Start of Season - 10

Start of Season - 101

Todd was in boxer shorts, his smooth blonde body studded with shadows as he crept back to the bed.  “How ya feeling?” he whispered as he slipped beneath the covers.2

“Like road kill,” I groaned.  He chuckled and gave me a light, minty kiss.3

“It’s only ten-something,” he whispered into my ear, curling up with me, his skin warm against my fully-clothed body, “Let’s grab a few more hours and then go eat something.”4

Grab a few more hours?  How could I go back to sleep when I still didn’t know what had--zzzzzzz-z-z-z. . .5

“Common, sleepy-head.”6

I pulled the covers closer, burrowing deeper into their warm, heady smell; a little voice in the back of my mind sighed: Mmmm. . .Todd. . .7

“Burt, wake up, it’s almost one.”8

My body was gently rocked in the cozy darkness, and I chanced a peek out of the covers: Todd looked all disheveled and blonde (I think that’s how I’ll describe him from now on: whatever ‘and blonde’.  Like, he was cute and blonde, or sweaty and blonde, or funny and blonde.  Yeah. . .), but didn’t appear to be any the worse for last night.  I, on the other hand, had a marching band performing “Eye of the Tiger” in my stomach.9

“Oh.”10

“Come on.”11

“My.”12

“It’s not that bad.”13

“Dear.”14

“Ok, maybe it is.”15

“God.”16

“Drink some water,” Todd grinned down at me, and offered me a cup, which I gladly drained.  “See, sitting up wasn’t so bad.”17

And I found myself sitting on the edge of Todd’s bed.  How had he done that?  He handed me a second plastic cup, which had orange juice, and which I also gladly drained.  “So, are you dying, or coming back to life?”18

“Ungh. . . Ungh!”19

“It’s alive!” he said, cute and blondly.  (Huh.  Ok, maybe that doesn’t work so well.)20

“Whuhapnlassnigh?”21

“You’re gonna sprain something,” Todd said, helping me up.  We weaved into the bathroom, which contained a couple of candles.  My eyeballs rejoiced, then fell out of my head and shattered on the floor.  The bathroom was filled with cool, moist air, and I vaguely registered the shower going.  “Hold onto this,” Todd said.  He clamped my hand onto the towel bar next to the door, and I let him strip me of my clothes and guide me into the cool water.  Under the shower head, he wrapped his arms around me, pressing his naked body close to mine, and rocked me gently until I was completely wet.  It was wonderful, and I realized that I didn’t feel so terrible after all; a little queasy maybe, but nothing I couldn’t handle.22

“Alright, which’a you did it, huh?  Or were both’a you in onnit?”23

My stomach lurched into my throat.24

Mark was suddenly on the other side of the glass shower door, standing naked before the toilet, one hand propped up against the wall, the other directing a steady stream into the bowl.25

“What the hell, dude?” Todd shook his head.  “Some privacy?”26

“I had this totally fucked up thing last night,” Mark continued steadily, ignoring Todd, “I wanna which’a you did it.”27

Even under the cool water, my face blazed: Holy crap!  Holy, fucking crap!28

“Yeah, my head feels like someone smacked it around with a baseball bat--and I know it was one of you!” Mark gave a little bray of a laugh, finished his piss, and closed the lid with a loud thunk, which rang through my skull.  “Aw, shit, shouldn’t’a done that.”  He clamped a hand to his head, turned, his semi-erect cock swinging between his legs, and shuffled out of the bathroom.29

“What a dick,” Todd growled.30

“Yeah,” I agreed cagily.31

“Too bad it’s attached to such a jackass,” he snorted, and we both began to giggle.32

We slowly finished our shower in comfortable silence, and by the time we had stepped out of the bathroom, Mark had left.  We traded remarks about the Kappa party while we got dressed, and I surreptitiously tried to work out events from after we’d gotten back to the dorm room.33

“So, um, I don’t really remember: was I passed out or something when you got back to the room last night?” I carefully asked in the elevator.34

Todd looked uneasy and blonde (yeah, ok, I’m gonna drop it--just isn’t working out like I’d imagined).  “Sorry about that, but I got locked out.”35

“Do what?”  The elevator doors slid open, and we walked through the bright lobby to the even brighter front steps of San Jacinto Hall.  Todd handed me a pair of sunglasses that he magically pulled from a pocket.36

“Well, you know, the room doors automatically lock.  And I thought I’d left it open, but it must have closed on me, and I didn’t have my key.”  I experienced a wave of guilt (or nausea) as he opened the passenger door of his Porsche for me.  “I about hammered on the door, but you and Mark must have been totally passed out, so I had to go down and call someone to let me in.  And you were already under the covers, so I just got in with you and went to sleep.”  He dropped into the driver’s seat and gave me an apologetic look.  “I’m really sorry about that.”37

