pushes me back, running his eyes down the length of my body. I grab the top of the towel, making sure it stays securely in place. I feel very vulnerable and I know my face turns crimson.
“Sorry…I’ll…uhhh...leave you to…get dressed.” He is blushing too and won’t look at me. He swiftly brushes past and leaves the room, shutting the door in the process. I’ve never seen him blush before. It’s adorable.
I grab a pair of jean shorts and a black shirt. It’s a little tight across my chest, but loose on the stomach. It reveals a little more skin that I am comfortable with, but I need to do laundry, so it’ll have to do. I walk downstairs and find Claire, Tom, Colton, and David all sitting in the living room. I am surprised to see them considering how early it is, but happy nonetheless.
Colton jumps up from his seat and runs towards me, engulfing me in a hug. “Are you okay? Do you still hurt?”
I laugh at his concern, “I feel great. How long was I asleep?”
Claire comes up to me and gives me a small hug. “It’s been about 36 hours. You’re body needed it.”
“Thirty-six? I was out for over a day?”
Colton puts his arm across my shoulder, “I hope you didn’t want to go to graduation, because you kind of missed it.”
“Oh! I missed graduation?” I say with mock sadness. Graduation isn’t on the top of my priorities right now.
Tom walks up to me, “I’m glad to see you up and about. You scared us there.”
“You must be hungry,” says Claire. At that moment, my stomach decides to loudly growl. I look down at my stomach, and back up at everyone.
“I must be.”
I follow Claire into the kitchen, where she has pancakes already made, cooling on a plate. I grab three, and slather them with peanut butter, and drench them in syrup. I am so hungry, I feel like I hadn’t eaten in…well over a day. Claire pats my shoulder, and kisses my temple, “I’m glad you’re feeling better. I have to go into the shop today. Alex called in sick this morning.” I nod, not able to speak with the food in my mouth.
Tom turns to me and thumps me on the back, “I’m going to shower. I’ll be back down in a little while.”
Colton and David sit across from me. David hasn’t spoken to me since I’d come downstairs and averts his gaze every time I look at him. When I finish eating, I drop my fork loudly onto my plate and look at him.
“Are you going to avoid me forever?”
Colton looks at David, “Why are you avoiding her?”
“I’m not avoiding you.”
“You can’t even look at me.”
Colton is clearly confused. “What’s happened?”
David clears his throat and turns towards his brother, “I…uhh… well…” He stutters.
“He walked into my room this morning after I had showered. I answered the door and he rushed in and gave me a hug and then freaked out when he realized I was only wearing a towel.” He starts blushing again.
“That’s all? It’s not like you saw her naked or anything,” says Colton.
“I know. I know…It was just embarrassing. I shouldn’t have barged in like that. Thank goodness you couldn’t hear my thoughts. You didn’t read my mind, right?” I shake my head.
Colton scoffs, “What guy wouldn’t think inappropriate things if they saw a beautiful girl in just a towel?” I feel my eyes widen and eyebrows rise at their conversation. My face turns even redder. They seem to have forgotten that I am standing across from them. I clear my throat and they both turn to me. A look of surprise crosses both of their faces.
“So….on a different note, I met Liam again.”
David looks happy for the topic change. Colton’s expression is indecipherable. “What happened?” he asks.
“I don’t know exactly. I woke up in the middle of a field, similar to the one where I first met him. He came and sat down beside me. We talked for a while and I found out that he is actually a real person; not a figment of my imagination. He’s a mage like us. He said he was…a dream-walker?”
David’s eyes widen, “He’s a dream-walker? That’s incredibly rare.”
Logan walks into the kitchen at that moment. “Morning, Sleeping Beauty, how are you feeling?” I look behind me to make sure that he’s talking to me. Logan laughs and nods. “Yes, I’m talking to