Disequilibrium

Part 4: Senior Year - Scene 12

A/N: If you haven't read the previous chapter, I suggest that you do so now. Things will make a hell of a lot more sense if you do, just saying.

In the dead of night with her breath hot against my shoulder blade, Sheila says, "What's one thing you really want in life?"

"A new life."

She laughs, though it's quieter than before. Like it's an effort.

"And how do you want to achieve that?"

"New town, new people. New me. I'm guessing that's how it works. Maybe I'll change my hair, get new clothes, and hell, I'll grow a beard. Be someone entirely different."

"I wish it was that easy, kid," she says, and kisses my skin like she's known me for years. Like she isn't some middle-aged woman who's well aware I'm just a beat up teenager who doesn't know what the fuck he's doing. And I guess that's why the lights are still off.

She's kind of smart, Sheila. Not half bad.

"I'll get you hair dye in the morning," she says after a while. "He won't be back until late afternoon. I'll get you hair dye, help you, and then you'll have to go off to your new life."

"You can't be part of it?"

She sighs. "I guess not."

"And if I see you around town?"

"If you ever see me again, then maybe it's fate. But I've got a feeling I won't be seeing you around anymore. That's alright."

I touch her hair then the way they always do in the movies, the way Casper used to do when he was, well, Casper. And I whisper, "You're beautiful," even though that's a straight up lie. She knows it, I know it, but she doesn't call me out for it. She just lets out another soft laugh.

"It's been a while since I heard that," she says, and then shifts so her back is pressed against my chest. "Sleep now. We've got to be up early in the morning."

Damn, Sheila. She really isn't half bad at all.