She walked across the floor quickly. The worn and faded oak floor was cold on her bare feet. Goose bumps raced up her naked legs, but terminated where the bottom of his t-shirt met the middle of her thighs. She plopped down on the couch, careful not to spill the bowl of Marshmallow Matey’s she held in her hands. The boy who lived here was still asleep. His roommate was never around, she was probably at her boyfriend’s apartment. She turned on the television. MTV was playing a marathon of “Undressed”. She found that as acceptable breakfast entertainment, and dug in. She felt there was something comfortable about this tiny apartment.
The boy woke and sleepily shambled down the hall to the living room, pausing to take in the scene before him. She sat on his couch, slurping up the last of the milk from the cereal bowl, wearing nothing but his Get Up Kids t-shirt and a pair of boy shorts. He couldn’t help but grin. He hadn’t seen her in two years, but she happened to be at the same show he was at the night before, and now here she sat in his living room.
She saw him standing there grinning. She could tell immediately this had been a mistake. She loved him, but she knew he loved someone that no longer existed. It had been two years since they had last seen each other, and that distance fueled much of what led up to this point. She started sobbing.
He stood there, saw the color go from her face, and saw her start crying. He walked over to her and put his arm around her. She shrugged away from him. He again tried to just touch her, to provide some comfort. But all she did was stand up crying, and walked back to the bedroom. He attempted to follow, but she locked him out. He pleaded with her to open the door, to just let him in, and to talk about whatever was bothering her. He watched her open the door, and walk out fully dressed, and leave without saying a word.
She couldn’t leave fast enough. Every minute there had felt familiar and comfortable and warm and impossible. She walked out the door, not even saying goodbye. She walked down the street, talking herself back to being calm and composed. When she got to the corner, she waited for the #4 bus. She wanted to put a million miles between herself and that apartment.
