Try-State Area

- Saturday, May 28th - After Midnight

Hours later, lying in bed in the dark and unfamiliar bedroom, Emily couldn't turn off her brain. Her heart raced and she was sweaty. She thought about her breathing too much, which made her feel a bit light-headed. 

It's definitely the beginnings of a panic attack...

She had tossed and turned on the daybed's too-hard mattress for the past hour and a half and replayed much of the day through her mind.

The smell of the new carpeting gave her a headache, so Emily opened the window. But the night air was humidly stifling and it didn't dissipate the chemical odor that burned her sinuses.

The chirping crickets outside seemed alien and their sound was not nearly as comforting as the soft whooshing traffic in Brooklyn or the sounds of foghorns that often blew in the Verrazano Narrows.

She stared at shadows dancing overhead. The eight foot ceiling in the bedroom made her claustrophobic.

"Heat rises" she said aloud, "Maybe that's why it feels so hot; the ten foot ceiling at home lets the heat rise further away."

I have to get out of this room! Better yet, out of this house!

She flipped from her back onto her stomach once more and tried to ignore the fact that it felt like her lungs felt were getting less oxygen than before.

If I open the front or back doors, the dogs will bark... They'll wake up Dad and Suzanne...

When a flash of lightning illuminated the room and she heard the low growl of distant thunder, it made up her mind.

I'll just climb out the window and sit on the porch... Hopefully the storm will break the heat and give me a lightning show...

She removed her phone from the charger, popped in her earbuds and tapped on her music.  Patsy Cline's "Walking After Midnight" came on and she looked at the time.

12:48am... Well that's fitting...

Emily slid open the window screen and stuck her right leg out. Straddling the window ledge, she swung her head out beneath the sash.

Suddenly, a spotlight shone upon her.  A car turning into the cul-de-sac caught her mid-escape. Emily froze in the headlights. She shielded her eyes and squinted, but beyond the glare she was unable to see which car it was, or who was in it.

The beams swiveled past her as the car continued on its way around the circle. Under the cover of darkness once more, Emily decided to continue her escape from the panic that waited for her back in the bedroom. 

As her right leg dangled and struggled to connect with the porch floor, she brought her left leg through behind her.  Her body's momentum pulled her forward a little too quickly and she smashed her left shin as she tumbled out of the window.

"Stupid, stubby legs!" Emily snarled and clutched at the fresh bruise while she sat on the floor.

She removed her left earbud and listened as the car pulled to a stop. She heard the door close and a male voice said, "Thanks for the ride."

Did John decide to come home tonight? I hope he didn't see me fall on my face... He'd never let me live it down... What if he has Kelly with him and he saw me make a spectacle of myself? I might die of embarrassment... 

The Sperry topsiders that approached across the floorboards let her know it definitely wasn't her brother.

Emily's eyes trailed up from the boat shoes to well-muscled calves, followed by green docker shorts resting on trim hips and finally to a white t-shirt fitted on an athletic chest and broad shoulders.

His face and hair were deep in shadow when he extended a palm to her. "Are you okay?"

As his hand hovered there, Emily realized she was in an oversized t-shirt with tiny cotton pajama shorts.

When I stand up it will look like I have no pants on... Maybe I should stay on the ground? That would be weird though... And it's pretty ridiculous that this is the second time today I'm on the floor at the feet of a guy...

So she took his hand. "Oh yeah, I'm fine thanks."

He helped her up. Emily hoped the shadows hid the deep blush she felt spreading from her ears to her cheeks.

Of course my blush begins at my ears... I'm the awkward reality... Girls in stories always have blushes that start charmingly at their breast...

The thought made her drop his hand and tug on her shirt instead. Emily wasn't wearing a bra and she was fairly certain that he was now aware of this fact as well.

My ears feel like they might spontaneously combust...

Emily raised her right hand to cover one raging red sign of her embarrassment and looked down.

He put his hands in his pockets. "What are you listening to?"

She looked up at him.

He has to be at least six feet tall... Auburn hair, styled in an undercut... His eyes are...

Emily didn't normally like eye contact and now she was so flustered that she absolutely didn't want to make any. She wouldn't be able to tell what color they were in the dark anyway, no matter how curious she was as to their color.

She scanned the plains of his face.

Scatterings of freckles across the bridge of his nose and cheeks... I'm guessing his eyes are probably light...

She continued to blatantly and silently appraise the boy across from her.

Oh God! He asked me a question and it's taking me too long to respond...

The boy stopped waiting for her answer. He took a step closer to her, reached out and gently brushed her collarbone with his fingertips to grasp the dangling earbud cord.

Goosebumps immediately sprung up across her skin and she tensed up.

If he had any doubt that I'm not wearing a bra it's gone now...

He took another step closer and put the bud in his ear.

He's so close...

She felt his breath stir the hair on her head. She could tell that he drank beer tonight. She could also smell his deodorant, the faint traces of sunblock he must have applied much earlier, and that despite looking so good given the late hour, he was indeed musky with sweat.

They both listened as the words, "I go out walkin' after midnight, out in the starlight, just hoping you may be, somewhere a-walkin' after midnight, searching for me" crooned out in aching, dusky tones.

"Who is this?" he asked with wide eyes.

Emily finally found her voice and stammered out, "Patsy Cline. I... um... I work at the bursar's office at my school and... um Sister Claudette listens to a lot of older music that I've really fallen in love with. I also listen to a lot of rock from the sixties and seventies thanks to my Dad... And I totally love epic 80s stuff too from my Mom... 90s music is pretty awesome... I'm not that into the current Top 40 charts...um... I guess you could say my taste in music is pretty eclectic."

You're rambling... Shut your mouth and give him a chance to speak...

But he didn't say anything.

Instead, he took the phone out of her left hand and cocked an eyebrow at her. He scrolled through her music and tapped on a song.

Journey's "Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin" started to play. As Steve Perry passionately powered into the lyrics, a bolt of lightning sliced across the horizon and the thunder crackled almost in the same instant. 

Emily jumped.

The boy placed the phone back in her hand, took out the earbud. "Good night."

Then he turned around and walked off the porch as the rain began to patter down in fat drops.

"Night," Emily exhaled, unaware she had been holding her breath but sure that he didn't hear her over the percussion of the unleashed storm.