Is That You?

[tamaracorine]

They spent their childhood together, next door neighbors and best friends. Bike rides and sleepovers and milkshakes and sugar headaches. It was all shared, and it all changed when he moved away. The house next door was occupied by someone new, and the childhood days became long lost memories that were smiled about but never spoken of.


She found herself deep in music, and he found himself deep in books.


There was a college in Portland, renowned for its music program and renowned for its academics, and there it was that they both arrived after high school ended.


But they were such different people, that it was impossible for them to find each other easily again.

 

[BloomingxxCyanide]

David was nervous about going to college, but more nervous about returning to where he once lived and bonded with so many people. Would someone recognize him? Would they still like him? He wondered who was still living here, and a few times, she crossed his mind. Where was she now? Was she gone too? Was she doing okay? The sudden move was hard on him, but it must of been hard on her too.


David let out a sigh as he sent off an e-mail back to his parents. School was two weeks in, and David thought he was doing just fine. His grades were still good, due to the orientation he had one friend that he chatted with at night, and he found a nice little part-time job at a bookstore sorting and shelving books; something he found a lot of joy in doing given his workload in college. But his parents were pretty consistent with their worried e-mails, always asking if he was eating or warm enough, if he had enough money for textbooks and school things. His dad even hinted at picking up some condoms, but David totally ignored the thought with a flushed face. David and his parents split his rent and utilities - so David could focus more on school than working.


He swung around in his chair and looked at his empty apartment. It was a one bedroom, but he lacked the furniture to really make it home. There was a TV, a small bookshelf already overflowing, a loveseat and a table. His bedroom wasn't any better; just his bed, a closet, a dresser and a stereo. Sighing, David glanced at the time on his desktop and shot up from his chair. He had to return some books to the library or risk a really heavy late fee. Lucky for David, finding the books was easy. Getting to the library before 10pm would be the trick, considering it was 9:30 and it took him 40 minutes to get to the library in the first place. He hastily threw on a heavy sweater and grabbed his backpack with the books in it and rushed out, dodging more and more students as he weaved through the small crowds heading somewhere else on campus.

 

[tamaracorine]

Alex was a mess of sweat. She was a mess of sweat most Thursday nights, actually. She had moved to Portland a few months early, during the summer, to get involved with a local punk band. She played violin for them, and lived in the basement of the house one of them had inherited from their grandfather. During the day, she studied, but at night she played and partied. It was perfect.


The show ended early, and she took some shots of vodka before excusing herself to go home, so that she would be less hungover than normal in class. She stumbled through the campus, from the bar towards the house. Her purple and blue hair was wild around her shoulders, and she was struggling to stay standing.


She knew that she hadn't had that much to drink. Something felt wrong, and there was only one remedy as far as her drunk mind was concerned. She collapsed on the ground and threw up, all over the shoes of an unlucky boy holding a backpack of books. "Drugged. Again." she groaned as she vomited for a second time.

 

[BloomingxxCyanide]

David's path to the library was halted - he went to dodge around the head of purple and blue but instead stood still - mostly from shock and a little grossed out - as the person emptied their stomach. In his mind, David groaned and would either salvage the shoes, or find his beat up sneakers in a box somewhere. But, David was patient, he waited until the person seemed better before he moved carefully. He gingerly picked the girl up by the arm and slung it around him, his stomach churning at the smell of alcohol and then lead her to a nearby bench, listening to the people talk around them.


"Are you alright?" he asked, his nose crinkled. He guided her to sit down on the bench and thought about leaving her there if she gave a reply. The books needed to be back, but his mind nagged at him. She did say drugged, would someone be coming after her? Should he stay with her? "Do you need help home? Or to go somewhere to hide?" he asked again, watching her but hanging onto her in case she slumped over. The gossip around them faded as people left, and eventually there was just a few people making their way somewhere - and did a good job avoiding the mess. David was stumped though - he didn't know where to go from here.

 

[tamaracorine]

Alex frowned as he helped her up, not accustomed to having someone help her like that. She let her head drop, pushing her hair back from her face and wiping her lips. "Just... something in drink..." she muttered, taking a few deep breaths. She finally looked up at him, her face pale from the sickness, "Place to hide would be good... unless you were the one who put somethin' in my drink..." she glared at him, then lurched over to throw up again.


