Alice Avery
I placed the trusty cigarette between my lips and ignited the lighter against it. His head rested on my lap with is arms held around my waist, his sleeping position was accidental, it just happened. I was exhausted, I hadn't slept in 24 hours. It was around 8:30 and I wasn't ready to wake Ricky yet, he seemed to be typically grumpy in the mornings. Today was a big day for me, I had my first race back and I'd show up hungover and sleep deprived.
Ricky began to rustle in my lap and his face turned up to me, his eyes closed and lips parted. I flicked remnants of ash of the ledge of the roof and held the cig back in my mouth. It was soon snatched out by a now awake Ricky.
"How many hours did I get?" He asks as he sits up with the smoke between his fingers.
"Almost two." I answer and stand up to my feet. I stretched a little considering I was held in the exact same position for two hours.
"Works for me," he says and jumps up to his feet. "How ya feeling?" I gave him a questionable look and he rolls his eyes casually, "First race back?"
"Oh, yeah no I'm good." I say and he smiles at my hardly blushed cheeks. What the hell is wrong with me.
"Anything else you wanna do?" Ricky offers, "It's still early."
"Shockingly, sleep sounds like the most appealing thing right now." I say as I let out a big yawn.
"I'll call a cab," he informs me and I nod. We both grab our things and climb down from the roof.
I had come to the realization that I had way too much fun last night. It shocked me that Ricky caused that type of feeling for me. I never thought we'd end up in a friendly matter, unfortunately I was just waiting until he'd switch up on me again.
"They're right around the corner," Ricky breaks me out of my thoughts and I nod and bounce on the balls of my feet.
"Uh, thank you for last night by the way," I speak out in an unrecognizable tone and he looks up to me. It was just weird talking to him like this. "It was fun."
"Yeah," he agrees. "It was."
I heard the sound of tires running along the stone path just as a cab pulled up behind Ricky. We both got into the car and headed further into the city. The ride was silent but comfortable and once I was dropped off at the apartment I headed straight to bed. I raced at 9 tonight and I wasn't even aware of the guy I was racing tonight, I tried my absolute best to not think about the race. Although when I did, there was an indescribable feeling in my gut that I constantly failed to eliminate.
My eyes began to flutter open as I felt my bed indent. Theo sat on the edge of my bed as he shook me awake. "Where did you go last night?" He questions me seriously.
"I was out with Ricky." I didn't realize how suspicious that sounded until I said it aloud.
"What's going on between the two of you?"
"Nothing, we hung out it's not a big deal." I reply as I wave him off.
"Be careful," he says suddenly, "Please?" He begs.
"Like I said, we just hung out," I reassure him. I knew Theo would talk to me about Ricky at some point. Theo didn't want me to even meet his friends, never mind start friendships with them.
"What time is it?" I change the subject and push my blanket off of me.
"'Round 8." Theo answers and my eyes bulge out.
"I slept for 11 hours?!" Shockingly, sleeping was never my strong suit. I often had nightmare and such that kept me awake, nightmares about them. The nightmares scared me, they scared me so much that I was afraid to fall asleep. To put it into simpler words, I've basically been sleep deprived my entire life.
