Book One In The Ahh-Ness Of Things Series: April & Donnie were once inseparable, but now almost six years have passed since she left NYC. What if April O'Neil could set the record straight, once & for all! The only girl down enough to chill with the...
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I knew it was morning when I awoke. The air was chilly & still; the heat had kicked off, leaving only blankets to warm me. Donnie was gone again, he hadn't tried to get my attention when he left. It's disheartening when you realize that you are pathetically keeping track of something so trivial. All the mornings I had woken up to his big almond eyes staring over a coffee cup, or a pillow, or a blanket; like he was watching a flower bloom in stop motion. It had bothered me; sometimes I think knowing he was looking at me had been the very thing that brought me out of sleep. I would always stare back at him & think to myself; if it wasn't for you appearing so awestruck by my ability to wake up, this would be awkward, instead of laughable. I missed that. I had honestly expected to see him sitting there when I opened my eyes.
I noticed his grey woolen hood hanging over the desk chair, so I got up & threw it over my shoulders, flopping back down on the pallet. This was about as close as I'd get to a boyfriend shirt. I wrapped the blanket back up around me & sat looking across at the big antique wardrobe. There was a wooden crate tucked in between the big catty corner piece of furniture & the bookshelf against the wall. His workshop may have been in disaster, but his room was still kept with everything in its place. The object seemed odd, wedged in the small space, so I pulled it over to the bed. I didn't really care anymore if I was invading his privacy. Besides, there was something that told me I had a purpose to rummage through it.
I lifted off the heavy blanket on top & took a quick look over my shoulder. I still respected him. Infact as I ran my eyes over the contents of the heavy box; I realized more & more that all of his clingy, boyhood behaviors had been nothing less than attention to detail. He was never really insecure but 'allergic to indiscretions' as he had always liked to say.
Unfolding my old clothes. Unfolding layers of notes & keepsakes; the pictures that disappeared from your walls. All the traces of my life here; my belongings were packed away into a pine box. You had placed them inside neatly & with tender appreciation. You had kept me close to you in your personal space. It almost feels as if my hands move across the sacred resting place of a dead body. Like you buried me at the foot of your bed.
There were voices outside of the door. It was Mikey & I knew he was talking to Donnie.
"Hey, is April in there? Leo's looking for her."
God damn it! I had completely forgotten Leonardo wanted to work with me. I was supposed to be in the Dojo at sun up.
"All good in the hood now?"
Mikey was conjoling him cautiously.
"Nothing happened."
Donnie sounded irritated with his brother's optimism.