She was a mess. She knew she was. She had thrown herself into college life, not considering the risks of it, and she loved the parties, she loved the music, it made her feel alive, but as she sat beside a boy who felt oddly familiar, she simply felt disgusting. This time, the vomit landed on her own shoes.

 

[BloomingxxCyanide]

"I don't even know where you're coming from." David didn't meant to be so snappy, but the accusation kind of hurt. His face went red as he looked at his backpack. From all the stories he's read, two things have happened: the protagonist forgot his prior commitment and helped with the situation or the protagonist simply walked away. And David was very tempted to do the latter. But she felt strangely familiar to him. And his mind nagged at him again for thinking like a terrible person.


"Do you have a friend's place nearby?" he asked, much more calmer now and looked at the girl. His nose crinkled again at the smell of the vomit, but it was probably the safest way to get whatever was in her system, out. Getting this girl somewhere safe was the first thing on his mind - and he sucked up the hefty late fee for his books. Things like that happen. But this would be a heck of a story to tell his parents in the next e-mail to them.

 

[tamaracorine]

"Nuh." she shook her head weakly, a few tears falling from her eyes as the acidic feeling from the vomit became overwhelming in her mouth. "Need a bus." she mumbled, leaning back and slouching against the back of the bench, her head tilting back so that she could stare at the sky. "Home is somewhere. I don't know where. It's a house. Do you know where a house is?" she asked, tilting her head towards him so she could meet his eyes. The make up she was wearing was running, and she looked miserable.


"My violin!" she exclaimed suddenly, trying to stand up but only falling back down to the bench. "Damnit. My violin. At the bar." she grunted. "But world is spinning... so dizzy. Do you know where my house is?"

 

[BloomingxxCyanide]

David watched her carefully, his hands ready to catch her if she slumped too far over the back of the bench. He felt sorry for the girl, and went to speak up before two things happened - he made eye contact with her and she jumped up about her violin. Despite her ruined make up, David felt something very familiar in her eyes and it caused him to shiver a little bit. Her eyes were really pretty and reminded him of his childhood.


When she fell back down on the bench, David made sure it wasn't too rough of a landing by catching her back. "I don't." he replied rather bluntly. "I know where my place is, but not yours. I've never met you before tonight." He slipped his hand away from her back and rested it on his lap, gently squeezing the backpack between his legs to make sure it was still there. "Will your violin be okay there overnight? I don't think you're going back for it." he commented, looking at her again. What came out of his mouth next made him mentally kick himself. "If you want to, you can stay at my place and just head out early to get it. I'm about fifteen minutes from here."

 

[tamaracorine]

"What?" Alex asked, her eyes widening at the suggestion, but as she looked up at him again, she nodded, "If that's okay." she whispered, a few more tears falling from her eyes. She wasn't a very good drunk, and she never had been, but this was the third time she had been drugged since moving to Portland, and each time it hit her hard - that the place she felt most at home was also the place that put her at the most risk. "You don't have to. Don't just do it to be nice." she muttered.


Her hand moved through her hair, pushing it back from her face again. "I'm Alex, by the way..." she told him quietly. "And you have really sexy hair." she mumbled, smiling wearily at him even though there were still tears in her eyes.

 

[BloomingxxCyanide]

"Not doing it to be nice. Doing it to make sure you're going to be okay." David shot back quietly, and he waited until she was done pushing her hair back before he stood up and helped her up, taking a good hold of her waist and moved her arm around his neck again. He started to walk slowly, knowing that it'd be more than fifteen minutes at this pace, but he didn't want to go too fast. His face had reddened from the comment about his hair, and he just smiled at it a little bit.


After a good half an hour of walking, the pair made it to his building, and then to his apartment. Again, he was confused on what to do, so he looked at her. "Do you want to lay down?" he asked quietly, matching the silence in his apartment. The silence would probably be welcomed to her. "Do you want some water or something? You did vomit a lot, are you okay for drinking liquids?"

