I want to give a special thanks to Tigersman for editing this for me. He did an amazing job fixing all my mistakes.
Feed back is always greatly appreciated.
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I heard the alarm go off but ignored it. Guess I forgot to turn it off last night. Originally, I was suppose to work but my boss called giving me the weekend off. About time, I asked her weeks ago if I can get the weekend off. She doesn't like giving people days off all that much. She gives you a schedule and expects you to follow it and not request any other days off besides the ones you have. I guess she doesn't like change.
I rolled over and hit the alarm when it didn't turn off. I glanced at the clock 6:43. That's when I realized, it was my phone. I groaned and rolled over and put my pillow over my face. It stopped ringing, but not even a minute later it was ringing again. I frowned again and threw my pillow before answering. I knew who it was by the ring tone.
"Yes?" I said, my eyes still shut.
"Hey Jess," Mark said, "sorry I woke you." Clearly not sorry enough because you still woke me.
Mark is my younger brother. He works nights and sometimes forgets what time it is. He works twelve hour shifts as a police officer. Sometimes I feel like he doesn't know the difference between A.M and P.M anymore. But this time he clearly knew.
"What do you want?" I asked annoyed. He is getting the full blunt of my attitude due to the fact I was woken up and hadn't had my coffee and it's not even eight yet.
"Are you going to be home today?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm off all weekend," I said. If he says he wants to come over or is outside, I'm hanging up and not getting up until two.
"Great. Plan on stopping by later today if it's alright, maybe 12:00? I don't know what you have planned for the day."
"Fine. But next time, why don't you call at 5 or you know maybe 3 in the morning?" I was glad we could hang out, don't get me wrong. I had been so busy with my own job and him working night shift, it was hard. But I couldn't help the sarcasm that slipped through.
"Sorry, I just got off work. I wasn't really thinking," he said.
"It's fine, I like wake up calls." I was crabby, yes but he also knows this is who he gets when he calls me early. This isn't the first time.
"Alright. I'll let you go back to sleep. Real quick, how are you doing?" he asked
"I'm fine," I said, hanging up the phone. I put the phone back on the bedside table, pulled the covers over my head and went back to sleep.
When I finally did fully wake up at ten, I got a shower, got dressed and spent the remainder of the morning eating a bowl of cereal and flipping through the channels. I kept an eye on the clock and texted Mark.
'You still coming out?'
After ten minutes of no response I figured he must have fallen asleep. I sighed; I haven't been able to hang with anyone lately. My best friend Kate is with her family in Georgia and currently Alyssa is too busy giving head to random guys she meets on Tinder. I totally support the whole hoe phase, we all been there, but it should be a phase. She's wanting it to be permanent. I just let her go. I don't want her crying to me when she gets a disease because I know damn well she isn't using protection.
The one person I really missed was my sister Sarah. She had died in a car crash last year and ever since things haven't been the same with me or Mark.
Mark works night shift; that's how he learns to get through it I guess. He works then when he gets off, he passes out.
I try to talk with my mom every so often but even she has been distant with me. Seems like no one has really been coping with it.
I get up off the couch and head to the kitchen putting my bowl in the sink and grab a Gatorade from the fridge just when the doorbell buzzes.
A little half smile spreads on my face. I set my drink on the counter and head for the door.
When I opened the door, I was expecting Mark, but the guy who stood on my doorstep made my heart stop and my mouth run dry.
James stood on my doorstep with his long black hair and the same blue eyes. He was wearing a simple black short sleeve shirt with pants that just clung to his hips.
James was an old friend from high school that when he graduated, he went off to college. We stayed close and we still talked but I hadn't seen him in four years. It was good to see nothing has quite changed with him.
"Hey stranger," he said with the same charming smile I remember from school.
I smiled and before I could stop myself, I hugged him, hard.
"What are you doing here?" I asked and my smile got bigger as he hugged me back and gave me a little squeeze like he always used to do before letting go.
I stepped aside letting him come in while looking behind him and not seeing any car.
"How'd you get here?" Then it dawned on me. "Mark dropped you off."
He smiled. "Yeah, he was going to stay too but he was tired from work. He wanted just me and you to catch up a bit. He'll be by later on today." He sat down on the couch and glanced at the TV. "Plus said he wanted to stop by and see his girl"
"Yeah. You just get in today?" I asked
"Nah, plane landed yesterday. Spent the day with mom. Now I'm spending the day with you." He smiled. "I'm planning to move back down here. Figured I could move back to be closer to my mom and all, be closer to you."
I smiled. Standing by the couch. "Do you want anything to drink or eat?" I asked.
"No thank you, I'm good," he said and I sat down beside him. He gave me another little hug and my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. Oh, did I mention I have major feeling for him ever since high school?
"It's good to see you. You look like you haven't changed much," I said honestly.
He nodded. "You've changed though, look beautiful. How you been?"
I blushed. "Thanks, I've been good. Hanging in there." He brushed a stray hair behind my ear and my smile got bigger; I was pretty sure my face was going to crack at this rate.
He smiled his big boyish smile. "Aww, did someone miss me?"
I laughed. "Of course!"
"I missed you too," he said.
"So, tell me about your trip. How was your flight?" I asked.
"It was good. You don't want to hear about that; it was just a boring flight. And you already know how college has been. Oh, and I'm sorry I haven't talked to you in like a week. I wanted to keep everything a surprise," he said still smiling.
"I'm glad for the surprise," I said. We sat there staring at each other for what felt like a minute before I broke the awkward silence. "So, what do you want to do?" I asked.
"Up to you, taking you guys out to dinner at five and Mark is meeting us there," he said looking around the room.
"Not a lot has changed since high school. I've left it about the same way my dad had it. The only difference is there's more of my paintings on the wall."