Chapter 14
"I- I know." Gloria left, having nothing more to say.
~*~
Gloria rolled over in bed, guilt sitting on her chest like a stone. She had let her flirtation go too far, and now she was having naughty dreams about Alex. Not just naughty, dirty, she thought. And you enjoyed them.
It didn't happen. Nothing had happened. Gloria had gotten a bit tipsy at the bar, and it was early in the morning when Alex had been a gentleman and walked her back home. He'd put a steadying hand on her waist as she'd walked up the stairs to her room, and he'd closed the door before she'd started to peel her clothes off to change into her pajamas.
Aquila had come home shortly thereafter, bubbling about something. Gosh, Gloria still smelled like alcohol, and her breath was awful. She should have brushed her teeth before going to bed. And washed her face. And brushed her hair. She was surprised she didn't still have her socks on for the disarray she was in.
I wasn't this much of an idiot when I was falling in love with Seneca, she thought, then froze. No, no, she wasn't falling in love with Alex. Not with his stubble, not with his pointed nose, or how his voice had an accent she wanted to keep hearing over and over...
Not love. This wasn't love. This was lust, and she had to knock it out of her system. She stood up and stretched, her head feeling woozy. I need to drink water and go for a run, she thought. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was near noon time. She snatched her phone from the nightstand and saw that she had 5 texts from Seneca. Crap.
"Sorry, just woke up! I had a busy night last night, going for a run, then I'll talk to you! Love you!" she sent and rushed to put on work out clothes and shoes. Had to make this one fast so she could get back to talk to Seneca. To feel normal again.
She also had to call her mom, talk to her family, talk to Midshore and catch up with her and her family, play copious amounts of games on her laptop, watch movies, and read through everything that had happened on social media. It was going to be a lot of screen time, and she oddly didn't look forward to it. She wanted to talk to the people she loved, but everything else she didn't care about.
As she closed the door of her room with Aquila still sleeping, smiling in her sleep like a lovesick fool, Gloria tried to push down the feeling of anxiety. Had she been smiling in her sleep? Had she mumbled anything as she slept? Had she actually wanted what she'd dreamed of?
"It was only a dream," she said to herself, crossing the hallway to the stairs.
"A dream?" a voice came from across the hall. Like a bad penny, Alex always showed up at the worst times. "Care to share?"
Change the subject, "I'm going for a run, and I'll be busy all day, so you probably won't see me," she said.
He nodded. "That's normal for a weekend. Have a good day and wish your family well for me," he said, like a gentleman. Like last night hadn't happened.
Last night didn't happen for him. Last night didn’t happen for anybody. Nothing happened.
Before her mouth could get her in trouble, Gloria walked down the stairs and out the front door. "Nothing happened," she told herself. "Nothing... happened."
~*~
Delia swished back and forth in front of her mirror, admiring her new clothes, many of which still had the tags on them. Velma had said to keep the tags on so that she could return what she didn't use. They'd cost all of her food allowance for this month, but she'd be returning them at the end of the term anyhow. Velma said she could even wear them once and then return them if they were still 'clean', she just had to be careful. Delia usually shopped at second hand stores, and shopping in a high fashion department store had felt like she was out of place. Velma had looked at home.
Should she wear this one? Or the other one? Red or black? Heels or flats?
~*~
As Gloria returned home, she was sweating and she already had oily hair from the night before, so it only made sense for her to take a shower. Trudging up the steps to the girls' bathroom at the top of the steps, she recoiled as she reached for the door knob. It didn't happen, she told herself. Nothing happened in this bathroom last night, I didn't even puke. I can take a simple shower. But as she turned the knob, the smell of soap and shampoo made her mind go back, and the sight of the shower curtain made her shiver. I'll do this with my eyes closed then. I'm back home, that's it. I'm back home, in my own bathroom off the bedroom. The bedroom I share with- with Seneca. God, I should be talking to Seneca right now.
She closed her eyes and tried to forget where she was, but it wasn't working. This bathroom was nearly double the size of her bathroom at home, and it was cleaner than her bathroom. Cooler. There was tile on the floor, counter space, and enough shampoo and conditioner for three women. This wasn't her home bathroom, and the longer she stood in the bathroom the more she felt like she could skip this shower. She'd take one later.
"I'm ready when you are!" she texted him, going back into her room and positioning herself in front of her laptop so that they could video chat. She was going to see him, with her own two eyes. She couldn't hold him, or caress his face, but she could see him, and talk to him.
Her laptop played the trill of an incoming video call, and with shaking hands she answered.
"Seneca! I'm so happy to see you! How have you been?" she asked.
