The Girl In Red

Oh Boy...

I heaved again and again, knuckles white from gripping the toilet so tightly. The acid burned as I vomited the one piece of French toast I enjoyed for breakfast. I heaved once more, but nothing came out. I took a few gasps of air and coughed. I could taste the stomach acid that lingered in my mouth once my stomach had emptied itself. I spit in the toilet before flushing. Hair clung to my sweaty face as I pushed away from the toilet and slouched against the cool wall. I greeted the cold tiles with relief. I closed my eyes and sighed, wiping the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand.

A knock at the door startled me awake. Did I fall asleep on the floor?

'You sure did. Feeling better?' Sasha had been quiet for a time. I wondered why.

'To give you time to acclimate.' It was just a whisper.

"Alexis?" It was Stephon's voice on the other side of the door. He sounded worried. I quickly got to my feet and ran to the door. I swung it open to see his face full of worry.

"Are you alright?" His hands went to my arms as he looked me up and down. I smiled weakly and nodded. I looked down and swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry..." My whisper trailed off as he pulled me into a tight embrace. His fingers tangled in my hair as he buried his face into my neck. Electricity surged through me at his touch. I felt my body heat up as one of his hands lingered down my back and around my waist, pulling me in closer. I felt like I could melt right into him. Sahsa purred in my head. It caused my core to clench, snapping my mind back to reality.

"Oh!" I snapped back to reality and pushed away. He let go with a look of hurt on his face. I smiled lightly at him.

"I...should brush my teeth." I noted as I grabbed my toothbrush and waved it in the air at him. He sighed and nodded. I blobbed on toothpaste and started brushing. The taste of peppermint soothed my senses.

"The Omega from this morning," Stephon called out to me from the bedroom. "Silvia. She asked if you wanted to go shopping for some clothing and 'girl things'." He made quotations in the air and I giggled. I placed my toothbrush back in the holder and walked out the bathroom. He was sitting on the bed smiling at me. He shrugged.

"You do need new clothes. not just ones borrowed." He chuckled, looking at my outfit. I looked down and giggled.

'He isn't wrong, girl. Your outfits are rough with a capital "R"! Plus, I kinda like this Silvia girl. Wouldn't kill you to make a friend.' Sasha just had to put in her two cents, didn't she? I rolled my eyes. So much for letting me acclimate.

"Guess I do." I smiled.

Here we were, driving into town. Chris was driving, Stephon sat as a passenger, and Silvia sat in the back with me. The boys were enthralled in their conversation about the car we were in. From what I gathered, it was a newer model of a Genesis GV 70- something. Apparently, they were discussing the updating packages they purchased and didn't purchase. Chris was making his case on why they should put bigger wheels on it and Stephon was arguing as to why it was not a good idea.

"C'mon! It'll be so much nicer off the road!" Chris whined, dropping his head back onto the headrest. Stephon chuckled as he glanced at him, shaking his head.

"That's why we got the Jeeps! Wranglers, man! They got the lift and the wheels!" Oh boy. This was not my conversation.

'It interests them, that's for sure.' I felt Sahsa smirk in my mind. I looked over at Silvia who was looking back and forth at the guys as they spoke of cars. Confusion and disbelief on her face mirrored mine. She let out a low chuckle at their debating before turning to me. A smile was still plastered on her face.

"So, Luna! What is your style?" She asked. My smile wavered a bit.

"Um...you can call me Alexis." I whispered. "And, style? What do you mean?" I asked. She let out a low giggle and pulled her phone out. The screen lit up to a picture of her and a little girl and little boy that both looked just like Silvia. The girl had shoulder length chocolate brown curls and big brown eyes and the boy had short dark brown hair with the same big brown eyes. The family has some strong genes there. They were all smiling and hugging onto eachother.

"That's a really cute picture." I said aloud. She smiled up at me.

"Thanks! These are my two younger siblings! This one," She pointed to the girl. "is Suzy. Shes 5. And this lil' man," now pointing to the boy." is Brian. Hes 3. Their both a handful!" She giggled. She went on to the internet and searched for clothes for me to look at. She handed me the phone and started scrolling down with one finger explaining clothing to me. I was drawn to darker clothes with a touch of color. Slight professionalism for the most part.We were leaning towards each other going through pictures when we felt the car came to a stop. We both looked up and I swallowed. I was immediately intimidated.

'Oh boy...' Sasha sighed. She seemed just as uneasy as I was at this moment.

"Let's go, Luna!" Silvia squeaked. I pursed my lips as I watched her climb out the car. I handed her Iphone back to her and slowly took my seatbelt off. Before I could unclick it, my door opened to Stephon.

"What's taking you so long, girl?" He said in his best fake country accent, mimicking Silvia. I pushed down on the button to my seatbelt and took his outstretched hand. Electricity sparked. I glanced up at him and I knew he felt it, too. I stepped out on to a street full of people and vendors. I was nervous. I'd never been anywhere like this before. I couldn't understand what Silvia was saying to me as she cheerfully pointed out shops as we walked along the sidewalk. She skillfully dodged people passing her on the sidewalk. Chris just smiled at her like she was a puppy with a new toy. I had been nervously gripping onto Stephon, half hiding in his arm. This will be the shopping trip from hell, I can already tell.