Feeling Better
I glance at my watch as I
wander out of the "Team Toby" meeting in my cabin, it's almost 2.
Nothing like another 20-hour day.
"Hey, Josh, walk me
back to my cabin," I hear CJ yell behind me.
I stop my wandering and
wait for her. I'm in the middle of leaning over and stretching a little when
she jogs past me, smacking me on the ass.
"Oww" I mumble
as I straighten up.
"Get over it. So have you talked to Donna tonight?"
she asks as she stops at the top of the small hill and waits for me to catch up
to her.
"I tried earlier but
she had no voice. It was pretty comical
actually."
"Josh, the poor
girl's got the flu, complete with a fever of 102 and no voice. And you find this funny?"
"Yes...no...I mean
no," as sputter as I realize I really do tend to speak without thinking
first. "Give me a break, I'm tired
and cranky."
"Cranky, why?"
"Gee I don't know,
maybe because someone made me call my ex-girlfriend and ask for her help?"
"Ex? Are you sure?
When did that part happen?" she asks with just a bit too much
excitement in her voice.
"I'm not too sure
but when I called her the second time tonight she was on a date so I'm
thinking, yeah, she must be my--ex-girlfriend."
I hear her mumble
something under her breath that sounds like, "it's about time."
"Care to share with
the class, Claudia Jean?"
She gives me a big grin
and shakes her head.
"So twins, how about
that?" I ask as I casually drape my arm around CJ's shoulders as we head
down the path to her cabin.
"Pretty cool,"
she says, her voice filled with genuine excitement.
"Did you know Toby
and Andi were together?"
"Not at all."
"Well, then I don't
feel so left out." I mutter, more to myself than anyone.
"I'm really happy
for them," she says.
We get to her cabin. The lights are off so I guess Carol's asleep
already. I don't blame her; it's
basically the middle of the night.
"Well, I think I'll
go back to my cabin, call Donna and then go to bed." I say without
thinking. I am rewarded with a smack to
the back of my head. "Oww, what is
with you and the smacking today?" I ask as I rub the back of my head.
"Joshua, it's the
middle of the night. You can't call her
place. I'm sure she's sleeping and even
if she's not you'll wake up her roommate."
"No, I won't. She's not at home," I mumble as I try to
casually leave. My plan doesn't go too
well and CJ grabs me by the collar.
"Where is she?"
"My place," I
say with my best sheepish grin.
CJ says nothing; instead
she just raises her eyebrows until they disappear into her hairline.
"She's sick and her
roommate's sister is visiting. So I told
her she could stay at my place, have some peace and quiet."
CJ just stares at me for
a minute.
"What?" I ask
with a big dimpled grin.
"You...you can be so
sweet sometimes."
"Yeah, don't let it
get around," I mumble, glad for the dark of the night. The last thing I need right now is for CJ to
see the fact that I am blushing.
CJ grins and it's my turn
to stare. "What?"
"You...I haven't
seen you this happy in a long time." I whisper.
"I'm starting to
feel better. I really am." she says
as she smiles a little and we sit down on the steps of her cabin. We're silent for a few minutes. We watch the stars and listen to the sounds
of nature. Sounds we don't hear too
often in the Beltway. Soon CJ's yawning
so I stand to leave. After I pull her to
her feet she hugs me and gives me a kiss on the cheek. I return the kiss and whisper, "sweet
dreams" before I head down the path back to the cabin I'm sharing with
Sam. His shoes and coat are by the door
and his room is dark so I guess he must be asleep. Which is a shame because for some reason I am
more wide-awake now than I have been in about 4 hours. I change, brush my teeth and get a glass of
water so I can take some Tylenol PM.
Pacing around is doing
nothing for me and these old floorboards creak something fierce. So I curl up in bed with my laptop and check
my email. I start AOL and check the
screen name only Donna and my mom use.
A message from
Donna. OK, I'm happy now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TO:abner@aol.com
FROM:impervious@aol.com
SUBJECT: I'm sooooooo bored!!!
OK, the subject line says
it all. It's almost 10:00 and Margaret just left a little while ago. She brought some food and we ate and hung out
for a while. Well, she ate and I picked
at my food. I can't taste anything so I
don't get the point of eating. But she
did make me drink a huge glass of juice and take more Advil. My fever actually dipped below 101 sometime
this afternoon. But I'm sure it's back
up. But I am too warm and cozy under the
quilt your mom made to get up and find the thermometer.
So how are things at
Debate Camp? I really wish I were
there. How's prep going. Any new gossip? How's Joey?
Did Sam get a chance to do his President Bartlet imitation yet? He's been working on it for a while now.
I'm going to pop in a
movie. Call me if you get in before
midnight. I have some voice now. I should be able to talk for a little while.
Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm just about to hit
reply when the buddy list thing goes off.
Donna.
