Chapter 5
996 Words
5
Sarah stood in front of the bathroom mirror and stared at her reflection. She looked like hell. Her clothes were covered in blood and her hair was matted with it. Alley mud and dried sweat finished off her derelict description.
None of that caught her attention. She raised her hand and pressed her palm against the smooth, unbroken skin of her neck. She could still feel the heat of his breath on her flesh.
Sarah ran her hand through her matted hair and shook her head. “What the hell were you thinking? You don’t even know his name.”
Adam.
She sighed. “Okay, so you know his name, but that’s it.”
He saved your life.
Sarah glared at her reflection. “Do you really have to be such a b***h to yourself?”
Yes.
Sarah spun around and leaned her rear against the counter. She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. “What the hell is up with him, anyway? First he’s dying, then he’s not, then he’s dying again and then he wants to make out.” She pressed her hand against her throat again and bit her lower lip as she stared at the floor. “And why’d he have to stop?”
The front door opened and shut. “I’m back!” Jenny called.
Sarah shook her head and walked out of the bathroom to the living room. Jenny was at the dining table where she tipped the mouth of a paper bag down and spilled a jumble of medical supplies onto the top. She swept her hand over the articles and grinned as Sarah came up to her. “I’ve got enough wrapping to mummify twenty pharaohs and enough peroxide bottles to make them feel it in the afterlife.”
Sarah picked up a bottle of cheap vodka and held it out to her friend. “And this?”
Jenny shrugged. “Cheap pain reliever. I can’t afford to spend that much on your boyfriend.” Sarah pursed her lips and rifled through the rest of the supplies. Jenny leaned over and waved her hand in front of her face. “You okay? You seem kind of out of it.”
Sarah closed her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore.”
Her friend leaned over and sniffed her. She jerked back and waved her hand in front of her face. “What I know is my nose is telling me you need a shower. You smell worse than an alley cat after a long day of dumpster diving.”
Sarah sniffed herself and frowned. “I guess you’re right.”
“Of course I’m right,” Jenny agreed as she spun her friend around and pushed her toward the bedroom occupied by their guest. “Now how about you get a chance of clothes and I’ll get that hot water running.”
Sarah was released at her bedroom. She grasped the knob, but paused. Jenny took a few steps past her before she stopped and half-turned to her hesitant friend. “What’s the matter?”
Sarah dropped her hand from the knob and sighed. “Could I borrow some of your clothes? I think we need to leave him alone for a while.”
Jenny raised an eyebrow. “You sure that’s a good idea? He’s got two feet and an arm in the grave, and we haven’t even mummified him yet.”
Sarah turned to her friend and nodded. “Yeah, I’m definitely sure.”
Jenny leaned toward her friend and narrowed her eyes. “Did you two break up already?”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “We’re not a couple, okay?”
Her friend studied her for a moment longer before she leaned back and shrugged. “All right, you can borrow some clothes. I’ve got a great clown costume from last Halloween that might fit you.”
Sarah frowned. “Jenny.”
Her friend held up her hands. “Okay, okay, no clown costumes.” Her eyes glided down to Sarah’s chest. “So what about that vampire costume I wore two years ago? You’d probably fill it out better than-” Sarah crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her. Jenny sighed and took her friend’s hand. “All right, we’ll find you a nice, normal outfit. With elf shoes.”
“Jenny.”
“You’re so boring.”
Sarah was attired in a long red nightshirt that reached to mid-hip. She pulled at the shirt and glared at Jenny who lay stomach-down on her own bed. She wore a two-piece gray pajama set. “You’re sure you don’t have something else?”
Jenny grinned and shook her head. “Nope.”
“What about what you’re wearing?”
“You would deprive me of my own pj’s?” She lifted her legs and wiggled her feet that were clad in slippers with bunny heads on the toes. “Besides, they match my bunny slippers.”
Sarah plopped herself on the floor beside the bed and rolled her eyes. “How did I ever get stuck with you?”
Jenny stretched over the side of the bed and looked at her upside down. “Fate is a funny thing.”
“Cruel, if you ask me.”
Jenny wagged her eyebrows. “You could show off your new look to your boyfriend.”
Sarah frowned and pushed her friend’s face away from hers. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“One look at you in that shirt and I bet he’d change that.”
“You’re impossible.”
“And adorable.”
Sarah sighed and crawled over to her makeshift bed. It was a bunch of blankets atop cushions swiped from the couch. She lay down and stretched a blanket over herself. Her body ached from the night’s adventures.
Jenny stepped over her and stood beside the light switch near the door. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight. . .” Sarah mumbled as the light was switched off.
Jenny stumbled over her and onto the bed. There was a few moments of shifting as the girls made themselves comfortable, then all was quiet. For a few seconds.
“Sarah?”
“Yeah?”
“You think he could be my boyfriend?”
“I don’t think he’s your type.”
“Jealous?”
Sarah rolled over away from her friend and closed her eyes. “He’s. . .not. . .my boyfriend. . .”
Her voice drifted off with her mind, and soon she was fast asleep. Jenny stared at the mound that was her friend for a long time before she sighed and shook her head. “I can’t be here for you forever, Sar. You’re going to have to find someone, and soon.” She rolled over and all was quiet.
- Writer
