers.

“Oh. Oh, I’m so sorry. I came in last night, a little tipsy and you looked really cute, lying there asleep, so I - I, c - came to lay next to you and I sort of fell asleep.” She said hesitantly. I felt some anger that I had just woke up next to someone who I had barely just met. Also, I felt some pity for her, I don’t know why, I guess I just couldn’t stay angry with her for too long. I gave a long sigh, looked at her then at Steve who was in the same position but had a large frown on his face. Still he did not intervene.

“Ok then. I understand, you were a little drunk, I was totally smashed last night, I forgive you.” I said, and I gave a small, forced laugh. I extended my right hand.

“Friends?” I asked. She moved towards me, I noticed her eyes were a bit watery, then she shook my hand.

     Over the next few months, I had really gotten to know Steve and Laura. We often went out at night together, we had a few laughs and I really enjoyed the time I spent with them. My college classes were going very well, and I spoke to Nikki and my Mother on the phone nearly everyday. Nikki was doing well in law school and my Mother was spending her time knitting and reading books. I got the impression that she was rather lonely because the house was rather empty now that I was in college and Nikki was in law school but my Mother never actually said that she was lonely. I suppose we all get lonely sometimes.

     One night when Laura had gone to a party, Steve and I were in our room, I was reading and he was watching our television that was implanted in the wall opposite our beds. The room was silent except for the television. I was encased in my book, the world around me felt irrelevant. Then the silence and my sanctuary was destroyed.

“Can I tell you something?” Steve asked me. I looked up at him, a little stressed that he had disturbed me but I shook it off.

“Yeah, sure you can.” I told him.

“But you must promise not to tell Laura.” He replied.

“Ok, I promise.”

“Well, it’s just that… It’s just that… What I am trying to say is that I must tell you this because otherwise Laura is going to keep talking to me about it and it is starting to drive me crazy.” He explained.

“Well what is it then?” I asked him.

“Laura is crazy about you, I think she is in love with you.” He told me. I was not really shocked at this news because I remembered the night that I heard them whispering will I was half-asleep.

“I had a feeling she was talking about me.” I said. Steve looked a bit confused.

“What are you talking about?”

“I heard you when you was whispering together, I wasn’t really asleep.” I told him. The confused face withdrew. He gave a short laugh.

“Oh yeah, I remember that. Well at least you know for sure now.” He replied. I was rather happy about this news, it was a good thing I suppose.

     A week later, I was in biology class, sitting next to Laura. Professor Hazelton was giving a lecture. I was not really listening to what he was saying, my mind was elsewhere. I sat there staring into open space, I was thinking about Laura. I thought maybe we could give it a go, who knows where it might led? She was a pretty girl after all. I had made up my mind. I leaned over to her.

“I was wondering if you would like to go out with me sometime?” I whispered to her. Her face filled with joy. She sat there for a while, she was probably letting the question sink in fully and making sure she was not dreaming. Then she responded. She turned her head towards me. Her face looking really pretty. Black mascara and eyeliner with light red rouge on her face. Her long brunette hair tied back in a ponytail and she was wearing strong perfume, but it was not too strong.

“I - I’d love to!” She said happily and gave me a big grin, she began to cry with joy.

     Two days later myself and Laura agreed to meet at a fancy French restaurant that was about a fifteen minute walk from campus. She had picked the restaurant, it sounded like a nice place too me, so I did not object. Once I got there I was very pleased with it’s appearance. It was like a medium stone cottage. I walked up the paved walk to the main entrance (the doors made from oak and varnished in a dark brown) and once I was inside, I surveyed the place. There was a small foyer in which a man stood behind an oak desk. There were two people standing in line in front of me. To the left was an archway were I imagined the tables were, (I couldn’t actually see it as a large potted plant that was ceiling high stood in the way. To the right was two revolving doors, each with a small, circular window. Through the window I saw a tiled room, a chef was standing next to the cooker, he was chopping carrots with a large knife. A waitress emerged from the archway and approached the two people standing in front of me. She spoke indistinctly to them and then the three moved off through the archway. I moved forwards towards the man behind the desk. He was writing something in a appointment book, then he looked up at me.

“Bonjour, may I help you?” He asked in a thick French accent.

“Yes, I am supposed to be meeting someone. I don’t know whether she is here or not.” I explained.

“Ok, what’s her name?”

“Uh, Laura. Laura Brown.” I told him then he consulted the appointment book.

“Ah, yes. She has arrived, she is seated at table 12. You may go through.” He informed me then he went back to looking at the appointment book. I walked off through the archway to find Laura.

     I looked around then I spotted her, she had her back towards me. I moved towards the table and as I got closer I saw a little plaque on the table with the number 12 on it. Then I sat down opposite her she looked up a little shocked. Then she became very cheerful.

“Oh, hi! I thought you’d never get here!” She said with a little giggle. I smiled at her and she grinned back.

“Yeah, well, I’m here now. Shall we order?” I asked her then our date began properly.

     An hour and a half later we left the restaurant and we took a slow walk back to college campus. It was getting dark now and the weather started to turn against us. Laura was only wearing a short purple dress and black high-heel shoes. I stopped to give her my jacket and she gave me her thanks and we started to walk again. As we came closer to home she grasped my hand, I had mixed feelings about this, I wanted to pull away but at the same time I did not want to act against it. At the risk of upsetting her, I just went with it.

     Once we got back to our room we discovered that Steve was absent, he probably went out on a alcohol fuelled evening. I went to my bed, then sat on it and then began to remove my shoes and socks. Laura began to get undressed in the bathroom, with the door wide open, I was tempted to watch, but I overpowered this feeling and looked away. I really did not think she cared that I could see her as she made no effort at all to conceal herself. I slipped into my pyjamas and got into bed and turned the TV on. Lethal Weapon 2 was on, then Laura came from the bathroom in her nightdress. Surprisingly, Laura did not get into her own single bed, but came over to me and got into bed with my and rested her head on my chest. Then she watched the TV with me. I didn’t say anything, I just let her stay there, after a while she fell asleep, still on my chest and then I fell asleep too, the television still blaring.

     Two months went by, and me and Laura had become very close. We went on a date nearly every other day, I had started to get a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach, something I had never had before. I was confused about at first, but it seemed that whenever Laura was not there, I developed a sort of longing for her. I had confided in Steve one evening about this, as I told him how I felt, his facial expression changed from curiosity to a face that told me that he had understood the feeling I had been having. The thing with Steve is that if you asked his advice and he had an answer for you, he would just blurt it out quickly, like he was trying to protect the person he was advising from pain or something. For me, I liked that he did this. This time was no different.

“Dude! Your in love with her!” He blurted out and he gently slapped my shoulder then he walked into the bathroom and left me standing there going over the words he had just said to me.

     On our next date, which was in another restaurant, we was eating when Laura spoke. I was buried in my plate while she was talking.

“Nick. I have been really attracted to you since I met you and I love you very much.” She said gently in a sort of whisper. I dropped my folk and it clattered to the plate and gave a clink. Then I looked up at her, she looked very anxious, I bet she was wondering what would happen next, it all rested on what I would say back. I remained quiet for a few moments, thinking whether I should reveal my true feelings for her. I decided to go with the flow.

“I think I love you too.” I replied, she smiled slightly and suddenly leaned over and kissed me full on the mouth. I smiled at her and then I picked up my folk and started to bury myself in my plate again.