Youth Unsupervised

Chapter 17-Self-inflicted Ambivalence

A couple of weeks after Saki and I skipped school I woke up in the middle of the night to something stirring in my bed. I blinked a few times, trying to get the sleep out of my eyes and squinted at the dark shape laying with its back to me.

What the hell? Saki? Was I dreaming? It certainly wasn't starting off as erotic as they normally did. I blinked a few more times.

"Saki?" I asked groggily.

"Yeah?" she answered with her back still towards me.

I slowly slipped from my half asleep state into full consciousness. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to sleep. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"In my bed?" I asked.

"What are you talking about? You invited me. Remember?"

I tried to think back to the events of the previous day. It wasn't sounding familiar. Had I made a joke of some kind? Then it dawned on me. She meant that day on the mountain.

"I meant I'd get you a futon to sleep on, not for you to come and sleep in my bed," I said, sitting up.

She groaned. "I'm too tired for that. Can't you just go to sleep?"

What planet did she say she was from again? Go to sleep? Did she really not have a grasp on the situation at all?

"You do realize some men might take this as a hint, right?" I ran my hand through my hair and yawned.

"Do you think I'm here to have sex with you?" She glanced over her shoulder at me.

I chuckled. "Unfortunately not."

"Well, there you go." She put her head back on the pillow and shut her eyes.

I stared at her for a minute and sighed. "You also realize that some men might take advantage of this situation?"

"Are you planning to assault me while I'm sleeping?" she asked, her eyes still shut.

"Not on purpose, but I'm not making any promises about what I'll do in my sleep," I said, only half joking.

"I'll take my chances," she said slowly with some annoyance in her voice.

I sighed and lay back down with my back to her, pulling the blanket around me as I went. I let out a deep breath and shut my eyes, trying to empty my head, but it wasn't working. I could feel her there, her warm body only inches away. I could hardly lie still, let alone sleep.

I flipped back over and stared at her. "Just so we're completely on the same page here, sex is a bad idea, but there are no issues with sleeping in the same bed?"

She sighed and started to get up. "Fine. If it's such a bother to you, I'll go."

"Wait." I caught her arm. "I'm sorry. I was just kidding. Don't go. I'll be quiet."

"Good." She lay back down and moved her pillow around until she got comfortable. "Go to sleep."

I sunk back into the bed with my back to her again.

"Goodnight," I mumbled.

"Night," she said.

I shut my eyes and eventually fell asleep somehow, although it felt like it took hours.

In the morning, the alarm on my phone went off, which I had to reach over Saki to get. She moaned as her face squished up in irritation and then rolled towards me, away from the noise. The tip of her nose brushed against my chest. I hung my head and sighed. I must have done something really screwed up in a previous life to anger the karma gods enough to endure this kind of torture.