 

[tamaracorine]

"Yes please." She nodded, sitting down on the edge of the couch. She put her head in her hands. The walk had done a lot to sober her up, and she was feeling the weight of humiliation that came with a drunken night. Her head was still spinning, and her mind blurry. That would be the drug working.


"Aspirin, if you have it." She requested quietly, scratching at her arm awkwardly. She was in a stranger's apartment, a stranger whose shoes she had vomited on and whose hair she had called sexy. It was not her finest moment.

 

[BloomingxxCyanide]

David made sure she was alright on the couch before he went about cleaning up. He took off his shoes carefully in the bathroom and put them in the tub, grabbing his bottle of aspirin before leaving and heading to the kitchen to grab some water for the girl. Quietly coming back to the living room, he held out the pills and cup of water, watching her. "If you need to change, I don't have any female clothes but I have some older shirts you can change into. Bedroom's down the hall whenever you want to lay down." he said and when his hands were free, he gestured at her shoes. "I can put them in the tub so they don't get all over the floor and clean them up later." he added in.

 

[tamaracorine]

She removed her shoes slowly and nodded, kicking them feebly away from herself before taking the water and pills. She put two pills in her hand and tossed them into her mouth, then gulped some water down. "I'll sleep out here. I'm already imposing by being here. I'm not kicking you out of your bed." She looked up at him, "do you have a name, kind stranger?" She asked, tilting her head curiously. "Or should I call you Lancelot? He was a knight in shining armour, right?"

 

[tamaracorine]

She removed her shoes slowly and nodded, kicking them feebly away from herself before taking the water and pills. She put two pills in her hand and tossed them into her mouth, then gulped some water down. "I'll sleep out here. I'm already imposing by being here. I'm not kicking you out of your bed." She looked up at him, "do you have a name, kind stranger?" She asked, tilting her head curiously. "Or should I call you Lancelot? He was a knight in shining armour, right?"

 

[BloomingxxCyanide]

David smiled at the Lancelot remark, and quietly disappeared to throw her shoes in with his, but he returned - just stayed close to his bookshelf. He'd have to return the books tomorrow before class. "The only similarity Lancelot and I have in common is being pulled away from familiarity. He was taken by the Lady of The Lake as an infant, and I was taken away from here when I was in high school. Bit of a year gap, but it remains." he replied, his face flushing lightly. "David'salright." he rushed out as he ducked his head down to look at the familiar titles on his shelf. Did he have a book involving Lancelot, or was that from something he read years ago?


"Blanket?" he asked next - and almost carefully. He looked over to her. "Probably a pillow too?"

 

[tamaracorine]

"Thank you." Alex smiled at him, relaxing and leaning back. Tiredness had overtaken her drunkenness and she simply wanted to close her eyes. "Hey... Do you have somewhere I could wash these? I've got to go to class tomorrow and won't be able to get home... You can say no. You've done enough."

 

[BloomingxxCyanide]

David stayed quiet, but left the living room for about three minutes grabbing a blanket and a pillow off his bed. He came back and gently placed it beside Alex, and then held out his hands for what she needed washed. "I'm going to up for a bit longer - shoes need to be cleaned up so I can clean whatever you need." he replied, a small smile donning his face. Tension and uneasiness aside, he was used to her there and it seemed like his more nurturing nature was coming out. And she was very pretty - even with the smudged make up. "Do you want to change too?" he offered, remembering his sweater and wiggling out of it, tossing it over his computer chair.

 

[tamaracorine]

"Yes please." She wriggled out of her shirt, leaving herself in just a bra, and then wiggled out of her tight jeans. She handed them both to David and then covered herself with the blanket. "Thank you, Lancelot." She grinned up at him from her position on the couch. "I owe you. Big time." She closed her eyes and was asleep within seconds.


As morning arrived, she ran to the bathroom and kneeled over the toilet, throwing up nothing but liquid and stomach acid.

 

[BloomingxxCyanide]

Frankly, David was taken back by the sudden strip show. He quickly looked away, partially to hide the blush on his cheeks and to give her some privacy. Hearing her speak, he turned back around and couldn't help but grin back. He watched her fall asleep, and then looked at her clothes and moved his free hand to comb through his hair. This was an eventful night. He turned off the lights and made sure to be as quiet as possible as he cleaned the shoes and her clothes and hung them up to dry out, and the shoes went under his living room window to air out. When that was all said and done, he slipped into his bedroom, keeping the door opened just a bit and changed into his pajama pants before turning the stereo on low and falling asleep on top of his covers.


