Page 49 of Twink Heart

?From what I could make out, it wasn’t Adam’s car. And he wouldn’t be up this early, anyway. There wasn’t much traffic on the road this time of morning either. And, when it didn’t pull out again, I started to get a little nervous. What was the driver doing? Why had they chosen this driveway out of all the others?

?I seemed to recall some odd fact about robbers hitting houses in the early morning when everyone was sure to be asleep. With that thought in mind, I ran back to the bedroom, grabbed my phone, and went back to the edge of the window. I’d just started to pull up my keypad in case I needed to call the police when the car finally started backing out of the driveway once more.

?I let out a long sigh of relief. Despite my good mood, I’d let my anxiety get the better of me. The driver wasn’t trying to break into my house or be a creep. They were probably just trying to figure out where they were going and needed a place to turn around. After all, there were lots of beaches around the cabin and a few of them public. It was also the height of the tourist season and it wouldn’t surprise me if there were several wannabe photographers looking for a good place to set up and get morning shots of the lake.

?Chucking to myself, I wrote it off as a case of early morning jitters and tucked my phone back in my pocket. Just as I did the coffee pot in the kitchen chimed to let me know the brew was ready. Grabbing a cup and filling it nearly to the brim, I threw on a hoodie and went out on the back porch to watch the darkness of night slowly transform into day.

?Pinks and blues gave way to reds and golds as the sun rose opposite of the lake. The moment sunlight spilled over the trees, the water seemed to suddenly burst into flame. Oranges speckled with bright whites danced off the distant waves all the way to the horizon. I couldn’t help but smile as the beautiful display unfolded in front of me.

?When the sun was fully up, I finally pulled out my phone again and flipped over to my messages. Adam would probably be awake by now and I’d been dying to ask him something all night.

Me: You awake?

?There was no return message for a few minutes. But just when I started to think I’d need to try again later, a message finally came through.

Adam: Barely. Why?

Me: I have a favor to ask you.

Adam: Can’t it wait until a decent hour?

Me: I’ll just ask and you can answer when you’re ready. You might want to think about it first, anyway.

Adam: Sounds complicated. Go for it I guess.

Me: Can I rent your cabin for a while?

Adam: I told you to stay as long as you needed.

Me: Yeah, but that means like a month or two. I want to stay here for a year or more.

Adam: Oh… that’s surprising. Something happen? GASP!!!! IS IT THAT BOY????!!!!!!

?I’d started to formulate a response but then my phone rang. It was Adam of course.

?“Hi,” I said, pulling it up to my ear. “Couldn’t wait?”

?“No!” he practically shouted into my ear. “What the hell is going on over there?!”

?“A few things…”

?“I guess so! I let you borrow my cabin after a bad breakup and suddenly you’re a brand new person with all these secrets!”

?“I wasn’t keeping secrets,” I replied. “I just didn’t know.”

?“You didn’t know?” He didn’t sound convinced. “How is that even remotely possible? Did you just see the lake and suddenly think huh, I like dick now?”

?“Alright, alright. So I might’ve thought a roommate was hot back in college.”

?“AHA!”

?“But I thought it was just a phase.”

?“Oh Booboo,” he sighed. “It’s never just a phase. Once you get the hunger, it never goes away.”

?I lifted an eyebrow. “That what happened to you?”

?“I’ve had the hunger since the eighth grade. There was no hope for me.” He sighed. “And I’m a slut, so high school and college were quite the experience for me.”

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