What is she doing up at
2:30 in the morning? I'll just have to
find out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
abner:What are you doing
up?
impervious:And I could
ask you the same thing. I fell asleep on
the couch earlier and I just woke up to use the bathroom. And I decided to see if you sent anything.
abner:I was just about
to. How are you feeling?
impervious: At the
moment, like crap. My head is pounding
and my throat hurts.
abner: There's popsicles
in the back of the freezer, behind the frozen vegetables you bought. Which I haven't eaten.
impervious: Yeah, I
noticed you didn't eat any. Hold on a
second, let me get one.
abner:OK, I'll just
ramble a bit. Prep's going well. Sam did his imitation and got called on it.
He's doing a very good job of staying up in the President's face when we
practice. I got yet another nickname.
Dexter. I'll explain that one later. Toby and Andi are having twins. Kenny says hi. Dinner was nice. Got beat by Toby in basketball.
impervious: I'm
back.
impervious:WHAT? TWINS?
abner:Twins. And apparently they're both his.
impervious:Well, I would
hope so. When did this happen?
abner:Not sure, I wasn't
exactly there at the time.
impervious:HAHA. So are they getting married again?
abner:Toby wants to but I
think Andi needs a little convincing.
Which leads me to "Team Toby"
impervious:Team Toby?
anber:It was Charlie's
idea. We're supposed to get together and
try to reunite Toby and Andi, me, Charlie, CJ, Sam.
impervious:Yeah that'll
work cause all of you are so good at relationships.
abner:And I see the fever
hasn't affected your ability to sass.
impervious:Not at
all. Can I join the team?
abner:I would think CJ
would like the company. She seems to be
doing really well. She's happier than
I've seen her since...well, in a long time.
impervious:Good. So do you have answers to all the questions?
abner:Almost. We had some problems with the Family Values
question before. And unfortunately I had
to call Amy for help.
impervious:Ah
abner:Ah, what's that
supposed to mean.
impervious:So what's with
the two of you lately? Are you still
together?
abner:Well, we didn't
have a big break up or anything but when I called her the second time tonight
she was on a date.
impervious:And that, my
dear Joshua, would be a big sign right there.
abner:Haha, you don't
have to hit me over the head, you know.
abner:Donna...you still
there, it's been about 5 minutes.
impervious:Sorry, I was
laughing so had I had to get up and find the tissues. You most certainly do need to be hit over the
head. So did groveling to your ex get
you the answer you needed.
abner:Yes.
impervious:Are you
ok?
abner:Seriously?
impervious:Yeah.
abner:I am. In my heart I knew it was over. And now it's pretty clear that we both know
it's over. So I'm feeling better.
impervious:Good and by
the way, you never did answer me, what are you doing up at 3 in the morning?
abner:I just got back
from walking CJ home from the "Team Toby" meeting. I changed, got into bed and opened up my
laptop.
impervious:You're in bed?
abner:Yes and before you
ask, plaid flannel pajamas. Where are
you?
impervious:Cute. Well, since you have your laptop with you and
I don't have one, that would leave me at your desk in the guest room. And before you ask, sweatpants, a t-shirt and
a sweatshirt I might have stolen out of your bottom drawer.
abner:Sure, I let you
stay at my place and you rummage through my drawers.
impervious:Don't worry, I
didn't touch your collection of cartoon character boxers.
abner:I should hope
not. I should get off, plug in the
heating pad and get some sleep. By the
way, if you need it, there's another heating pad in the linen closet.
impervious:I already
found it when I was hunting for your secret stash of "cranky baby"
bubble bath.
abner:Gee Donna, is
nothing sacred anymore. First my
clothes, then my bubble bath, what's next?
impervious:Uh, the rest
of the Ben and Jerry's in the freezer and the stash of Oreos. And why do you need the heating pad. You didn't manage to hurt yourself playing
basketball did you?
abner:Now I'm going to
have to go to the foodstore when I get back.
No, I didn't hurt myself playing basketball. Just a little stiff and sore after a long
day. And it's basically it's just a
habit to sleep with the heating pad.
impervious:Ok, You left
me wide open to make a comment or two about Amy. None of which are very nice. But I will refrain.
abner:Thank you.
impervious:But
discovering you use bubble bath made for cranky babies and basically sleep with
a security blanket is enough of your secrets for one day.
abner:Glad I could
provide you with some entertainment.
impervious:I've been sick
for 3 days, it doesn't take much to entertain me.
abner:Apparently
not. So, get off the computer, plug in
the heating pad and curl up in bed. Did
the popsicle make you feel better?
impervious:I'm wide
awake. And yes, my throat feels better.
abner:Watch TV.
impervious:Uh, Josh, I'm
looking around and there's no TV in your guest room.
abner:Use my room. I put fresh flannel sheets on this morning
before I left.
impervious:Thanks.
abner:No problem. Good night, Donnatella.
impervious:Good night,
Joshua.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The buddy door closes and
I shut down the computer. I curl up with
the heating pad and take a few minutes to picture Donna doing the same thing in
my bed. That's a pretty nice picture to
have in my mind as I fall asleep.
THE END
