Completely (Un)expected

Took Me Into The City

  Day one in Jersey actually wasn't that bad. All that really happened was that I arrived at my aunt's house, got settled into my new room, which was going to take a little getting used to, and had dinner before going back upstairs and promptly conking out from all of the hustle and bustle of the day.

I awoke the next morning at an oddly early hour. The room was still dim, but I could see the first rays of sunlight fighting their way inside through the semi-lace curtains. Accepting defeat and the notion that I was probably not going to get back to sleep, I kicked off the striped bed comforter and padded my way over to the little bay window and sat myself down on the cushioned sill.

Letting out a soft yawn, I pulled back on the curtain closest to me and shielded my eyes as a flood of light came pouring into the already brightly colored room. My eyes adjusted soon enough and I let my gaze fall out onto the side yard where the green grass was being illuminated by the rising, Jersey sun.

Out in the distance, behind the trees and past the other houses, the sky was coming off its previous purple hue and fading into the dazzling mid-August blue that only summer could pull off. Clouds floated effortlessly and weightlessly as they passed overhead, drawing my gaze now upward to follow their paths, and distracting me just enough to make me flinch when a sudden knock was heard at the door.

I shot up off of the bay window seat and crossed my arms over my chest, realizing that I was wearing only a tank top and shorts. When a moment passed with no further sign of anyone, I spoke up. "Uhm, you can . . . come in."

The door slowly creaked open as I shifted on my feet uncomfortably. I saw Mikey's messy head of bed hair cautiously peer in and his eyes found mine as he let a smile play across his timid expression. "Morning," he said notably more comfortably than when I'd first been reunited with him and the family the previous day. "Up early?"

"Uh, yeah. Sun comes up a lot earlier here I guess."

"Than where?" Mikey asked as he slowly began the process of opening the door, gauging whether or not to step inside.

"Pennsylvania. I know the time zones are the same and everything it's just that I never slept in a room that faced the west I guess." Mikey nodded his head in agreement and out of not knowing what else to say as he held onto the door, still only about halfway inside the room.

"Probably," he added, confirming the inference as to why I was awake before eight o'clock during the summer.

The subject hadn't been expected to last long, but I was still a little surprised when it was abruptly changed by Mikey saying: "Get dressed, we're going out."

"Out?" I questioned, though that definitely wasn't my only one. "Where?"

"I'm going to show you around Jersey. You sort of don't have a say in this, but I promise I'll try not to make your first tour around Belleville suck too much." This earned Mikey a chuckle out of me, and perhaps some relief of his own as he saw that I wasn't a total killjoy.

I thought about his plan for a moment. I mean, how bad could it be? Mikey was nice and I'd have to get the awkwardness of actually getting to know him out of the way eventually, and I did need to know my way around here if I was going to be staying for a while anyway.

I shrugged my shoulders, still keeping a conscious effort to keep my arms over my chest since Mikey was still around. "Okay, sounds good," I replied, watching as Mikey's smile continued to widen. "Give me ten minutes?"

"Ten minutes, sure," he said sarcastically before adding. "You're a girl so ten minutes in girl math is like, what? Half an hour in real time."

I laughed at Mikey's joke and was tempted to throw a pillow at him if it weren't for my current configuration meant to keep myself from flashing Mikey. "Whatever," I replied equally as sarcastically. "I'll be ready."