To Breathe or Not to Breathe (Night at the Museum fanfiction)

Chapter Three: I Hate My Awkwardness

I stared up at the apartment ceiling, trying to convince myself to get out of bed. The digital alarm clock on my nightstand showed the time 12:06 pm, but I still hadn't gotten up.

Come on, Em. I thought to myself. Lying here is a lazy thing to do. You're never going to get anywhere by staying in bed all day. Get up.

But I'm tiiiired! my subconscious mind wailed back.

I closed my eyes for a few moments, then opened them again and glanced at the clock.

12:39.

Okayyyy.... maybe that was more than a few seconds....

I heaved myself up and went to go take a shower and start my day.

"Usually, I do wake up early." I mumbled to myself as I brushed my teeth, trying to feel better about my late start today. "I just had my night shift last night at the museum, and..." I trailed off, staring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror as if it were another person. 

"The museum last night!!!"

My reflection stared back with wide, startled eyes.

"Did that really happen?" I asked it, half expecting an answer. If there was such thing as magic tablets, why not talking reflections?

Of course, it didn't reply.

Toothbrush forgotten in my mouth, I sat down on a stool behind me, remembering all that had happened the night before.

"Wow." I whispered.

At that moment, my cell phone rang from the bedroom. I jumped up, almost slipped in a random puddle on the floor (probably from my shower), stubbed my toe on the doorframe, hopped on one foot all the way to the bedroom, and picked up the phone, answering it without bothering to look at the caller ID. 

"Hello?"

Except I had forgotten my toothbrush was still in my mouth, so it came out more like, "Hrrmerro?"

Blushing, I took the toothbrush out and set it on the nightstand, hoping the caller wasn't someone I particularly wanted to impress. "I mean... hello?"

There were a few seconds of silence, and then a male voice spoke from the other end. "Emily? This is Uncle Larry. Sorry if this is a bad time...."

"No nononono." I shook my head vehemently, even though he couldn't see me. The force of my violent head swings almost caused me to drop the phone. I shrieked and fumbled as it almost slipped through my fingers. "Uhh... why would it be a bad time? It's not like I just woke up or anything.........."

Silence. 

I swear my phone isn't a cricket wireless, but you'd think it was from all the crickets chirping in the background as the silence stretched....

"Sorry, Em." Larry finally said, sympathy in his tone. "I know it's hard to adjust to the late hours. Anyway, I'm calling because I need to know if you're coming back tonight. 

I chewed my lip. "Yeah. I am."

I could hear the relief in his tone. "Last night didn't scare you off?"

"Nnnnnoooooo," I drew the word out. "Not really. Have you talked to anyone about my actually getting a job there?"

"Yes." he replied. "I talked to Dr. McPhee, the museum director. He said he'll hire you. He's going to bring the papers to the museum when he goes there for work tomorrow morning, which is around 6:30. We'll already be there, so it works out."

"Okay. I'll see you tonight. What time should I be there?"

"Nine."

"Okay, see you then."

"Yep. Bye, Em."

"Bye." I mumbled, then hung up.

I could already tell today was going to be a verrrrry interesting day.

Wait. Where had I put my toothbrush?

                                                     *                            *                          *

Thirty seconds to sundown.

I exchanged a glance with Larry, apprehension tingling inside me as a chill of excitement rushed down my spine. He was probably used to this, but me? I was still getting used to the idea of all this. 

Fifteen seconds.

I felt like a little kid counting down till New Year's.

Larry noticed my anticipation and laughed. "Emily, you're funny."

"Thanks." I grumbled. "I bet you counted down, too, when you were still getting used to it."

"Fair enough." he conceded.

At that moment, a small cracking noise resounded through the hall as the dinosaur skeleton on the large pedestal began to move. I backed away slightly, still a bit nervous around him. "Hey there, Rexy....."

The T-Rex skeleton craned its neck as it stepped heavily off the pedestal. It came towards me. I backed away a bit. "Nice dino..."

"Throw the bone." Larry stage whispered to me.

"What?" I glanced around and saw that Rexy was holding a bone in his mouth. Where had that come from?

He dropped it in front of me, then sat at attention, waiting for me to throw it. His whole back half was moving back and forth as he thumped his tail like a -- like a dog.

I stared at Rexy for a moment, eyes wide in startled surprise. Hmmmm. Maybe he really isn't that scary... 

I picked up the bone, drew my arm back, and threw.

Or, at least, I tried to.

The bone ended up being a lot heavier that I'd expected, and it hit the floor only a few yards away with a pathetic thump.

"Wow, Emily." I mumbled to myself. "Wow. That was brilliant, all right."

"It most certainly was." came an amused voice behind me. I whirled around, startled.

It was Ahk. He had apparently entered the room just in time to see my embarrassingly weak throw, and his eyes were laughing at me -- though not in a mean way. Larry was a bit worse at hiding his amusement, and he was snorting with laughter.

I glared at them both. "Hey! It's not my fault I have a weak throwing arm."

"Isn't it?" Ahk asked innocently. His blue eyes twinkled at me.

I groaned. "Fine, maybe it is. But still. It's not nice to laugh at people."

"That's true, I suppose." Ahk admitted, still looking amused. "I'll stop."

"I won't." Larry grinned. "That was priceless."

"Larrrrrrry!" I complained, shooting him a death glare. In our family, as a sort of tradition, all my uncles loved to tease me. Why it was me and not some other niece, I would never know. But gosh, it was annoying at times. 

"Yeeees?" he replied, coming up right next to me.

I elbowed him in the ribs, and he doubled over. "Okay, shutting up now." he wheezed.

Ahk had been keeping his word well enough thus far, but when I elbowed Larry, he burst into laughter again. "You know, the first time I saw you, I would never have guessed you had that in you."

I blushed slightly. "Well, I was scared the first time you saw me. I'm a lot different when I'm not scared."

"A lot more trouble, too." Larry put in.

"That, too." I admitted.

Rexy had picked up the bone and was looking at me in what was probably annoyance, since I had literally thrown his bone nine feet and that was it. He dropped the bone in front of me again, this time with an impatient... whimper. He really is nothing but a playful puppy. I realized.

Ahk picked up the bone, grinning at me. "Should I teach you how to throw this?"

"Please."