FLY BOY - Completed

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

River was out of breath as she returned from the third floor washroom.  As soon as her door closed, she flicked her lights off. She had completed her twenty-minute nightly routine in less than eight minutes. Still, she was a few minutes late for Lights Out, but hopefully the Third Floor Monitor had not seen her. She turned on her little night-light, which gave off just enough light to recognize shapes. She stored her bathroom kit back in the bottom drawer of her night table. She jumped at the sound of someone knocking on her door. Maybe the Monitor had seen her after all or maybe it was Sandra. River did a quick look around her room to see if there was anything Sandra might have forgotten, but it was too dark to tell for sure.  It had to be the Floor Monitor, because that was the kind of luck she was having; which basically was no luck at all.

Whoever it was knocked again, only a little louder and a little faster this time. River wished there was one of those peep holes in her door, so she could know for sure who was out there. Luckily she was already in her pajamas, so if it was the Floor Monitor, River could try to pretend that she had been in bed. She turned off the night light and slowly opened her door, but as soon as it was opened just a crack, it flew wide open and a big dark shape burst into her room with such force that it knocked River to the floor. The dark shape quickly closed her door, leaving the room once again in total darkness. River was too startled to even scream. All she could hear was deep breathing and all she could see was a looming, tall, dark blob. 

River went from being worried about being caught with her light on after Lights Out, to being terrified for her life. This was crazy. Who could it be? She knew it wasn't Sandra. It was too tall and big to be Sandra. 

"Who's there?" River finally managed in a trembling voice. Her shaky greeting was aimed at the mysterious gargantuan who had invaded her room.  Surely whoever it was could hear the frantic pounding of her heart.

"Shhhh, wait a second," a low, deep voice demanded. 

River's arm hair stood on end. She knew that voice. Her terror instantly warped into anger and outrage, but just as she was about to tear a strip off her intruder, a hand clamped over her mouth. Right away she started to fight him, but his other arm locked around her body like a vice-grip, pulling her up from the ground and holding her tightly, with her back pressed firmly against his chest. Again he whispered, "Shhhh," only this time he whispered it directly into her ear, causing an involuntary shiver to run down her spine. How had he  been able to see her? She hadn't even heard the stupid, Sasquatch move and then suddenly he was holding her prisoner. She felt his whole body tense and instantly she stopped squirming. Not a second later she heard footsteps run quickly past her door and then a few seconds after that another set of footsteps ran past her door, only much slower than the first. 

River held still now for her own benefit. It was one thing to be caught with lights on after Lights Out, but it was another thing entirely to be caught with a boy in your room after Lights Out. River remained completely still, locked in his arms, while they waited to make sure that the footsteps were not returning any time soon. She tried to breathe deeply to calm her racing heart, but all she managed to do was inhale his delicious scent; a mix of clean soap along with a hint of the most wonderful men's cologne.

As she drifted in the haze of Irish Spring and Sandalwood, she barely registered that his head had turned and nuzzled into her hair. Did he just smell her? Pulling herself from her scent-induced coma she suddenly realized that he had relaxed his grip some time ago, and yet here she was still leaning against him of her own accord. In total indignation she practically threw herself across the room to get away from him. When she banged into her dresser, she spun around and hissed, "Are you crazy?"

Again with the Ninja moves he somehow silently ended up directly in front of her, reaching out to take hold of her arms. He was probably afraid she might try to hit him. He was right to think that. She immediately struggled against his hold. He backed her up into her dresser and then leaned his whole body into her. "River,” he whispered into her ear, trying to calm her. “Just give me two min…”