The Perks Of Being Amanda Summerlyn

Chapter 11: Secrets

I sit there for a few minutes with tears leaking out of my eyes before my eyes get droopy and sleepy and sleep overcomes me.

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The next morning, I'm awaken by the smell of sausage, and my stomach makes a dying whale noise. I blink a few times as sleep disappears from me and look around.

I'm in Oliver and Faith's living room, on the floor. Faith is beside me with her mouth parted, her arm slung over my stomach while Aliza's leg is slung over my left shoulder and her mouth is hanging open.

I gently take her leg off my shoulder and Faith's arm off my stomach as I sit up and stretch. The room is flooded in a weak gray light. I stand up, wobbling little as I try to regain my footing. I look at the clock. 8:00. Two hours until 10:00 when Im supposed to be home. I'm so tired, I don't even feel like changing to come home. But then I remember I'm wearing Oliver's clothes and dump the idea. 

I rub my eyes and yawn as I follow the delicious smell to the kitchen where T.J. is sitting at the bar stool, eating pancakes and sausage, and Oliver is making breakfast at the stove. God, he even looks hot in the morning. His hair is disheveled and his reading glasses make the morning look even sexier.

When he sees me, he smiles. "Good morning," he says.

" 'Morning," T.J. says with a mouthful of pancake.

"Good morning," I say to both of them as I walk into the kitchen.

"Made some breakfast," Oliver says, revealing him flipping some bacon over.

"Better than my mom's cooking, that's for sure," he says, and then I hear him gulp. "Don't tell her I said that," he says, looking at Oliver seriously.

Oliver laughs and shakes his head before going back to work. "Hungry?" he asks, turning to me.

I nod, afraid to open my mouth. I was never the morning person. He takes a plate and puts two pancakes, three sausages, and two strips of bacon on the plate. So he cooks, draws, and skateboards. Hot. He hands me the plate and I thank him before sitting on the bar stool next to T.J. I pour myself some orange juice in a plastic cup and gulp some of it down before digging in. This food is so good, it's like heaven.

I'm halfway through my second pancake when I hear footsteps coming into the kitchen. I look up from my plate to see Faith walking slowly into the kitchen, her hair a wild mess and her eyes half-closed. She looks how I do in the morning, only worse. 

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Oliver says when he sees her.

"Food," she moans before wrapping her arms around Oliver's neck and leaning on him.

"Poor Faith," T.J. says. "She looks like a zombie."

Oliver swats her hands away from stove with his spatula as she reaches for the hash browns he's making. He's really going all out today. A few minutes later, after everyone is up and eating breakfast, I'm stuffed and put my plate in the sink. Afterwards, I call Dad, telling I'm I'll be home soon.

"Did you have good time?" he asks. "Awesome time," I say. "I'll tell you all about it when I come home if I don't die of exhaustion first."

After we hang up, I hang out with Faith and T.J. on the couch, watching "My Little Pony" since the kid shows are on this morning. a plain blue shirt and clean jeans with clean socks I brought with me and sneakers.

When I come back downstairs, I hear a series of moans and chainsaw sounds along with loud voices and footsteps. 'What the hell?' I think. I thump down the stairs to see T.J. and Faith playing a video game. Their fingers run rapidly over the controls connected to the cable box. When I get down the stairs, I see that they're playing some zombie game.