Ace's Ch1

    When I finally gave in and opened my eyes on that bright chilly morning I knew what would happen next, maybe I knew before I even opened them which would explain why I was so reluctant to do so. As my eyes adjusted to the light streaming in from the crack in between the Navy colored curtains and across my room onto the silk purple comforter and across my face I knew today was inevitably going to be the worst day of my life, and that’s really saying something because I’ve had some pretty bad ones thus far. I stretched out my arms and legs preparing to slide my feet out from under the covers and onto the cold hard wood floor when I heard a slight groan from next to me. I had to resist looking over I knew that if I even so much as peeked at the person sharing my bed id never, not for one second be able to do what I had to do. I had to get out of there and I had to do it quickly and quietly. My life depended on it.

Sure it was my room, in my apartment but he'd find his own way out it's not like he lacked direction and he'd most likely have a major hangover and be in a rush to get away from confrontation any way  I I figured. So I grabbed my fleece robe off of the hook near the bed and slipped out the door closing it silently behind me allowing myself to exhale only after I hear the knob click behind me, ensuring that I made a near silent exit.

      I spun around gracefully due to my sock slipping and the polished floor and faced he chaotic mess that is where my living room used to be. I honestly can’t say what disturbed me more, the leftover food littering the counter tops, the stickiness of the spilled beverages on the floors glistening in the sunlight, or the bodies sprawled out snoring and drooling on my sofas. Of course two of those bodies belong to my roommates Branson and Clive, not that I could exactly decipher where their location was in the entanglement of limbs otherwise I'd have kicked them awake with no mercy. A last hoorah party had seemed like a good idea at the time, I mean we had all finally made it to our senior year, this was the last Saturday night before school started up again on Monday, and Tuesday is my 17th birthday. I had good parents not that i had lived with them after I turned 16, hard to believe it’s been almost a year already since they took off on “business” but they were still as supportive as they could be. I pulled the black hair tie from my wrist with my teeth and scooped my wavy black hair into a messy bun like pile atop my head and tucked a few stray strands behind my ear before tip toeing over sleeping bodies attempting to make my way to the kitchen for a glass of orange juice.

            For three sixteen year olds on our own we didn't party all that much our boss never would have approved and the whole point of tossing us out on our own at such a young age is mainly for us to prove our capabilities to him anyway, so we stayed out of trouble as much as three teens living together can manage. I had never personally met the “boss” I don't think Clive or Branson have either. If they did they never mentioned it. We were all just raised by parents who worked for the same man, they told us the same stories and we respected the words “because the boss says so” without contempt or question because that's what we were all taught to do. Our parents didn't mind us moving in together two teenage boys and one teen girl. I’d like to say it was because they trusted me but in reality it was boss’s orders and things have been this way for hundreds of years. At least that's what we’re told anyway. I opened the fridge and peered in surprised that there was still plenty of beer inside yet no OJ. I closed the door with a disappointed huff and picked up some dingy plates from the counter and tossed them into the overflowing trash can, tied up the bag and stuck a new one in. Cleaning this place was going to take all day and Lou was supposed to stop by this evening to give us all our more “permanent" assignments. Until graduation we only need to focus on life and education after graduation is when we became useful to him. I was actually excited not only to finally have the opportunity to meet this mystery boss man but to discuss colleges with him. If he approved he’d pay our full tuition anywhere we chose to go. That's what mother had said when she called last week. That and to make sure I made the best possible impression. Moms are always worried about those sorts of things.

That's when I heard my bedroom floor first the creak followed by the sound of the doorknob turning. Yes I have overly sensitive hearing I always have my mother used to say “That’s what makes you so special my Ace". Panicked I looked for someplace to go the very last thing I wanted to do was talk to the guy currently making his escape from my bed. With no place to run I grabbed a towel from the counter and ducked down behind the breakfast bar. I held my breath and listened to him make his way across the living room and to the front door, I could sense him checking the bathroom and hear him call my name. I didn't answer I just kept praying to myself that he would walk out the front door without really looking to hard for me, and he did. Relieved I rose up from the floor and when my face was even with the breakfast bar I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw a set of Blue eyes staring over the counter at me

"Ah Dammit Branson” I screamed as I tossed the dirty dish towel at his face.

He laughed and in his hearty southern deep voice replied

“And mornin’ to you Ace. Y’all back behind that counter hiding from your drunken mistakes?"

“Very funny... It was not a mistake WE just have too much to do today for me to have the time or the patience to deal with the neediness of boys." I scowled tossing some more unidentifiable gunk into the trash. My head was still spinning from the night and I was already feeling irritable and alone. It’s not like I truthfully didn't want to talk to the guy I mean I really liked him I always had and nothing happened except some seriously passionate making out before we both fell asleep , but I couldn't allow myself the luxury of thinking about any of that until after our meeting with Lou. This meeting was just too important. My mother called everyday this week asking us if we were prepared, Branson’s mother and Clive’s father had called a few times as well.

"Ah boys" Branson sighed running his hand through his dark blond hair." Speaking of did you see mine...? He's still out cold."

“I did Bran and you scored yourself a nice piece of man meat there." I glanced at the heap of man mass slopped half on half off of our leather love seat, his underwear showing over the top of his jeans and face planted deep in the sofa so you couldn’t see his face just the back of his brown haired head.

“I know" He smirked.

