Sam woke up with a start. Where am I? He was slightly panicked. He had never been in a room this dark before. Not a hint of light. Then he remembered, he was at his Aunt’s house and had never stayed in this room before. But man, this was seriously dark. He pushed down that feeling of disorientation and fumbled around, looking for some source of light near the bed. He knew there was a night stand and a lamp. He knocked something off the night stand and there was a sickening sound of broken china. Damn. It was the cup of water he had left there.
He took a few seconds to calm down. One, two three…he counted. It was a trick his father had taught him. If you are ever angry, scared, whatever. Anytime an emotion was threatening to outstrip reason, start counting. Mainly it was a backcountry survival skill, but he used it frequently. He had a bit of a temper and it kept him out of trouble.
Calmer, he reached over and found the lamp right away and with a little feeling around found the switch and flicked it on. Blinded, his eyes took a second to adjust to the sudden onslaught of photons he’d unleased. He blinked his eyes…the photons were bouncing off his cousin’s friend, Amy. She was standing just beyond the foot of his bed, her robe fastened, but not quite. She had been teasing him all evening. Now he realized, belatedly than it had been less teasing and more flirting. His blood was rushing to parts it shouldn’t be rushing to.
“Amy…I don’t think you should be here?” Dammit! He thought. How had that come out as a question?
She toyed with the belt on her robe…it remained fastened but a little less so. She pouted “are you saying I should leave?”
He struggled for words. The answer was obvious, yes go, you shouldn’t be in here. But then they were both old enough and so it really wasn’t so obvious. “You’re my cousin’s friend. Seriously you had better go.” He realized how unconvincing he sounded.
Amy apparently realized it as well which made her move closer. She was now right at the foot of his bed. The robe was hanging on for dear life. He saw part of a shoulder. He couldn’t find any words.
“I. Don’t. Think. You. Want. Me. To. Leave.” She teased. “Because if I do leave, you won’t get the surprise I have for you.” She moved closer.
“Surprise?”
“Hmmm hmmm, Close your eyes.”
The cold water hit him in the face like a ton of bricks. It soaked his pajamas, and all of the bedding. Amy ran laughing and giggling from the room leaving him sitting there embarrassed for being taken in.
Oh…she was gonna get it.
© Glenn R Keller 2021, All Rights Reserved
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