Page 27 of Spinning Out of Control

He nodded eagerly, then frowned a bit. “I’m afraid I don’t have much in the way of food, only liquids.”

I shrugged. “Hey, that’s what grocery delivery is for.”

Teracht beamed. “I do have everything delivered anyway.”

I nodded. “I should clean up, but I’ll do an online order and get some stuff. Food, maybe a couple toiletries.” I wanted to brush my teeth. “If that’s cool with you.”

“Yes, of course!” he said eagerly, and I laughed.

“Awesome. Can I use your shower?”

Teracht nodded, motioning up the stairs to the second floor. “Yes.”

“Is that the only thing up there that you use?” I asked curiously, realizing that I had never seen him go into any of that area while I had been here.

“Pretty much. There are two bedrooms, but I sleep on my web down here, so they are open.”

All this space, and he lived by himself. That must have been lonely. “Okay. Is there a place I can charge my phone? My charging cord is in my jacket pocket.”

He nodded. “I’ll get it for you,” he offered, then suddenly reached down to slide me off the web that had kept me perfectly in place for hours. He set me on the ground like a parent lowering a baby who was learning to walk. “Thanks.” He nodded, moving over to grab my charger as I gathered my clothes. “I’ll order some breakfast, and then I’ll order some groceries and stuff. Do you want anything?”

He placed the cord on top of my clothing pile. “No, I am fine.”

“Okay,” I said, then headed upstairs. It was a little slow going, as the stairs, wall, and banister were covered with an intricate pattern of webbing. It wasn’t slippery, but the texture was still new to me, and despite his reassurances, I was still concerned I might break the webbing he worked so hard to create. Teracht pointed to the left. “In the middle there.”

“Thanks. I’ll be down in a bit,” I said, and he nodded.

I closed myself in the bathroom, figuring ordering breakfast would be my first priority. I was actually planning to stay at Teracht’s house all weekend? The idea had crossed my mind, but I honestly had thought that our date last night would have turned into a “Netflix and chill” situation, and then I would go home again, or leave in the morning. But it wasn’t like I had anything there that needed my attention. Hell, I didn’t even have a plant or a fish to worry about keeping alive.

I placed a delivery order with the nearest restaurant that was open, and I added on a chocolate milkshake for Teracht as well. Maybe he’d like it. I made sure to tip extra well for the early-morning delivery. Then I turned on the shower. I stepped in, realizing that there was no shampoo or soap, so I just scrubbed as best I could. And of course, it was only after that I realized there also was no towel. Drip dry it was then. I didn’t want to slip on the bathroom floor, so I grabbed my phone that I had left to charge on the counter and began to add some things from the local store to a cart. A towel set, toothbrush and toothpaste, a comb, deodorant, a pack of underwear and undershirts, some soap and shampoo, toilet paper. Then I started adding groceries. Nothing too crazy, and not too much, since I wasn’t sure I was going to be here the whole weekend. It wasn’t like I was moving in or anything. I made sure to change the delivery address to Teracht’s house, and again, I added an extra-large tip.

Once I was sure I wasn’t going to die on the tile floor, I climbed out of the shower, using my undershirt as a makeshift towel to wipe away remaining wetness. I got dressed, rinsed my mouth, ran my fingers through my hair, and checked myself in the large mirror in front of the sink. Caleb Webster the fashion model looked back at me from one side of my face. The other side I still didn’t recognize after all of this time. The twisted, discolored skin on my face and neck, the way my empty right sleeve dangled down at an odd angle after my elbow. When I looked at myself, it was still all I could see. Was that what Teracht saw too? He told me he had seen my pictures online, but he had never once made a comment about how different I looked with my injured face and body. What did he see in me? Half a pretty face? Someone who was damaged goods? I had no idea.

The sound of the doorbell startled me, and I realized that breakfast must have arrived. I headed out of the bathroom and down the stairs to find Teracht hovering nervously by the window. “I got it,” I said, moving over to the front door. I unlocked the deadbolt and pulled the door open. The delivery driver had obviously given up on waiting for the food to be picked up, having left the bag and a tray with two beverages in front of the door. He was getting into his car to drive off, and I caught the moment he saw me when I opened the door. Fear. I scared him. My heart sank a little as I grabbed the plastic bag, holding it out to Teracht to take before I picked up the beverage tray, balancing it carefully with my one hand. I pushed the door shut with my forearm, and Teracht leaned over to lock it. It had been so long since I had answered a door like that, and I suddenly realized why Teracht had everything delivered and did not go to the military base to spin his webs. The world outside that door was full of people who were afraid. People who were angry. People who were disgusted. Of ugliness, of monsters, of those different than themselves. People who didn’t understand what it was like to be different and didn’t care.

I moved into his open kitchen, deciding that standing to eat at the center island would work fine. I hadn’t been in his kitchen yet, and I realized with a start that he actually had two refrigerators and no oven or stovetop. I supposed that made sense if all of his food was liquid. Teracht joined me on the other side of the island, lining up several different bottles of juice. I pulled the milkshake from the tray, adding it to the end of the line. He glanced up at me curiously. “What is that?”

“Chocolate milkshake,” I said, opening the plastic lid to show him. “It’s basically just milk and ice cream blended together, but it’s liquid, there’s nothing solid in it.”

Teracht gave me a shy smile. “I am excited to try it.”

“Good.” I pulled out my Styrofoam container of pancakes and sausage, glad to see that they had included a plastic fork and knife with it as well as some packets of maple syrup. I suspected that Teracht did not have silverware either.

Teracht watched me cut my pancakes. I offered him a bite, as they were quite soft, but he declined. But he picked up the milkshake, having to put some effort into the straw to draw the thicker part up, but he swallowed it, and all eight of his eyes lit up in delight. “That is oddly delicious,” he said.

I swelled with pride at having introduced him to something new. He finished the entire milkshake in several large swallows, which I’m pretty sure would have made me sick or at least given me an ice cream headache if I drank it that fast, before he reluctantly set aside the empty cup and turned to the other bottles he had lined up. If I drank that much liquid in a day, I was sure I would never leave the bathroom, but he drank it all down easily as I ate my own breakfast. I was used to eating with my left hand now, at least, though it still was a little slow at times. He finished his beverages long before I had cleaned my plate.

“May I ask you a question?” he said after putting the empty bottles into his recycling bin that was already almost entirely full.

“Shoot,” I said, waving my fork for him to ask while I continued to eat. I grabbed my coffee from the beverage tray and opened it, dumping in two containers of that shitty creamer stuff that restaurants used before closing it again.

“What we did last night,” Teracht began slowly, and my stomach soured for a moment. Did he regret what we had done? Did he not enjoy it? Had he realized that tying me up wasn’t as interesting as he thought it would be? I waited for him to continue. “I pleasured you, yes?”

I tried not to laugh. He looked so sincere. “Yes, you did,” I said, taking a sip of my mediocre coffee.

He smiled a bit, then cleared his throat. “I, um… I enjoyed it too.”

“Good!” I said. He shuffled his feet a little, which was strange to watch with his eight legs on the ground. “What is it?”

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