You know that state of consciousness between being asleep and awake? Things are goofy and mismatched. Instead of time running along a linear track, it follows a chaotic system of loops and tunnels, disconnections and connections. You can't quite differentiate between what is real and what is not.
That's why I didn't process the scream immediately.
It wasn't the kind of scream someone gives when they're in pain or a piercing shriek of desperation. No, it was more of a horrified sound, tumbling through the layered veils of fog my dreams had coated around my mind.
When I finally realized that it wasn't something my mind had concocted I sat upright, my fingers fumbling to find the lamp switch on my bedside table.
I could hear the shower running, and the hot water system was groaning. With a thump, the water stopped, causing a water hammer to ricochet through the thin plaster walls.
It had to have been Jordan. Despite having some odd neighbors, she was the only one crazy enough to be showering so early that it was still dark outside. I tossed off the thick layer of blankets encasing me and ran to the bathroom, thumping my fist hard against the door.
"Jordie?" I asked loudly, my hand continuing to pound against the wood.
"AJ?" I heard from the other side. Half a second passed before the door opened to reveal Jordan clasping a towel around her body, her thick black hair slicked with water, the droplets still clinging to her skin. There was a terrified expression on her doll-like features. "Oh God, please kill it!"
I was dazed for a moment, my mind still slow from sleep. "Kill it?"
"The spider," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She pointed to the wall behind her, which was home to a black, skinny-legged spider the size of a coin.
"That's why you screamed?" I asked, sighing as I stepped past her into the humid room, air sticky with moisture. "A spider?"
"Sorry, she said, grimacing. "It just spooked me."
I gave her a tight-lipped smile before pulling the lid off a can of hairspray which was sitting on the counter. Jordan's hazel eyes followed me in terror as I sized up the spider and trapped it under the plastic.
"What are you doing? Why don't you just kill it?"
"I'm not going to kill it," I said "If you wanted someone brutal you should have woken up Ke'Bryan. I don't think he deserves to die just because he happened to wander into our bathroom."
Jordan didn't say anything. She just stepped aside as I carefully pried the lid from the wall, pressing my palm to its rim so the spider was sealed inside.
I returned to my room and used my shoulder to push open my window, the cold air hitting me instantly and clawing through my bones. The sun was just starting to creep over the crest of the surrounding buildings.
In one movement I removed my hand and shook the lid, my eyes barely catching the small black critter falling into the gutter below me. Hopefully, he wouldn't find his way back into our bathroom anytime soon.
There was no point in going back to sleep, my alarm was due to go off within ten minutes anyways, so I shut it off and turned on my lights. I could hear Ke'Bryan's snoring faintly stop through the wall and smiled to myself knowing Jordan woke him up to complain about the spider. It was one more day until Autumn joined us, and I was still just getting used to living with Jordan and on occasion her boyfriend.
The rest of our week after receiving my flowers involved numerous bottles of rosé and a few too many arguments over the future of our bathroom schedule now that we would be adding a plus one. Living with my best friend had been something, but living with her and my sister was something I was hesitant about. Jordan and I were as close as siblings which meant we bickered like them too, adding a real sibling to the mix was going to be tough. The three of us are all so different in so many ways. It won't be hard for a bit of friction to turn into a raging fire.
"Ugh, seriously?" I asked as I entered the open space of the living room as the two engaged in 'good morning' kisses. "It is way too early for your lovey-dovey couple bullshit."
Jordan stood aside, her attitude not dissipating the broad smile from her face. Ke'Bryan sat down, a sheepish look on his face as he nodded in my direction.
"Why are you up right now?" Jordan asks. "You never go to work before 8."
"I'm trying to avoid Dr. Lane at all costs," I state, meaning my words despite the tremor of awkwardness that washed over me at the thought of having to work with him since he started coming onto me. "I can stand the way he's been acting around me."
"Is he still acting like that?" Ke'Bryan raises an eyebrow, leaning back on the couch.
"Yep," I said, popping my lips as my eyes scanned around the room for a second. "Why are you guys awake right now?"
"I'm going to do the paperwork for a proposal I'm submitting." Jordan nods. "If I can get it done early I can go with Ke' to PiratesFest later."
"Oh don't tell me it's for that stupid YouTube interview series you want to do." I groaned, propping one arm up on my chest and pressing the my other palm to my forehead.