My mind immediately wandered back through the muddled memories of the previous night: had I just simply fallen asleep?38

~Yep, it was all a dream, a bad dream.  Just like the last season of Buffy. Oh, and speaking of blonde chicks . . .~39

“Yeah, who--?”40

There was a knock on the driver’s window.  And there she was!41

~Oh shit, she’s stalking us!~42

“Back off, bitch, or I’ll pluck out those little blue eyes of yours’!”43

No, not really.44

Todd’s window lowered, and the girl dropped down beside the car, her blonde head bobbing at window-level.  I squirmed uneasily in the leather seat as she gazed icily at me.  “Ok, so what do I tell Drew?” she asked Todd directly, now blatantly ignoring my presence.45

“Like I told you last night,” Todd said tightly, “no.”46

“Fine,” she snapped.  The dagger missed my ear by less than an inch, imbedding in the headrest.  Following it with an evil look, she flung her blonde hair around and stalked off.47

~Damn!  Those gals on Big Brother got nothin’ on her!~48

Todd looked at me uncomfortably.  “Sorry about Beth, as well,” he swallowed.  “She’s a little angry with me.”49

“Seems like she’s a little angry with me, too,” I murmured as we took off.50

“She’s just pissed because I’m not interested anymore,” he shrugged, pulling the Porsche around a corner.  “Hell, I knew after one date.”51

“Woman scorned,” I remarked coolly, sliding in the seat as we took another left.52

Todd chuckled.  “Well, Drew’s not that girly.”53

. . .?54

~I think we just missed a turn back there~55

Ya think?56

“Drew?”57

“Yeah,” Todd replied, speeding down MLK Boulevard, “My sister’s friend.  I told you about him after the party, when we were headed back to the dorm.”58

“Sister?  What’s Lizzie got to do with this?”59

“No, not my little sister; my twin sister: Beth.”60

Twin?!?!  Had I totally missed something?61

~Same blonde hair, same intense blue eyes, same angry face.  Two plus two, quick!~62

Four?63

~Nope, sorry, the answer is: you totally missed something~64

Well you weren’t much help last night; you checked out and left the right side in charge!65

~Excuse me, but I was doing just fine until the end of the evening.  And when you fell asleep in the car, the right side said he would make sure that you got to bed and. . .ooooo . . .ohhhhh. . .  Ok, well. . .um, yeah. . .there it is. . .~66

“I, uh, think I might have fallen asleep in the car,” I quietly admitted.67

~Well, we were a little drunk.  Which, in my defense, is also a good excuse for my leaving the right side in charge, thank you, so I’m totally exonerated!  I feel much better now, how bout you?~68

“You mean you totally missed the entire story with my sister?” Todd asked, pulling the car into a shady parking spot near the drag.  He looked sort of amused but chagrined.  “Oh, no: you didn’t think Beth was, like, my. . .girlfriend or something, did you?”69

Lost in the gigantic seat, I struggled to climb out of the huge seatbelt, and dangled my tiny, little feet over the massive, leather-upholstered  precipice.  “Maybe,” I squeaked.70

I could tell that it took a lot for Todd not to break out into hysterical laughter, but behind the amusement there was also a little part of him that was unmistakably sorry that he’d caused me any distress.  And fifty years from now, when we’re sitting on those little rockers on the porch of our beach-front home in South Florida, maybe, just maybe, I’ll remind him of this little episode so that we can laugh about it.  Until then, he’d better not bring up again, or I’ll beat him senseless.71

“I’m sorry,” Todd said softly, leaning over and kissing me on my cheek.  He then mopped me up with a sponge and wrung me out on the pavement so that we could walk up to the drag and grab some breakfast.72

Ok, so, the first twenty-four hours was a bit of a roller-coaster ride.  And if this were some show on one of the major networks, the next twenty-four would be equally as thrilling (and probably include an explosion or two, maybe a few bullet-ridden bodies, and Keifer Sutherland grimacing a lot).  But it couldn’t possibly be.73

Right?74

The Kerbey Lane Café is the only place to have brunch on a Sunday: it’s right on the edge of campus, it’s relatively inexpensive, it’s been around for, like, ever, and has been voted “the best place to eavesdrop” by the Austin Chronicle for the last century.  Well, that and “best breakfast”, “best late-night”, and “best migas”, because, ohmygod, their migas ROCK!75

(Ok, for those of you who don’t know what migas are, look it up online--or just insert “huevos rancheros” and you’ll be close. . .in a completely bastardized way, but. . . ok, not even close, but it’s the best I can do without giving you a recipe.)76

(Well, ok, right quick, here’s a good recipe for them--)77

~Excuse us just one mo~78

. . .what?79

And we stepped into the restaurant.80

And there was Mark.81

Smiling at me like the Cheshire Cat.82

And groping himself.83

-To Be Continued84