"You're a sight for sore eyes," he seemed to melt at the sight of her, letting out a breath he'd kept in his chest, not able to fully relax until he'd seen her. "My life has been hell. Whoever thought that college was a good idea to live in is a villain. It takes all of your money, your time, your brain, everything! I can't focus half the time, and my housemates are stranger than I expected. Oh, and friends from high school are trying to mess up my life, and my mother is trying to pull something, I can just smell it."
"What do you mean? I don't know any of your friends from high school, what're they doing?" Gloria asked, and Seneca gave her the run down about how Ethan had tried to learn more about her and he'd called out of nowhere, and Velma had wanted to catch up because she'd 'been in town for business', and how it just didn't feel right. Too much of the past was trying to pull him back, when he should be looking forward.
"And I went to my teacher's apartment last night and we had a lovely talk over tea and cookies," he finished.
Gloria's eyebrows raised. "You went to your teacher's apartment? What if she wanted more than conversation?" she asked, teasing. "How did that happen?"
"I was worried about the same thing, but it was fine. She was fully clothed, I was fully clothed, the cat was fully clothed, it was fine. I was feeling lonely and randomly asked her if I could talk to her since she's my academic advisor and she obliged, offering tea and cookies at her apartment or the library if I wanted to talk in person."
"You accepted tea and cookies from a stranger? Does she happen to drive a white van? Did you see any zip ties in her apartment? Did they not teach you stranger danger in kindergarten?" Gloria laughed, feeling her worries lessen.
"They did!" Seneca laughed with her, "But I had already met her, and I figured I could probably take her in a fight, so I wasn't worried. She lifts books, not weights. And it's my housemate I have to worry about making advances on me, not my teacher."
"If you say so." Gloria said, sipping some water.
"How have you been? It's been a week for both of us, and you're the one who has a bunch of manual labor and no screen time. How is it living out in the boonies?" Seneca asked, also taking a sip of water.
"Oh boy, where do I start? I thought we lived out in the boonies on the Bay, but this is another definition of the word. There isn't a city within an hour's drive of here, there are no city lights, the green house is amazing, and I have a roommate. Her name is Aquila, and she's also a spellcaster. There's someone here who wants to talk to spirits, dead ones, and I feel like she's going to call ghosts to haunt us and I'm not looking forward to the day it happens. I told her about Midshore and she didn't believe that she could talk to spirits and bring people back from the dead. There's a third year student here who thinks I'm really good with growing things, but it helps that I know how to make plants grow faster and can water them with a snap of my fingers." She didn't talk about Alex by name. She didn't want to say his name, to have Seneca see her say his name, even though he'd openly told her about his housemate Delia having a crush on him. Great, was she hiding things from him now? Is that what this had evolved into? Gloria was hiding things from Seneca?
They talked about everything from growing plants and cooking to how to structure a paragraph and good academic sources, until it was nearly six in the evening. The sun was setting, and Gloria's oily hair and body odor was starting to bother her, and they'd both gone hoarse from talking. Gloria had relaxed enough while talking to Seneca that she felt better about herself. After all, there was nothing to be ashamed of. Nothing had happened. But you didn't tell him about Alex.
"I love you," Gloria said, blowing kisses.
"I love you," Seneca answered as if it were a call and response song.
"I love you,"
"I love you," Seneca said again, chuckling.
"I love y-"
"I love you!" Aquila said from her bed where she was watching videos on the internet.
Gloria and Seneca both laughed, and hung up. Gloria stretched and moved towards the door, ready for that shower. "If this is what I have to look forward to every Saturday, I'll sleep downstairs," Aquila laughed as she’d nearly left the room.
"Don't be jealous," Gloria teased. "It doesn't look good on you."
"Neither does lying on you. You didn't mention Alex."
"I- I know." Gloria left, having nothing more to say.
I hope you guys can feel that I'm building towards something! How we get there though, only I know!
I played a bit more this week than I did last week, so there were a few bloopers! Here we go:
^ Aquilla and Arhun decided they had to talk outside in the middle of a storm, and they both got broken umbrellas out of the deal.
^ Aquila and Arhun had a nice heart to heart by the fire. Nice and toasty.
^ No, Aquila does not want your NFT. Please stop saying it's the next best thing.
^ Yes, I'm just as confused you are as to why you ran outside in the middle of a thunderstorm.
^ Kids these days, huh? Let's hide out here, stay away from the drama.
^ I didn't order grocery delievery, but this guy invited himself into the house? And he wouldn't leave. Thankyou, Teleport Sim Statue for getting rid of unwanted sims and getting them out of frame.
^ I have no caption for this. Only are we really surprised that Maria is the one angry?
^ Gloria's hugging continues.
^ Ah, the adults. Putting themselves to bed at a reasonable time.
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