In Which Our Hero Gets Burned
The past forty five minutes could be summed up in two sentences; “You feel anything?” and “Not a fuckin’ thing, bro.” Nikki, who was responsible for the hookup in the first place, kept saying she was sorry that we got screwed like this. Nikki was a sweet girl, and although I wouldn’t have kicked her out of bed, I got the feeling I wouldn’t have to try to hard to get her in there in the first place. Josh, for his part, did a good job of distracting her from the fact that she just bought a hundred and fifty dollars of what was most likely shiitake.
The fourth wheel was cute, even though you wouldn’t know it under the mass of jet-black hair and matching hoodie that obscured the top half of her as she loafed on the couch. I forget what Josh said her name was... Laura... Lauren... Lilly... Lillian... not that it mattered all that much.
I squirmed my way off the beanbag and walked out. I didn’t really feel like explaining myself, so I left my bag and muttered something about going for a smoke. It was a bullshit excuse, Josh knew it, seeing as we had smoked in his basement virtually every weekend since the end of school; Couchy probably knew, she seemed smart enough when she could be bothered to open her mouth; Nikki might have felt the truth rustle her hair (currently dyed a venomous shade of mauve) as it zoomed right over her, but I doubt it.
I kept walking, enjoying the transformative feel the air lent me as it progressed from the warm haze of the basement into the cool dark of the cave. Overhead, the cavern expanded beyond what I could comprehend, the steady glowing of what appeared to be blue fireflies lighting the chamber like a million tracer rounds. I kept descending until I reached the edge of a vast subterranean lake. Inhabited no doubt by all sorts of beasties, staring into me with their dead, unblinking eyes, blind and empty from the eons of darkness.
I dove in, the water enveloping me in its embrace. My eyes forgot to close, and after the flurry of iridescent bubbles dispersed I saw the ruins of an ancient city stretching below me. The view reminded me of aerial pictures of the slums of Rio de Janeiro. I moved, feeling no resistance, no ripples.
I could feel the powerful undulations of my body propelling me forward, up through the world, to investigate this new curiosity. I could feel the electric glow of this new consciousness growing brighter as I grew closer. It had been a long time since the depths had been breached by a new mind, and I could feel myself yearning for the taste of something new. I could see it now, splashing around close to the surface like an awkward fish. An extra snap, and my massive body breached the mirror surface of the water. The mind was in my mouth and then it was gone.
Far away, next to my head, I could hear Josh saying “Hey Liz, you alright?” My mouth felt odd. Like I had swallowed a copper cottonball. I opened my eyes, the darkness of the cave bleeding away. I thought about sitting up, the couch rushing away from me in a flurry of raven hair. I could see the basement, but the colors were off, like when you fuck with the contrast on your TV. I turned my head, blowing hair out of my face. It wasn’t my hair though. My hair is short and brown, not long and black. I went to look at my hands, but the hoodie I was wearing came past my fingertips.
“Yeah, I think so,” I said, an unfamiliar voice pouring out of my mouth. Josh kept staring at me, and I behind him, I could see someone lounging on a beanbag, almost completely still.
Josh lost interest in me and went to go check on his woman. I was left staring at the guy on the beanbag. Baser instincts implied he was kinda cute, if a bit scuzzily dressed. Pushing that thought as far to the side as I could, I tried to distract my mind by uh, examining, this new body. At some point in his life, nearly every guy has thought to himself what he would do in this situation. Well, here I was, and all I could do was look at the unconscious figure on the other side of the room.
The world spun around me as I found myself on my feet. I was walking across the room. When I reached the beanbag, the room flew up so I was half prone, half supported on the side of the beanbag. It shifted a bit under my weight, but not enough to disturb the kid. At this point I realized I was just along for the ride. Shit.
She was close enough to watch the gentle rise and fall of his chest. My chest. I watched me for a while, wondering what would come next. Pushing the hair out of her face, again, she leaned closer to my sleeping self. She moved her hands out from underneath her and began to trace the backs of her thin fingers alongside my face. About half of me was thrilled that Liz was doing this, a sixth was really confused about what this meant for my sexuality, and the rest of me was passed out.
By now, she was practically on top of me, a fact that I knew hadn’t escaped Liz, I could feel her body reacting accordingly. Closing to about six inches from my face, she leaned in and blew air in my face. No, not in my face, in my mouth..
I started coughing, hard, gasping for air, my lungs not cooperating as they are usually inclined to do. It wasn’t helped by the fact that I had some how managed to crack a rib. I opened my eyes and saw a dark shape above me through the cough-induced tears. I tried to ask what was going on but all I could manage was a weak croak. The dark figure leaned down and wrapped me up in a surprisingly strong hug. Pain shot through my side like a rusty trowel.
“Shit! That hurts!” I cried, using what little air I had. I was immediately dropped, which didn’t help the pain at all.
When I regained my breath, I looked up and saw Nikki, Josh and Liz all crowded around me. Nikki had lost it for some reason, and couldn’t do much except hyperventilate. Josh looked like he was near tears, but still made an effort to placate Nikki. The one who had dropped me, the girl from the couch was breathing heavily, but had a smile on her face as she pushed her hair out of her face.
“You’re alive,” she said like it was the best thing to happen to her all year.
“I am?”
“You stopped breathing there for a minute. Liv resuscitated you,” Josh said.
“Liv?”
The girl in the dark hoodie extended a sleeve-covered hand, “Welcome back to the living.”
“Err, thanks.”
“Sorry if I hurt you when I picked you up. Josh might have fractured a rib or two, he was doing chest compressions until I pointed out that you still had a pulse.”
Josh managed a sheepish grin at this; I couldn’t blame him.
Looking at back at Liv, “Is there any way I can return the favor?”
“How ‘bout dinner sometime?” she asked with a mischievous grin.
“You’re serious?”
“Absolutely.”
Later, after Josh and Nikki had fallen asleep, Liv and I sat next to each other in peaceful silence. It wasn’t awkward in the traditional sense, but what do you say to a girl who just saved your life and asked you out to dinner?
Spoiler
The idea for this came to me one day in school so I spent the rest of the day writing it. I'm not really sure what I want to do with it in the long run but I like it. Yes, I'm aware that Liv's name is different in part of the story. That's because that part of the story is a dream/hallucination.
