No Time Like Now (Lesbian)

Chapter Twenty-Two

The deadline isn't until the end of the first week back in school. I should feel better about having time to get it done. But for some reason, the college assignment is taking its sweet time poking me with a stick instead of helping me complete it so I can turn it in and move on.

I already sent in the application to Silver Leaf Uni. And one to that Westminster college, in case I don't get accepted to Silver Leaf.

Mr. Shadler wants us to write a summary page for each college we applied to with his long list of requirements the summary must have. Once we finish that part of the assignment, we have to write two detailed pages of what we would do if we don't get accepted to any of them.

What's a school-appropriate way to say I would end my life and spend my afterlife preventing my parents from attending my funeral?

Jeremiah's chilling on the bed I'm leaning against. His only contribution to my stress has been an hour of loud chewing and reaching into the noisy Lays bag. Family-sized, too, but does he offer me any chips? No.

Once I complete a summary, I shut my laptop.

"Does this mean we can hang out now?" Jeremiah asks. More crunching follows.

Stretching every muscle I can get, I stand up and walk around the room a couple times. I know I should write more. At the same time my brain's rebooting.

"Yeah, I think I'm done for the day," I say. 

"Cool."

I tell him as he reaches over to pull something from under the bed, "I don't have the energy to go anywhere today."

"Aw." He shoves the box back in. "You're no fun."

"That's me, Miss Buzz Kill," I comment. "Do you have anything we can do inside?"

"I mean, I guess we can play the PlayStation 4." Jeremiah laughs. "So here's the funny thing about those rewards for the chores getting done."

"Considering Christmas was yesterday..."

"They were Christmas presents," he finishes. "By the way, what'd you get?"

"Bored."

My friend rolls his eyes. "Can you be specific?"

Before summarizing, I sit down on his desk (to his annoyance, I should mention). "Well, I was jerked awake by Mom at noon, got a lecture for sleeping in again, pretended I was excited to open presents, and then I escaped to my room after six. Which led to a lecture for having the guts to leave out of their sight."

He cocks his head to the side. "Was that why you asked to hide here?" he asks.

"Yep."

His eyebrows furrowed, he asks a little suspiciously, "Don't your parents keep an eye on your every movement?"

"Usually. I don't know, but lately they've been... lax?" I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. "Not lax. Not the word I'm looking for. Um, anyway. The point is I can worry about my fate only seventy-five percent of the time instead of the full hundred."

It might have been they were getting more involved in work or fundraisers. I'm hoping that's the case.

Jeremiah readjusts his position from the propped-up elbow position to lying down on the bed. I'm looking down at my hands. My nails haven't been clipped in a while. 

"Hey Niamh?" he asks.

"Yeah."

He moves the chips to the side. "Can you do me a favor?"

I eye him. What's next on his list of places to go? "Depends."

He stretches an arm out. "Can you come here?" There's nothing light to his tone, meaning there's no room for the usual banter.