He was woken up by the sounds of Alex in the bathroom. Groggily, he stumbled up and turned off his stereo, blanking on putting on a shirt before he left his room. He peaked around the corner of the bathroom and waited until he had a chance to speak up. "I guess asking if you felt better would be redundant." he said, walking into the bathroom and gently pulling back Alex's hair. It felt... right to do that, but he kept his body far enough away to pull away without the risk of a smack.

 

[tamaracorine]

Alex laughed and nodded, "quite so." She leaned over and threw up again, then kneeled back and sighed, wiping her eyes. "Thank you." She looked up at him with a slight smile. "I just realised that I have no make up here. How the hell do I go to class without make up? That's impossible. And I need my violin. I hope they kept it safe..." She pushed herself to her feet. "Sorry about the nudity..."

 

[tamaracorine]

(At dentist office. So if I disappear for a bit, I'll be back...)

 

[BloomingxxCyanide]

David listened to Alex talk, his mind doing the nagging bit again. "How close do you live to campus?" he asked, as he let her hair down and then turned to his linen closet and pulled out a towel and a washcloth. "If you're close enough, I could run to get you violin while you head home to get make up and then we meet somewhere." He turned the faucets on his sink to a warm temperature and soaked the cloth, wringing it out and handing it to her. "I mean, get rid of the old make up and you look just fine. What's one day without your "war paint", as I've heard some women call make up, a party gone right?"


He realized that sounded really mean and rude, so he let out a sigh. "Sorry. That was uncalled for. I'm just pretty bad at making friends, and interacting with other people." He ran a hand through his messy hair and he turned to his mirror, a clear frown on his face. "Sorry about the non-sexy hair." he shot back, glancing at her in the mirror with a smug smile.

 

[tamaracorine]

"It's still sexy." She told him with a small smirk as she moved to the mirror to begin washing the make up from her face. She looked different without the make up - calmer, and more like a young woman, less like a rock star. She smiled at David. "I really do owe you. I'd love you to get my violin. It's the same one I've had since I was a kid..."

 

[BloomingxxCyanide]

David was surprised she didn't call him creepy - from the sheer amount of watching he did he was expecting it. He smiled back at her as he reached behind her and grabbing his hair gel from the basket on top of the toilet. He fiddled with his hair beside Alex, and when he was done, worked around her to get his toothbrush and toothpaste to brush his teeth. He still kept an eye on her, and nodded his head towards the shower with her clothes hanging over the bar. Since his mouth was full of toothbrush, it could of meant, "There are your clothes." or "Take a shower." How she deciphered it was up to her. He spat out the foamy toothpaste and then did something funny - he stared at himself in the mirror and made a face.


Realizing how silly he might of looked, David explained. "When I was a kid, I had a friend that I used to do that with on days that we didn't feel like ourselves. I apparently carried it with me for days that I need a good start." His face was pink and he quickly left the bathroom to do something that wasn't around a silly part of his morning ritual. He wandered into the kitchen and pulled out some bread and peanut butter - his favourite thing to eat. "Bread might help with your stomach, if you can eat." he called out, preparing himself a sandwich and nearly bit into it. He just brushed his teeth! What was he doing? He paused, looking at the sandwich. "Your violin. What bar is it at?" he called out again as he bagged the sandwich.

 

[tamaracorine]

"Main bar on campus." Alex called from the shower, walking out a few moments later. She had her hair slicked back into a plait, the style she always had it in after a shower, ever since she was a child and her mother did it for her. She was dressed in her clean clothes as she walked towards the kitchen, leaning against the bench. Her eyes, which had previously been clouded by dark eyeliner, were a crisp green again. She smiled at David. "Thanks for everything. And for helping with my violin."


She looked at him with her head tilted slightly, "Do I have any classes with you? You look so familiar. Maybe I've seen you around." she frowned, chewing her bottom lip - another habit she had held since childhood.