Branson was as southern as they come with an authentic southern fried drawl and everything. He looked like he climbed right off his John Deere tractor and into our school. He appeared when we were about 12 almost out of nowhere, said his parents claimed they were reassigned to Maryland from his home town of Texarkana. He was as southern as breakfast biscuits with gravy, and "Bless your hearts". He was also as gay as they come. Boy did that boy love boys. His parents never seemed happy with the fact but Clive and I didn't mind. For me it was nice, living with two boys can be rough on a girl especially teenage ones but Branson was as good at fixing the leaky sink as he was at helping me style my hair and that was just fine by me.

         “Good morning Aces, Branson” Clive mumbled in a voice so husky you’d the he smoked a pack a day which I assure you is not the case. Clive is a strictly non-smoker not only that, but he loves to remind those of us who do on occasion light up what a disappointment we are. He reached above me and pulled a beat up ole coffee mug from the cupboard and filled it with water. His eyes were a deep dark brown matching perfectly the shade of his hair. His skin was so smooth it would have made Barbie herself jealous and through his slightly too well fitting tee you could see the outline of the muscles that he seemed to barely need to work to maintain. I took in a deep breath as he poured the water in the machine; even after living with him for almost a year the deep musky scent of pine and sandalwood always took me by surprise.

“Coffee” he asked looking at me.

I only groaned. I loved me a good cup of Joe and Clive knew it. He’d make me a cup next, he always did.

Branson methodically took the broom from the closet and began to sweep while groggy guests awoke and made their way to the front door. One by one the arose from their intoxicated slumbers and headed to the bathroom than right out the door, muttering various forms of “ Thanks”, and “great party”, and other such appropriate goodbye messages on the way.

         I cleaned the kitchen, filled three trash bags, wiped all the counters, scrubbed the dishes and mopped while Branson and Clive tackled the living room. Neither Branson, nor Clive, nor I seemed much in the mood for chit chat that morning. I’m not sure if you would say it was due to massive hangovers or the ominous dread of our impending visit from Lou but we all pretty much worked side by side drinking our respective coffee’s in a comfortable silence.

         It took us somewhere around three hours to have the place sparkling and we still  had a good few hours before the visit. I took off to the bathroom in desperate need of a shower. There is something about cleaning that just makes you feel slimy and nasty. I turned the water to the hottest possible temperature and let my robe fall to my feet as I tentatively stepped in.  I let the scent of the Lavender aroma therapy body scrub fill the bathroom as I lathered my thick hair with more shampoo than necessary. I picked up my razor and began the tedious process of shaving reliving in my mind the pleasant evening I had. Thinking about how James knew all the right things to say, and how we pretty much ditched the party and spent the whole evening on the balcony talking and looking up at the stars. I’d known him for years now and he was easy to have a crush on, lots of girls in our high school did. He was going to Princeton in New Jersey next year to become some kind of successful scholar no doubt; he was easy on the eyes but heavy on the compliments, just the way I like ‘em I thought giggling out loud to myself. That was when I felt it... the air around me became cold even though the water was still hot. I fidgeted with the knob trying to make it warmer but it was as far as it went. I slid the shower curtain to the side a bit a saw it in the mirror. The dark shape when I looked to the opposite wall there was nothing there, hurriedly I glanced back toward the mirror hoping to identify the object casting the creepy shadow. The shadow was gone and in the fog on the mirror someone had written a message with their finger. It read:

You have not all the facts

Proceed with caution

         I let out a scream so sharp and brittle I had no doubt the deaf man three apartments below us cringed.

I shouldn’t have been surprised when Clive busted down the bathroom door with his shoulder and Branson and he came storming in.

“What happened?”

“Are you okay?”  They shouted in unison.

All I could do was point at the writing on the mirror as Branson handed me a towel. I realized I was standing there naked and pointing at the mirror. I quickly wrapped the towel around my body as i stepped out of the shower and felt the heat rise to my cheeks as i tried to contain how mortifying it really was that they both had no doubt just seen me in my birthday suit. The letters on the mirror had already begun to fade as the cool air from the other room followed the boys into the bathroom and as hot as my running shower water was it was no help to the fading fog. Clive saw it and his eyes squinted.

“What is that even supposed to mean?” He said bitterly “why would you write that Ace I don’t get it?”

“I didn’t write it!” I stepped out of the shower and ran my hand along the wall where the figure should have been.  Clive glared and me and I was more than thankful when Branson chimed in with “She’s telling the truth”

“How do you know that?” Clive demanded,

“Because I do” Branson glared at Clive as if he was” all knowing” in some way and then stormed out of the room slamming the door behind him.

Clive looked back at me in my towel hair still soapy and I looked down at the ground. I don’t know why he intimidated me.

“Someone’s feeling a bit emotional” He grumbled looking at the back of the door Branson had so kindly slammed in his face, “It’s okay Ace I believe you I just don’t know how it got there. Maybe one of the kids at the party was screwing around or something.”

“ No “ I brushed passed him and headed to my bedroom I called back over my shoulder to the both of them knowing full well that their hearing was as good as mine. Maybe that alone should have struck me as peculiar, and I said

“I know what I saw and it wasn’t good” Before seizing the opportunity to get a tad emotional myself and slamming my own bedroom door behind me.

         I flopped down onto my bed and inhaled the scent of James lingered in my sheets and there was a note on my bedside table asking me to call him this week.  I sighed and rolled over to grad my ear buds and turned on my iPod, and slowly I dozed into a comfortable and restful sleep.