Page 17 of Halluci-Dating A Demon
As I’m pulling basketball shorts and a muscle shirt from my closet, my eyes land on my hoodie. Once dressed, I yank it off the hanger and set it on the armrest of my couch before sitting down to turn on the TV. I don’t sleep the rest of the night, flipping through several movies before settling on one. When it ends, I goback to wasting too much time browsing, only to end up reading on my kindle.
Daylight trickles through my windows as I’m reaching the halfway point of the story, and I yawn, stretching out my legs. My stomach makes garbled sounds, and I look toward the kitchen, considering my breakfast options before reaching the fridge.
Only three eggs remain in the carton, and I reach for the pack of bacon. As I search for the pan in one of the lower cabinets, I notice they’re organized by size and type.
I bark out a laugh when I open the drawer and the spatulas have also been arranged in an appealing way. He did say he got bored waiting for me to wake up. Sighing, I go on to cooking my breakfast, and I pull up one of the stores’ apps I order groceries from, putting in an order.
Four packs of sour belts, cheese balls, and a bag of cotton candy is added to the cart. I hit pay, and tidy up my living room as I wait for my order to arrive. Words he said before come back to me as I place the cotton candy on my coffee table.
“I heard it tasted better when it came from a carnival.”
I frown at my inability to bring a carnival to him. Having not been to one in a long time myself, I can’t confirm whether what he said is correct, but as far as other foods go, fresh is always better. This will have to do.
With the rest of the items put away, I turn on YouTube and search carnival ambience. A Ferris wheel and cotton-candy stand show up on the screen when I select the second video. The camera moves to a carousel with spinning ceramic horses, zebras, and other animals. Perfect.
Getting lost in all the lit up, twirling swings and fast-moving teacups, I forget what I’m supposed to be doing for a good five minutes. Oh yeah . . . sleeping. This is the time I usually liedown on the couch or my bed with a light blanket, hoping to get enough rest to make it through my shift later.
When I don’t find the knitted throw draped over the couch, I begin walking to my room and then backtrack once I remember where it went. My lips threaten to tilt as I retrieve the blanket from the floor by the recliner. That’s where he dropped it yesterday when he got his clothes back. Sugar and other sweet smells greet my nose as I bring the soft material to my face, and I breathe in deeply, one last time, before settling onto the couch and shifting to my favorite side.
My nose finds the blanket again, and I almost get up to see if my hoodie smells the same way. I can’t believe I’m over here smelling items in my apartment like some weirdo. Is this really what he smells like? Or did I spill a drink, or sugar from my sour belts during one of the many times I dozed off and don’t remember what I did last.
Fluffing my pillow underneath me, I lift my hips to scoot back to a more comfortable part of the cushions and close my eyes. No dreams come. Only sleep. It’s so peaceful while it lasts and then I open my eyes to Arien, closely watching the TV with his back turned toward me. He’s in his human disguise. I curse myself for forgetting to leave a second note about him being himself.
I already know what he looks like. Why continue hiding behind someone else? The tight blond curls aren’t as fitting to his face shape. The medium-length purple black suited him better. Those horns did too. Without them the charms are floating above his head with nothing to rest on.
Reaching out toward the large screen, he traces the shapes of the Ferris wheel’s passenger cars. He turns around wearing a smile, eyes widening as they land on me.
“Oh, hey. I didn’t realize you were starting to wake up. I . . . Thanks for the cotton candy.” He blushes, picking up the half empty bag from the coffee table. “It tastes nothing like the sourbelts, but I like it just as much.” He folds his fingers over the crinkling plastic. “I didn’t know if you wanted me to wait or not, but it was getting hard to resist with the fluffy cloud-shaped food staring at me.” Smile widening, he glances back at the TV. “Thanks for the carnival too. This is more lifelike than the movies. Real people standing in lines and laughing with friends—nothing scripted or forced. It’s like I imagine my first time going there would be.”
I lie here, for once not wanting to force any part of my body to move.
“Did you sleep well? Any dreams?” He closes his eyes, muttering something to himself as he slaps his hand to his forehead. “You can’t respond. How many times do I have to remind myself of that? I act like this is my first time or something. And trust me, you don’t want to hear about my first human visit. I stepped on so many Lego pieces and flew into a wall after being forced forward by a Hot Wheels car. That was the first time I learned about human kids having toys.” He takes a breath. “I was a kid too, back then, and so much of this world was brand new to me.”
His shirt and shorts start fading. With a panicked expression, he rushes behind the recliner and sighs in relief when he spots my hoodie. “I promise to leave it here before I go.”
It’s not a big deal if he doesn’t. I have plenty more in the closet. Brody tried to talk me into getting rid of at least half of them when we moved in together, but he no longer has to worry about me taking up too much room in the closet with all my extra crap or old shirts with holes in them.
“So, I read your message on the shower door. I was wandering around again while you slept and hung your wet towels up. I’ve seen humans in movies mentioning them smelling and ruining surfaces. You should really learn to use your racks in the bathroom.”
He’s right, and it’s yet another thing Brody griped about. He and Adam were both tidy people. Thank God, too, because if it wasn’t for all their constant cleaning and dusting our place would have been . . . well, like mine is now. My apartment looks a little too lived in with me constantly missing the dirty hamper and leaving dishes to sit for longer than a day . . . not emptying the dishwasher as soon as the dishes are done.
I lay jackets and kick off shoes in random places. Takeout boxes and empty cups litter my end table until I run out of room. I wasn’t always this bad. Lack of sleep really worsened my fatigue. I only have so much energy to get me through my workdays, so I spare any bit of it I can while at home.
“Your favorite song must be rock or alternative. At least I know not to include anymore pop music. You don’t strike me as a country guy, even though you’ve mentioned your brother being a fan. You and he were like night and day, weren’t you?”
We were. Identical in looks only. Here I always thought twins were supposed to be more alike. We did share some of the same favorite foods and borrowed each other’s clothes. He stole my sunglasses, hats, and shoes, but I didn’t raid his closet unless I needed something formal or nicer than my band shirts. If only Arien would rummage through my closet the way he does every other place in my apartment, then he’d be able to narrow down his choices more.
“Pearl Jam.”
I’m definitely making a face in my head and it’s not a pleasant one.
“Foo Fighters? Goo Goo Dolls?” His face scrunches up. “Wait, I said I’d guess your favorite song but I keep naming artists. “‘Like a Stone’ by Audioslave.”
How does he know all these songs? It’s unfair he gets to be the only one to ask questions.
“‘Scar Tissue’ by Red Hot Chili Peppers?” he says hopefully. “How am I supposed to know if I get it right if you can’t so much as shake your head.”
Concentrating hard, I try to rock my head from side to side when he names another song that isn’t my favorite, but minutes pass before I’m finally able to give him a non-verbal answer. He disappears as soon as I do, and I lie back down when I see how much time I have left before needing to be downstairs. Dreams come this time. I’m at the scene of the accident but I’m the only one in the car. As I tug at my seatbelt, Arien fills the seat beside me and the vehicle changes to two large green slug-looking creatures racing one another through a sea of trees.
