Try-State Area

A More Civilized Hour

When Emily woke, she found Kelly was gone and the trundle put away.

There was a note stuck under her cell phone, which was plugged in. She hadn't thought to charge her phone in the chaos of the night before, so he must have done it for her.

Was he being considerate or was he snooping?

Her stomach fluttered then clenched.

If I'm going to spend any amount of time with him I need to get used to the disconcerting juxtaposition of conflicting emotions he creates in me...

She picked up the note and was surprised at how nice his handwriting was. She read it.

"Sorry again about scaring you last night. Thanks for letting me crash. I have to work today so I hope 8pm isn't too late for me to pick you up. I added my number to your contacts. Text me if you change your mind. – Kelly PS: You're cute when you sleep."

Emily unplugged her phone and was about to open her text messages.

Check your photos... John has a habit of leaving funny pictures on anyone's unsupervised phone... Maybe Kelly does too...

"Of course there are two new pictures," she said aloud.

The first was a very attractive selfie of Kelly lounging on the trundle. His sandy hair was sleep tousled against the white pillowcase and his eyes looked endearingly puffy in the early morning light. He had the hint of a smile and she could see most of his chest and the top edge of his boxers. It made her slightly giddy that she had this picture to show her friends.

That boy makes a hangover look good...

Then Emily looked at the second photo.

It was one of her asleep. She was on her stomach with her arms under the pillow and her head turned toward the wall so you couldn't see her face. Her legs were tangled in the sheet, partially sticking out so you could see the calf of one leg and the thigh of her other leg. Her shirt had lifted up to show the small of her back and the top lacy edge of her underwear.

She admired her own butt from this different perspective.

Could be much worse...

But then Emily went to her text messages and discovered there was already an outgoing text to Kelly.

He sent himself the picture of me sleeping!

Emily was so mixed up she didn't even know what to text to him and began to type three or four times only to delete it each time.

I'm flattered that he wanted a picture of me... but I'm furious that he violated my privacy!

While she attempted to compose something for the fifth time she noticed that he was typing something to her. So she waited. Then he stopped and nothing came through. She got so frustrated she typed and sent.

Do you want me to change my mind?

His response was quick.

Of course not!

She sat on the bed.

Then what's with the picture of me?

Emily imagined his voice in her head as he reasoned with her in his next text.

I wanted a picture of you and if I was being shady about it I could have just used my own phone and you wouldn't have known about it. Besides I left a much more revealing picture of myself for you. Fair is fair after all.

Emily bit her thumbnail while she thought about it.

I have to admit that Kelly's logic makes some sense...

Another message came through before she could begin to type back.

I promise not to show anyone your picture. It will be for my sole viewing pleasure. Your brother would murder me if I did anyway. You however are more than welcome to show mine to all of your friends. So are we still on for later? I have to get back to work.

There was only one thing she could write in response to that.

See you at 8.

Then Emily spotted a text from Evan that she hadn't seen yet. He had sent another link to a song. This time it was "Wake up Boo" by The Boo Radleys.

She didn't know the song, but it was infectious enough to listen to it twice. The second time Emily bopped around her room as she was getting her stuff ready for a shower.

Then she added the group to her music playlist. Finally she sent Evan a link to The Beatles' "Good Morning."

She watched the ellipses pop up as she started the shower.

Coffee?

She wrote back.

Shower first.

She stepped into the spray.