Chapter Six

                                                      
                                                     CHAPTER SIX 

Dawn sat down on her bed and closed her eyes, leaning against the wooden crown of her huge bed. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She was instantly greeted by the blue and grey wallpaper, which covered all her walls. Her favourite colours. Her eyes travelled along the walls and over the large French windows which covered her west wall. The sky behind the glass window was dark and inky. She could hear the rain pattering on the iron sill over her window. It made a wonderful sound against the occasional thunder and the music wafting through the room, as her music player played her picked songs cassette. Her gaze raked across the entire room and landed on her study table. She got up and walked up to it.

She stood near the table and looked on her table for a while. Her thoughts were disassembled and confusing. She bent down and started rummaging through her piles of books and notes. No clue. She dropped heavily onto the chair and held her head in both of her hands. She did not know when she had another appointment with Dr. Sophie. She had to talk to her mom about that. She sat in the same position for a while, feeling helpless and extremely sad. She did not know why.

After a while, she decided, a warm bath would make her feel better. She made her way to the bathroom. The mirror over her white marble sink caught her attention. She looked at her reflection in disbelief. Her hair was dishevelled and she looked like a zombie. She hadn’t realized that there were hot tears flowing down her face in tiny streams. Her eyes were not only bloodshot but also looked miserable. Her cheeks seemed sunken in her skull and made her look as if she had been starving. She shook her head and then splashed water over her face. Wait. What was the black thing running down with her soap water? She stepped back shocked. And her head snapped back to the mirror.

Mascara. Just her mascara running down. Why the hell did she get so paranoid? She gasped, both in relief and happiness and then stepped into the bathtub. The water, in contrast to the cold rain outside was warm and inviting.

 She slipped into the water and closed her eyes and let the warmth seep into her and placate her screaming body. The essence of the vanilla and chocolate extract body wash liquid in the water drifted in the air. Dawn’s body relaxed. Her thoughts wandered away and came to a sudden stop at Jay. His perfect smile. Her eyes snapped open. He was the only guy she had thought about in a long time. She smiled as she thought about their earlier farewell. Her tensed muscles relaxed as she closed her eyes once again.

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Jay opened his eyes and looked around. He had passed out in the position he had been laying. His eyes were still clogged with sleep and for a moment he didn’t seem to realize, what had disturbed his peaceful sleep.

A while later, he came to grasp that it was his phone, ringing continuously and the screen blinked. Jay groaned and looked at the wall clock. 5 A.M. Who would be calling him at this hour? With a groan he slumped out of his state and reached for his phone. His body moaned in protest as his still sleeping muscles were pulled out into consciousness. He frowned as he lip read the name on his blinking phone’s screen. 

Lilly? One of his best buddies back him. They rocked together. But right now wasn’t a great time for it. He pressed the receive button and bought the phone closer to his ear.

“What is it?” 

He quite rudely inquired. On the other side he could hear a whoop of laughter and a jolly voice answered.

“Lol! You don’t have to be so rude, Jay! Did I disturb you?”

Jay pulled his eyebrows apart with difficulty and cleared his throat.

“I was sleeping. Anyways, forget it. What’s wrong?”

He could feel background noises and couldn’t hear what Lilly was saying. He strained his ears. She was speaking fast and seemed breathless.

“Nothing. I just missed you, dear. You left me all alone! So I felt like talking to you.”

Jay couldn’t help but feel angry all over again. So this was Lilly. Calling him up early morning just to tell him she missed him. Typical. 

“Good Lord, Lilly! Is that what it’s about? It’s like, 5 A.M in the morning. Couldn’t you have kept your emotions for a little later, maybe?”

Silence fell on the other side of the line. Jay immediately regretted his outburst. If Lilly did not like his tone, he would probably spend the next ten years of his life trying to be friends with her. And he loved her too.

“Sorry, Lilly. I didn’t mean to say it that way. I was just a bit too sleepy. Am I forgiven?”

He could hear laughter on the other side of the line and Jay, imagined how she would have tossed her cool head backwards and waving her hands she would have said:

“Nah, darling! It’s okay. But I might consider forgiving you if you allow me to come and meet me, perhaps?”

Jay smiled to himself and checked his calendar.

“You bet! Come over anytime you want, I never stopped you, did I? In fact, I was thinking to invite over all our friends. Dad said I could. Come over and we’ll plan a party. Are we good?”

Lilly smiled.

“As you wish, dear. Do I book a flight?”

“I’ll do that. And send you the ticket too. Don’t worry about that.”

Lilly whooped and smiled.

“Really? You are the best, Jay! I love you! And…..”

Jay bit back a smile and cut through her next sentence.

“Do me a favor, okay?”

Lilly stopped short.

“What?”

“Do not carry your that wardrobe full of dresses here. We have lots of malls in here. I’ll take you shopping.”

Lilly chuckled and winked.

“Are you sure? Making quite a generous offer, huh? You know me. If I go shopping, I quite entirely buy the whole mall.”

Jay knew her just too well.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I can buy you a hundred such malls. Leave that to me.”

Lilly smiled.

“Well, I guess I’ll just get going now. Pretty tired and you must be sleepy”

Jay shook his head. It was 6 already. Walk time. He got up and poured himself a glass of orange juice.

“You just took away an hour of my sleep. What do I get in return?”

Lilly puckered her eyebrows mischievously.

“You never know!”

Jay drained his glass and looked at the clock again. 6.10. He was losing time.

“Talk to you later, Lady Arabella! I am getting late for my morning workout.”

Lilly immediately lost her nut.

“Don’t call me that! Anyways, goodbye Mr. Perfect. Cannot even stay on the phone for a friend during some other appointment.”

“I have a commitment, darling. Bye!”

And then he hung up. Throwing his phone on his bed, he couldn’t realize he had just spent an hour with Lilly over the phone.

“That girl……”

He thought to himself and smiled. She was one of his best friends.

He took out his track suit and rushed to the bathroom to change. He had a busy day ahead. No moment to lose.