Fool Me Twice (Formerly Persephone)

5

Seph couldn't fall asleep that night. She tossed and turned and worried until a headache formed behind her eyes. If Travis found a way to talk to Chris then he would know she was here. Unless she told Chris not to talk to Travis, or to lie to him. But then she'd have to tell Chris everything and she wasn't going to do that. Seph knew what she had to do. She had to hurry up and save all the money she could and move out before Travis could find her. Seph couldn't let Travis find her. She wouldn't. What he would do if he caught her... Seph shook her head, as if she could shake away those thoughts. She wouldn't be here, if he did show up. 

Chris, being the wonderful brother that he was, refused to accept any kind of rent from Seph. "Except for like dishes. You can do dishes as rent. I hate washing dishes." Chris had said when they'd spoken about it. "Dude you have a dishwasher. You don't even have to manually wash them." She'd said back. "Still hate it." Chris had replied laughing. "And nothing you say will change that." Chris wasn't the only one who wouldn't take payments though. Seph had tried to offer Jeremy gas money for always taking her to and from work but he wouldn't accept money from her. 

Seph pushed herself up out of bed and began pacing again. It was nearing two-thirty in the morning; she was just grateful she had tomorrow off from work. There was a light knock on her bedroom door and she backed away from it quickly, her mind reeling. But no, it couldn't be Travis at the door. That was impossible. More likely it was Chris telling her she was keeping everybody awake with her pacing. She attempted to slow down her racing heart as she crept to the door and slowly opened it. 

It wasn't Chris, or Travis. It was Jeremy's blue eyes that she'd opened the door to see. "Hi." She greeted him, quietly. 

"Is everything okay?" He asked, "I couldn't help noticing that your light was on and then the floor kept creaking and..." 

"I'm so sorry, I'm keeping you up, aren't I?"

"Nah I couldn't sleep anyway, I've been folding socks." 

Seph laughed. "Folding socks? Is that a euphemism or something?" 

Jeremy shook his head, chuckling. "No, I throw all my socks in my drawer when they come out of the laundry and then eventually if I get bored enough, I'll sort and fold them and toss out any that have holes or no match." 

"Oh, I actually do that too." Seph smiled and Jeremy wondered if there was anything that would make him happier than seeing that smile all the time. "But uh I'll try to keep the creaking down anyway." 

Jeremy reassured her that it wasn't bothering him and wished her a good night before leaving. Seph shut the door and leaned against it, closing her eyes. She couldn't let herself fall for Jeremy; he deserved more than what she could give him. Eventually, she crossed her room to her bed that she had shoved into the corner furthest from both the window and the door, and laid down, snuggling deep under the covers until she almost felt safe. There in the dark and the warmth she slowly faded into a very fitful sleep. 

When she woke, she felt tired and when she tried to roll over she realized she was tangled in her sheets. By the time she'd worked her way out of them she knew there was no point in trying to fall back to sleep. The sun was shining in brightly through gaps in the curtain, lighting up the whole room. Seph stretched and got dressed and hung around her room for as long as she could before her grumbling stomach told her she needed to visit the kitchen. And the bathroom. Probably the bathroom first. 

Instead of her brace today, Seph wore a long sweater with sleeves that had the cut-outs for her thumbs so that both of her wrists were covered. She'd always liked those kinds of sweaters anyway since her hands were typically cold. She was half hoping to find out that Jeremy was at work or something when she turned into the kitchen to find him once again raiding the kitchen. This time, for soda. He turned, with a joint in one hand and a Mountain Dew in the other. "Oh, good morning, er, afternoon."