Odd One

Ch 4

Jordan sat up with a gasp, not knowing where she was and panicking. Her hair was askew, and she could hear gunshots down the street. A thud made her jolt, and somehow she realised it was the cat, running down the hall to the bedroom. Jordan crawled out of bed and groped the wall, following Donovan to the last bedroom.

Jason was asleep, stirring briefly to wrap his arm around her waist when she crawled in with him. The bedroom smelled faintly like incense, and the pillow and blankets had a musky male scent that comforted her racing heart.

Jordan could hear people down the street hooting and hollering as more shots rang out, and a whistling scream of a fire work. So they hadn't been gunshots after all, but it had been the right sort of noise to influence the direction of her dream. Firecrackers. Knowing that calmed her down and she was able to get back to sleep, and try to forget the bad dream. It wasn't real.

In the morning Jordan woke to find Jason lying beside her on his belly, his feet hanging out the end where the covers were pulled up. She rolled onto her back and blinked, finding the poster on the ceiling of a pair of naked lesbians posing together.

He wasn't kidding, she thought, sitting up and carefully removing Jason's arm without waking him up. The cat's head shot up from where he lay on the end of the bed, and he padded over.

"Shhh," she whispered, glancing around the room. One other naughty poster adorned the wall, and the laundry basket was full of dirty clothes in the corner. More were scattered on the grey-blue carpet.

Jordan ran a hand through her hair and got out of bed, using the bathroom and getting dressed in the living room. Donovan followed her everywhere. "You silly cat," she remarked softly, petting him. "I have to go. Tell Jason I'd like to do this again, but I'm not feeling well right now."

Jordan jotted down a short note and left it on the kitchen counter where he would find it. She made sure Donovan didn't follow her out.

Jason woke when he heard the truck start in the driveway. He got out of bed dressed in shorts, and peered out the living room curtain as she drove away, wondering why she left without saying good bye. The bedding on the couch was neatly folded with the pj pants on top.

He ran his hand through his layered long hair and went to the kitchen to get out his tea cup and start the kettle.

"I am such an idiot," he mumbled, frowning. "Maybe I read too much into it. Maybe trying to kiss her scared her off..." He saw the note and pulled it closer.

Sorry I couldn't stay. I'll see you on Monday.

He sighed in disappointment and had his tea alone. The cat jumped up on the counter and meowed, nosing his chest with sympathy.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Shit," she muttered, seeing the card on her desk and knowing right away that it was from Zack, or one of the others. The front read "Good morning Jordan", and when she opened it the words read "would you like some sausage for your eggs?" with a cut-out of a penis inside.

"Wow guys. You're getting creative now aren't you?" she called out, and heard Garrett chuckle. I bet he was in art class in school, she thought. Jordan grabbed a tissue and the card and went to the restroom, coming back through the office and tossing the card on Garrett's desk.

Brown hair and brown eyes, he gave her a curious look as she passed by. "Hey, what the fuck!" he exclaimed when she was back in her chair, and she smirked with satisfaction. That's not ketchup on that tissue, bud. Now leave me alone, she hoped.

Jason came in late, dressed in black jeans and a Metallica t-shirt under a grey coat. He didn't even look at her as he walked by and she knew it was because she had left on Saturday morning. When their lunch break came around Jordan grabbed him by the arm, determined to fix the awkwardness between them.