Intertwined

Chapter 17

I have been lying awake all night. The dark circles underneath my eyes are evidence of it. But despite my lack of sleep I'm as restless at it gets. I won't admit to myself that my reasons for lying awake has much less to do with college stress than it does the thought of a pair of grey eyes watching over me.

But at the break of dawn, when I roll out of bed on Saturday morning, sleep deprived and a head full of thoughts, I have to face the facts that although I have been waiting up all night for the chance that Asher might appear again, but it's been pointless; as always.

Asher's lack of appearance doesn't stop me from spending the morning running through our day yesterday for the millionth time. It seems that since I've met Asher all I ever do is wonder; how, when, why, what and if I truly, really am going insane, because it sure feels like it half the time. I should be stressing about college; about the fact that I still haven't received an offer from any of my priorities or that there's less than two months until my final exams and I still haven't even begun to consider revising everything I need to. Maybe even the fact that my relationship with Brady is still a little rocky, curtsy of my mother. But none of all of that seems to matter to me lately; it's all about those grey eyes and the thrill of being in their presence; the way they make me feel so alive.

I'm daydreaming over a bowl of cereal, not caring that the milk is making them soggy, when my train of thoughts is interrupted by the doorbell. I have half a mind to stay in my daydream, hoping that whoever is at the door will get the idea that no one is home.

I abandon my soggy cereal at the table and steer towards the front door.

"Finally that was about damn time," Zoey groans; as I unlock the door and slowly pull it open to reveal her standing on the doorstep. She is pushing through the door before I can say anything.

"Hey," I greet her, a little flabbergast at her entrance.

"Took you forever," she mumbles, as she kicks off her sneakers and hangs her jacket up on a hanger in the hallway. Then, once everything is stored away, she makes her way towards the staircase and ascends it, leaving me behind in the hallway. "You coming or what?" She calls as she reaches the top of the stairs, and it sets me into motion.

Zoey is standing by my dresser, rummaging through my drawer of t-shirts, when I step into my room.

"Can I borrow this?" she asks, holding up a blue blouse I had forgotten I owned. She doesn't wait for my answer before she throws it towards my bed, where her bag is sitting. Zoey and I have been borrowing clothes from each other since I reached puberty and finally caught up with Zoey's grow spurt. If I'm not completely wrong the blouse probably belonged to her in the first place.

She finishes rummaging through the drawer, closes it and then turns to face me. "Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?"

She eyes me carefully. "You have realized what day it is, right?"

"Sunday?"

She narrows her eyes at me and crooks her head to the side, inspecting me with wonder. "It's the 13th," she says carefully, as if she is afraid of the word itself.

"So?"

"Charlie, have you forgotten?" I'm staring at her in utter confusion as she flops onto my bed and starts gesturing around the air around her. "I just figured that since last year was so tough that this year would sort of resemble it, but I guess out of sight is out of mind."

Last year? What happened last year? And then it hits me, like a ton of bricks, and the guilt that follows the realization is so heavy that I can hardly breath. I collapse onto the bed next to her, my eyes focusing on everything and nothing around me. How could I forget?