tongue of the serpent ➵ a.b.

Chapter 35: Intergalactic Wishes

I awake, sloppy kiss on my lips. "Hey," a voice whispers, "Time to get up."

I stretch my achy limbs, strain my failing vocals, and shake my body awake. I push away the thought of leaving bed. This memorable sanctum of plushy pillows and quilted bedspreads is simply where I belong! "I don't wanna get up!" I bellowed, still tired.

I felt the mischievous laugh of Andy vibrate on my reflective skin. "You have to. Elimination today."

I shakily (yet sarcastically) gasped in fright! How could I forget such a thing? "Fuck, man! Don't remind me!"

Andy trots off to the TV and punches some buttons, allowing the early morning news pop on. The very brightly-tinted yellows and oranges parade across the screen. They all scream with their colors displayed proudly: "We are here! Get up, lazy ass! It's a brand new fucking day and you had better appreciate it!"

I slink up in bed like a recoiling spring. I was not a morning person.

Andy cheers me up by leading me to the bathroom, actually forcing me to get my ass up by tickling me all the way to the door. I shut it on him and get dressed. But first: a shower!

Over a good thirty minutes of babbling to myself about the biggest theories in human knowledge in the shower, I emerge triumphant. I'm pretty damn sure I just came up with the cure for cancer! Only if I had managed to write down the theory. Dang it.

If smelling good and new clothes don't attract men, I don't know what else does.

I turn off the A/C vent in the room, which causes a shift in the noises my ear detects. My ears miss the fan's constant blowing; they go for the voices in the main room. In other words (or in plain English) I hear someone talking to Andy outside the bathroom. I press my ear to the wooden, condensation-filled door. Voices emerge from the depths of hell.

"You can't just leave her alone, Andy!" a voice stresses, panic is urgent.

A voice I can only presume is Andy, says, "I know, I know! But I have a feeling she's just...you know..."

"A replacement?" the voice butts in.

"Well..." Andy questions, "No."

My eardrum stresses to hear the next phrase. The voice drops to a barely-audible whisper. "We could always..." I am not able to hear the rest of the voice's sentence.

Andy's voice rises higher than the clouds beyond. "No! I won't allow it!"

"Calm down, Andy," the voice reassures. "It was just a suggestion."

"You don't know what it's like to fall in love like that!" Andy says, anger hidden beneath his bones. "Look," he continues, "I asked you to come here for advice, CC. Not a goddamn lecture on who I should love!"

The voice, CC, laughs. "She likes you. You like her. For different reasons? Maybe. But does it matter? Someday, you'll find things about Lethia that are completely different about her, in comparison to Juliet."

I hear a surprised chuckle. "Since when did you get so smart, asshole?"

I hear a ruffle of feet moving across the room. "Just now." CC dismisses himself outside after saying the words, "Keep a list. And you'll never know what you'll find." The door slips shut with a body-aching creek.

I finally walk out the bathroom, all ready for tonight. I immediately ask, without thinking, "What was that all about?"

I turn to see Andy's body laying down on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. He doesn't look my way. "Nothing, really. Just talking about the competition and such."