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I woke having no real recollection of my dream, but I knew Piper had made an appearance because my hands shook. They always shook when I woke after a nightmare starring Piper.
I laid in bed staring at the window. The stars were gleaming. I picked up the alarm clock and glanced at the time. Eight o’clock.
“You going?” I heard a voice ask me from the direction of the little living area.
“Yeah, Bridge, I’m going.”
She sat on the uncomfortable banquette, watching the small television we’d bought. It was the only thing that would fit and not take up the entire trailer. I laughed when we bought it, remembering the forty-eight inch in my bathroom at home.
A knock came at the door. Bridge made a motion to stand, but I stayed her with a hand and got up to answer it myself. I swung the door open to see a very different Jonah than I was accustomed to.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked with a smile.
“Dang, what are you talking about?” he asked, mock dusting off his shoulders. “I always look this good.”
“No, Jonah, you look like a disheveled linebacker on a horse, that’s what you always look like.”
He dug his size five hundred shoe in the ground and ducked his head, his cheeks burning a bright red. He swung his head left then right and avoided my stare.
“You really are a massive goof, aren’t you? Come in, dude.”
He bounded up the steps like a five-year-old instead of the titan he was and ducked inside, removing his cap inside and smoothing his hair out with his hands. I followed behind him and noticed his face burned something close to the color of brick.
“Hey, Bridget,” he said with a lopsided grin.
I rolled my eyes and went to the sink to brush my teeth. I pretended to be distracted with the stars outside while they spoke.
“What’s up, Jonah?” Bridget coolly replied, though I could tell she was affected by how well he’d cleaned up.
“Nothin’ much. Whatcha doin’?” he asked, sitting on the banquette, a cushion between them.
“Oh, just watching a little TV. Same old, same old,” she offered with a smile, but her eyes lingered a little too long on his face.
“Great,” I mumbled around my toothbrush. I rinsed and spit. “I’ll be right out, Jonah,” I said.
I entered the bedroom, and I use that term loosely, of the trailer and shut the accordion doors separating me from the living area. I picked out a few casual things—a pair of worn jeans and a worn button-up. I shook my head at the choices I had. Thinking back on how I used to dress just made me depressed. I still had those things with me, but I couldn’t sport an Armani in this town or I’d call some serious attention to myself, which was the last thing I wanted to do. As I dressed, I listened to Jonah and Bridget talk.
“You look very nice, Jonah,” Bridget offered.
I rolled my eyes.
“Really?” he asked, and I could just imagine his face blowing up a bright red.
“Yes, very handsome.”
“Thank you, Bridget. You look very nice too.”
To this, Bridget laughed loudly. “How would you know, silly! I’m covered in this blanket.”
There was a slight pause before he answered as if he was working up the nerve to say something. Don’t do it. Don’t do it.
“I don’t have to see what you’re wearing to know you look nice, Bridget.”
A longer pause and my hands found my face then dragged painfully slowly down.
“Th-thank you, Jonah. I think that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
I couldn’t take it anymore, so I tucked the accordion doors back.
