The Homecoming Queen

Chapter 12-For the Love of Sea Turtles II

Her erect body felt like a rigid piece of drift wood.

Carmen flinched slightly, her reaction to causal touch made me sad but her anxiety always kept her on high alert.

She used her arms to pull her body up on her pillow stack, her legs lay dominant as she positioned herself.

She had an assortment of soft, lavender pillows at the front of the head board.

She slid in the center of the stack of pillows like a pearl in the soft palette of a clam.

She wore a wrinkled, gray tee coupled with a pair of tattered, black sweat pants.

The sweat pants were frayed on the bottom from her walking on the bottoms, covered in small holes and a pooled layer of dust.

I could see her clean plastic braces on her legs peeking out of her pants.

I was cautious to ensure Carmen knew I wasn't staring at her braces.

She was so self conscious about people staring at her.

Her neon pink and lime socks came through the translucent casing.

I winced. Aren't her braces painful?

Why doesn't she feel comfortable taking them off around me?

Some things about Carmen, I'll never understand.

Maybe, I'm not meant to understand.

Honestly, I did stare at her, but not because I thought she was weird.

I was just worried about her.

I wanted to help her anytime she wobbled or made a spastic movement, but Carmen hated that.

Seriously, everyone needs help sometimes.

Doesn't she understand that?

Friends help friends, it's just what we do.

It doesn't mean I feel sorry for her, but to see her struggling, hurts me.

It makes me uncomfortable honestly.

She had no make up on.

I thought she looked better that way, covered in a light, speckling of light brown freckles.

Her skin was like a candle with her bedroom light shining a top of her.

Stevie grabbed a pillow from the stack playfully.

"Hey, are you going to share?," I said, narrowing my eyes.

I took my pillow I held hostage and slung it under my head for support, unintentionally sliding closer to Carmen.

Her fuzzy pillow smelled like her strawberry shampoo.

Why is it that girls shampoo always smelled better than guys shampoo?