"Out to Lunch With the Linemen." Ke'Bryan groans with me, "Almost as stupid as Dinner Date With the Defense."
"Say what you want," she throws her hands up in defense, "but teen girls eat that shit up. I'll end up in all kinds of NFL wholesome moments compilations."
"Yeah, I'm in a couple of those for the Pirates." Ke' stretched out, kicking out his legs and throwing his arms behind his head smugly.
"Anyway," Jordan rolls her eyes at her boyfriend, "what's the big deal with the Dr. Lane thing? He isn't totally, completely ugly and has a medical degree. You could be the eating disorder world's power couple or something."
"Is that offensive?" Ke'Bryan asks, but I don't respond.
My eyes instinctively trailed to the floor, and I mentally kicked myself and lifted my chin to try and bring myself back to the conversation. I could hear the words continuously coming out of Jordan's mouth, but I was stuck in a haze.
I kept thinking about how Dr. Lane had eyes that were capable of capturing people. They were dark and brown like melting chocolate, which made you in turn feel like you yourself were melting sometimes. His lips were pink and full, usually curled upwards in a smile that was always both amused and inviting.
I could feel my face getting warmer, I knew I thought Dr. Lane was cute.
I wasn't immune to cute boys. In fact, I was particularly sensitive to them, mostly because of the lack of interaction I'd experienced with boys in real life. I'd never had a real boyfriend unless you counted the multiple "situationships" and hookups Jordan had mentioned weeks prior.
I had a logical brain; I don't believe in love at first sight or falling head over heels. But it was weird, I knew I was pretty but I never felt like I was the type of being dazed upon by others.
That was until I started talking to Andrei.
"Earth to AJ," Jordan waved her hand in front of my face, "are you even listening to us?"
"I have to go get ready for work, talk about it later?" I replied in a scurry, wanting to stop thinking about Dr. Lane at all costs.
"Hey wait," She stops me in my track, making me spin around to face the couple.
"Hmm," I mused back at her.
"Do you wanna go out tonight?"
I didn't ponder the question for too long. Despite being shy and introverted in the subject matter of boys, if you got any amount of tequila in my system I was the life of the party.
"Of course."
"Tequila Cowboy, meet us there at 9." She smiled. "Invite Dr. Lane."
"As if."
"Oh, come on," said Ke'Bryan with a grin. "I'm sure it wouldn't be that awkward, clearly he's into you."
"He's into me because he thinks I have a boyfriend. Besides, what would Andrei think?"
"You're still talking to him?" he asked, and I nodded. "He's blown you off like a thousand times, I don't understand why you would even still be into him."
"I just like his company," I said, not really sure how to elaborate much more without giving away too many details. The heat which had risen to my cheeks from earlier had started to dissipate, and the more I controlled my breathing the less flustered I was becoming.
"Totally fake," Jordan said, her eyes not leaving her phone screen, which she had now been scrolling on since she asked to go out earlier.
"Is not," I state, my heart now thudding loudly in my ears.
She waggled her eyebrows, finally putting her phone down on the arm of the couch, leaning forward, and lacing her fingers together underneath her chin. "Guess Nev and Cami will find out, won't they?
"Catfish has plenty of episodes where they're talking to the real person, Jordan."
"You didn't tell me anything about this," Ke'Bryan said with an offended expression on his face. "Like Catfish the TV Show? Are you going to be on it?"
"Well, we weren't technically supposed to say anything," Jordan said, feigning guilt dramatically as she held her hand to her chest, which was decorated in a thick lacy bralette. "Because, you know, not totally official yet because the team still hasn't sent over the paperwork."
"So you're going to be on TV then?" He asked once more.
"Well, maybe, I don't know?" I felt my face turning a bright red again.
"It's probably a yes." Jordan practically confirms.
"Do you really think that's a good idea?"
Jordan looked at Ke'Bryan, a frown knitting her brows. "Do you have any better ideas to get him to meet her?"
"Fair point," he nodded in agreeance.
"But once I prove I'm right we can get our Dr. Lane on." She does a wiggly, little dance making Ke'Bryan laugh and I groan.
There was only one conclusion I could make, and that was that if Jordan was right about Andrei I was never going to hear the end of this.