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35.1 - Cold

wooo short part one of this chapter 

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 35.1 - Cold

Maya Sumedh

 I woke with the rough black material of a suitcase pressed to my nose, stifling warmth covering my body.

 My eyes opened, sticky and caked with eye makeup, my contacts still in. The fact that I wasn’t in bed with Luke but with his suitcase seemed oddly metaphorical. Around the edge of the suitcase I saw movement in the bathroom; Luke, collecting his toothbrush and shampoo to pack.

 To pack.

 I closed my eyes again. The suitcase smelt like him.

 “You’re really not very good at faking sleep, you know.”

 His voice sounded somewhere above my head. I smiled a little and it hurt. Then I looked up at him as he stuffed his remaining things into a toilet case. He had a bit of shaving cream on his chin.

 “And you’re evidently not very good at shaving,” I said, my words coming out slurred. I tried to sit up but his hand pushed me back down by the shoulder gently.

 “You might wanna stay down there. It’s cold and you’re only in a dress.”

 I nodded, reaching up and wiping the cream off his now-smooth chin. “Okay.”

 To be honest, I liked him better with the stubble.

 He kissed my forehead and continued packing. He was dressed already, in jeans and a plain black sweater, the collar of a light blue shirt sticking out from underneath, slightly lopsided. He was wearing the same Chucks he’d worn when he first arrived. His thick black jacket was thrown messily over the back of the desk chair. The desk itself was now clear, littered only with a few pencil shavings, the way it was before he’d inhabited the room. The wardrobe was open and empty.

 The clock on the wall read seven am. I had only been properly asleep for two hours but sleep was the last thing I wanted to do then.

 “I should go get ready if we’re leaving soon,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

 Luke just looked at me and nodded. I pretended to pretend not to notice the slight red rims around his eyes.

 I pushed the covers off myself and without looking at him, padded off to my room, gathering my scarf and stockings from where they were lying on the floor. It was cold in my room, lonely. I realized it was a feeling I’d have to get used to. I stripped out of my clothes, allowing the frigid, thick air to extract goosebumps and shivers from my skin and body. In the next room I heard Luke drop his phone, swear, and pick it back up. I dressed without thinking, pulling on my warmest, ugliest clothes. As I brushed my hair hastily I heard Sam make his way to Luke’s room, and then the two boys laughing.

 I went back to Luke’s room and sat with Sam on the bed, mostly listening to the two of them talk. The curtains had been opened wide – the landscape outside was dull and grey. The house opposite, the Shuklas, had apparently just woken up too. Mr. Shukla was on his terrace in his grey monkey cap and grey sweater vest, sipping a cup of tea from an ugly white china cup and reading the Times like he did on most mornings I was awake to see him. He did not look my way.

 At seven forty, Ma and Dad came in too, announcing that we should all eat something and leave in fifteen minutes. Luke said that he’d grab breakfast at the airport (so American) and Sam said he wasn’t hungry. I went downstairs to the kitchen to eat alone. Blu was asleep in the dining room, hugging the leg of the dining table. On hearing me he woke up and trotted over, wagging his tail. I noticed how much he’d grown since we first got him. I picked him up and walked over to the fruit basket, ripping a banana from the bunch.