Lavender

40

I get up out of bed and quickly stretch. My body is drenched in sweat.

I grab a towel and walk to the bathroom. Running a hand through my tangled hair, I stare at myself in the mirror. "Holy shit," I mumble.

Sliding off my tank top and underwear, I hop in the cold shower. I run my face under the water to wake me up. Closing my eyes, I get a memory of the dream giving me butterflies everywhere.

Shaking off the idea, I wash my hair and body. I scrub hard to get the thoughts off.

I turn off the water and step out, wrapping the towel around my body before brushing my teeth and washing my face.

Wandering back to my bedroom, I apply a new lotion I bought. This one smells so good, it's mixed with lavender and vanilla.

I put on a matching navy blue lace panty set after I moisturize myself. I run a towel through my hair as I stare at myself in the mirror.

Suddenly, my window opens and I rush over to the other side of my room to duck behind my bed. "Jesus!"

Elijah climbs in and shuts the window behind him. "I already saw you, you can't hide."

I whip my head up enough for him to see but not my exposed chest, I haven't had a chance to put on the matching bralette yet.

"Elijah!" I scold. "Do you even knock? Holy crap!"

"I thought you'd still be asleep! Why are you yelling at me?" He defends himself.

"Perhaps the fact that I am naked, Rivera!" I try to cover myself with a towel until I realize I dropped it by the mirror.

His mouth opens and closes like a fish, he looks around like he doesn't know what to do. I don't blame him.

"Don't just stand there, hand me something," I stress.

Elijah eyes the navy blue bralette on my dresser and snatches it before throwing it over to me.

This cannot be real. I'm so embarrassed.

I quickly hook on the lace and take a deep breath before rising. "Could you hand me that towel please?"

I see his eyes roam my body as he ignores whatever I just said. "Elijah!"

"What! I'm sorry!" He scrambles to get the towel on the floor before chucking it at me.

I hustle to wrap the towel around me. He's seen me in a bathing suit already, what's the difference?

I groan and go throw on whatever. Opening the dresser drawer, I find some small black biker shorts. As I bend down to slide them on, I interrupt the awkward silence. "Can I help you? Why are you here?"

I don't get an answer so I look over at him after my shorts are on. He's still staring at... not my face. "Elijah!" I scold once again.

He meets my eyes before I roll them and walk over to my closet.

"Oh, sorry— I just wanted to see how you were doing. I saw the sketch on the wall, it was really good," he says.