She lay there for a few minutes, half-asleep. She actually fantasized about slipping into her nice, clean sheets and maybe reading until being overtaken by sleep, and then not waking up 'til noon. She smiled and mumbled, 'What a terrible friggin' day."
She wasn't able to fully relax because there was some turmoil below her, in the kitchen, then the thunder of heavy footsteps climbing the stairs.
Erika sat up and groaned, "Oh no." Couldn't Jenna let her enjoy one simple bath?!
And, as expected, Jenna rapped on the bathroom door, then came in before Erika could tell her to piss off. Tears ran down her face and she kept running her hands through her hair, smearing tears and snot and God-knew-what else into that mousse trap she called a hairdo.
Erika and Jenna had been best friends since kindergarten, so she wasn't super annoyed that Jenna saw her naked. What DID annoy her was that the girl had burst in on her during the 15 minutes a week she had to herself. She threw an accusatory chin at her and spread her arms, as if to say, "You had better have one hell of an explanation for this!"
But Jenna was lost within herself, full of tears and self pity, "He dumped me! I know he dumped me, Erika! He won't answer my texts!"
"Honey, I"M not answering your texts! Just give it 'til the morning. I'm sure Jesse will call you then, and then all this will be long forgotten. Now, can I finish my bath before the water gets cold?"
Jenna slumped to the floor, next to Erika's discarded clothes, and buried her face in her hands to sob. Erika slumped and laid her chin on the side of the tub. This night was going to be a long one, and one without sleep. Erika reached out for her friend, but didn't know exactly what to say. Maybe she didn't need to say anything. Maybe all she needed was just to be there for her friend. Listening was often more important than the words you wanted to say.
"Jenna... why don't you go to my room and I'll be there in a minute. Okay?"
Jenna sniffed, "Okay."
There was another rumble on the stairs. Erika was sure it was her brother coming to mess with her, but she wasn't in the mood for his shenanigans, "Mike! I swear to God!"
A male figure did burst through the door, but it wasn't her brother.
It was Jenna's.
Erika scrambled to cover up her exposed body parts, a furry of arms and legs splashing to cover what she could, "Taylor!"
Taylor, dressed in skinny jeans and Timberlands, his baseball cap perpetually sideways, handed Jenna her phone and announced, "It's Jesse."
Jenna squealed and reached and stood up.
Taylor suddenly became aware that he was an intruder on her sister's best friend's bath time, and he took a step back to fully appreciate the scene before him with a smirk, 'Whoa..."
Erika slunk as far as she could behind the wall of tub and thrust one arm over, toward the door, "Out, Taylor! Out!"
Taylor slipped into his Don Juan mode and nodded, "It's okay, Eriks, babe. You ain't got nothin' I ain't seen, like, a THOUSAND times."
"Please," she sneered, "the only boob you've ever seen is what you download."
Jenna grabbed for her phone, "Sweetie? Hi!"
Erika growled to her best friend, "Jenna, why the hell did you bring Taylor with you?"
Jenna, her face still full of snot and tears, said, "I couldn't drive in the state I was in!"
"You let Taylor drive?! He's FIFTEEN, Jenna!" To which Taylor answered with a jingle of the keys.
Erika's mom called up from the bottom of the stairs, "I'm sorry about Taylor, Hon! He said it was important!"
The boy spread his arms wide and laughed, "I am a handful!"
At that point, Jenna stopped talking to her Immortal-Beloved-Of-The-Week and looked into the tub, "Erika, when did you guys get a spa?"
"We didn't. Wha-?"
The water was bubbling and thrashing around her. Strange lights illuminated her body from below, overpowering the ones in the ceiling.
"Whoa, Eriks. Did you throw a toaster in there or somethin'?"
Both brother and sister leaned over the tub for a closer inspection. Normally, Erika would have shooed them away to regain her privacy, but she too was caught in the wonder of whatever the hell was going on in her bathtub.
Suddenly, Jenna dropped her phone. Taylor reached out to snag it before it hit the water, but he missed it. Not only that, but in doing so, he dropped the car keys, and both dropped into the frothing bath water. Instinctively, Jenna and Taylor reached out for the fallen objects.
But just as their fingers touched the water, a swirling light encompassed them all.
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