So Much to Learn
Page 30
~*~
As I opened my eyes the next morning it took me a second to figure out whether I was still dreaming or not, as the scene was all too reminiscent of some of the night time imaginings I'd been experiencing in recent weeks. The room was not my sun-shiny yellow, but that gorgeous deep, deep blue of Jack's room which was offset by the white ceiling and light wood floors. Also, and more importantly, I could feel the warm presence of Jack in the bed beside me. We were not quite touching, but were so close that the heat from his body was pulsing against my back.
A contented smile crept across my lips and I gave a little wriggle of pleasure. I could feel the little black dot which was Simone's unhappiness throbbing at the back of my brain, but for the moment, the joy of being close to Jack was keeping it well at bay.
I lay there, basking in the general loveliness of the whole thing, for several minutes and almost dozed off again, lulled by the feeling of warm security I was experiencing. It was like when I had woken up in my bed at home and yet so much better!
Thinking of home, however, jerked me right out of my daze as certain realities started crashing through my thin shield of contentment. My thought process went something along the lines of: home, family, Matt, crap!
My brother was supposed to be coming home today, what if he had taken off early from Bridunna? It was past 10 in the morning now, what if he walked in on this scene? Jack and I hadn't technically done anything, but it certainly wasn't going to look that way to Matt!
And so, even though every particle of my body seemed to be screaming against it, I forced myself to sit up and swing my legs over the edge of the bed. Just as I was about to stand up, however, Jack's arm snaked around my waist and pulled me back into the bed. I fell with a little surprised shriek and found myself pressed against Jack's warm, bare chest. Tipping my head back I found my face centimetres from his and his eyes looking into mine, although still half closed with sleep, made my stomach give a little flip.
"You know normal people just say good morning," I smirked, after all he wasn't the only one who could throw words back in people's faces.
"Good morning," he replied with a sweet smile and I couldn't help grinning in reply.
"And just where did you think you were going?" He asked, after we had smiled inanely at each other for a couple of seconds, and I immediately wished he hadn't said anything. Because now I had to point out that Matt was coming home and I wouldn't be able to do what I really wanted which was to stay in the exact position I was in for the rest of my life. Presumably seeing my face fall his arm around me loosened and he looked at me questioningly.
"I have to go to my own room," I explained. "I can't be here if Matt comes home."
Instead of immediately releasing me as I thought he would have done at the first mention of Matt's name, Jack went very still then said cautiously, "That was Matt I was talking to last night before you threw a cushion at my head."
"Was it?" I said, not really getting the significance.
"Yeah," he confirmed.
There was silence for a moment and, just before I was about to ask exactly why he felt it was important to mention the phone conversation, something from last night floated to the front of my mind. Hadn't Jack said to the person on the other end 'I'll see you Monday night then'?
It’s interesting to note here that the human body reacts much faster than the human mind. Before I had cognitively realised the implications of Matt not coming home until the next evening, my body felt as if an electric shock had just passed through it. All my internal organs stopped what they were doing for a moment and gave a massive leap, and every inch of my skin started prickling in a really weird way.
Finally my mind put two and two together and came up with: Jack and I alone in the flat together all night, and, before I could stop myself, I let out a gasped "Oh!" of understanding.
"Hey." Jack placed light fingers under my chin and looked at me steadily. "It doesn't have to mean anything, OK?"
Beyond my embarrassing, girly, 'Oh' I didn't really think I was ready to speak just yet and Jack must have taken my silence as confusion as he felt he had to clarify his statement.
"I knew before all this Alex stuff came up that Matt was going to stay longer in Bridunna and that was what I was talking about Friday night in the shed, but one word from you and it means nothing." He sounded so desperate to make me realise I was under no obligation that I couldn't help smiling a little bit. "What?" He asked, seeing my expression.
"Nothing," I murmured. "It's just that, if it wasn't for the fact that I haven't brushed my teeth yet, I'd kiss you."
"You would?" Jack tipped his head to one side as if he was thinking then gave a little shrug. "I think you should anyway, I reckon I could take it."
"Cos you're a big tough man?" I said cheekily and he nodded.
"Damn straight."
The next few minutes were somewhat limited in conversation as our mouths were much too busy doing more interesting things than constructing sentences. It didn't, however, get too heavy as, almost as if we had pre-arranged a cut off point, we both pulled away after a while and grinned at each other.
"I think every day should start like that," I said, breathing heavily and resting my head against his shoulder.
"It certainly would beat the average alarm clock," he replied before giving me a gentle poke. "Come on, we should get up, I have a lot of studying to do today."