After Auguste

Chapter 6 - Miscommunication is the mother of all sleep deprivation

Chapter 6: Miscommunication is the mother of all sleep deprivation

“Grayson,” my mom’s voice spoke through the voicemail. I clicked the delete button and went to listen to the next one. “Honey, I’m sorry you feel this way but…” Delete. I was on my tenth voicemail at this point and the message was always the same:

I’m so sorry. Didn’t mean to do this to you. It’s all over with and done. Come home. Don’t be mad. Everything will be alright.

My patience was wearing thin and my stupid phone was being a pain. Apparently I wasn’t allowed to delete voicemails until I actually listened to them. So, as I sat on the guest bed in Cole’s room, I found myself listening to the pointless voicemails as I waited for the shower to free up. 

It was a nice August morning. Only two weeks into school and I found myself looking forward to the weekend already. Saturday couldn’t have come any sooner. I heard the shower shut off and a second later the bathroom door opened. Claire stepped out, a towel covering her and long, wet black hair dripping onto her body. 

“Can you ask Cole if he has any clothes that’d fit me?” Claire asked quietly. Her bruises that had been covered by make up were now on full display and it made me sick. To think of the house she lived in to receive that treatment made me feel wretched. 

“Sure,” I mumbled, momentarily distracted from my thoughts of her home. I stood up and walked out of the room. Right into the naked—luckily covered by a towel—form of Lucy. Lucy shrieked as my body crashed into hers. She tore off down the hallway and into Cole’s bedroom. What was it with me and towel covered girls today. Shaking my head I walked slowly down the hall and into the kitchen where Cole was making pancakes. “You have any clothes that Claire would fit into?”

Cole looked up from his cooking and nodded his head. “MOM!” he screamed, so loud that I had to cover my ears. A few seconds later Mrs. Stowell walked into the kitchen with an angered expression. 

“Next time you decide to wake your sleeping mother, do it in a much quieter way.” Although her words were harsh, she was smiling at Cole through her tired eyes. Obviously she hadn’t gotten much sleep due to Cole’s lack of brain cells. Apparently she had waited up to tell us goodnight so when we had snuck in, Cole’s mom had stayed up until three waiting for us before she decided to check the rooms and find our sleeping bodies. Miscommunication is the mother of sleep deprivation. 

“Do you have any clothes Claire can fit into?” Cole asked. He then cursed suddenly and went back to flipping the pancakes. Mrs. Stowell rolled her eyes and motioned for me to follow her. 

“So, who’s this Claire I am hearing about?” she asked as we walked into the laundry room. I just shrugged in response. “Oh come on, there must be something good about her to get you out of your Auguste-love-stricken days.”

“She’s cute.” 

Mrs. Stowell stopped in her tracks to turn back to me. “Your mother raised you better than that. Don’t you dare turn into one of those boys who only goes for a girl with good looks. You got lucky with Auguste but she had a crappy attitude so I do hope that Claire’s better than just ‘cute.’”

“Yeah, well, I only met her a week ago. She spilled coffee on me in Sid’s diner. Then she stayed at mine and we met up again at the party last night.”

“Hmm…” Mrs. Stowell dragged out her sentence while looking for something appropriate. Finally she pulled out a dress. “See if that’ll fit her.” I nodded before drawing out of the room and back up the stairs. The door leading to the guest room was locked so I nocked to make sure I would run into no more unsuspecting girls.