The Circle of Friends

I - An Enlightening Encounter-3

A startled cry brought them out of a sound sleep. Sarah’s entire body tensed and she raised her head. Matt lifted himself to see over Sarah, his hand on her hip. Their eyes fell on Heather, who frantically wrapped a blanket around her body. Heather looked as if she’d had a rough night.

“Matt, what on earth are you doing here?” she exclaimed.

Rolling onto his back, Matt covered his eyes. “My God, Heather! You are the master of rude awakenings,” he said, yawning.

“I am?” she said. “Well, I certainly didn’t expect to wake up to you.”

“Just who did you wake up to this morning, Heather?” said Sarah, unable to resist.

Heather rolled her eyes and headed for the bathroom, the blanket trailing behind her.

“Don’t be long!” called Matt.

“Yeah, sure,” Heather snapped before slamming the door.

Sarah heard Matt chuckle. She sat upright and swung her feet to the floor. Running her fingers through her hair, Sarah stretched once before facing her unlikely bedmate. Arms lying over his head, Matt stifled another yawn when he noticed Sarah watching. Stretching out his legs, he grinned, his eyes still full of mischief. Sarah found his expression rather endearing and she returned his smile.

“Guess we fell asleep,” he said, stating the obvious.

“No kidding,” said Sarah, amused by the whole situation.

Matt rubbed his eyes. c*****g his head, he regarded Sarah with curiosity.

“I don’t think I’ve ever slept with someone that I didn’t actually sleep with.”

“First time for everything,” said Sarah.

“At least it was someone I know,” said Matt.

“Wait! Who are you again?”

That caused Matt to laugh. With a groan, he pulled himself upright. Sarah moved over to allow him room. He yawned again and rubbed his hair, causing it to stand out more than ever. Sarah tried to suppress a chuckle, for Matt appeared disheveled and groggy this morning. Matt cast a sideways glance at her, a grin on his face.

“Oh, this amuses you, huh?” he said, giving Sarah a playful shove on the leg.

He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. Sarah gripped the edge of the bed and looked at Matt expectantly.

“Last night was fun,” he said. “Maybe next time we’ll start with the gory movie.”

“Yeah, and really gross out Heather,” Sarah added.

“With the movie or us in bed together?” he teased, rubbing his hair again.

Sarah crossed her arms and frowned. “I didn’t think that was gross.”

Matt paused and stared at her. His expressive brown eyes reflected genuine interest and Sarah met his gaze. Matt was about to speak when Heather returned clad in a bathrobe.

“All right, next,” she mumbled, dropping into her chair.

“My, did we wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” exclaimed Matt as he strolled past Sarah’s roommate.

Heather swung at Matt and he avoided her half-hearted attempt. When the bathroom door closed, she looked expectantly at Sarah, her eyes piercing and haughty. Not wanting to give her roommate the satisfaction of watching her squirm, Sarah returned Heather’s stare.

“So, what did we do last night?” Heather said, implying more had occurred than what she’d witnessed.

“When I couldn’t find you last night,” said Sarah, annoyance in her voice, “Matt offered to walk me home. We stayed up half the night playing games and watching movies.”

“And…?”

“And fell asleep watching the last movie. Duh, Heather,” said Sarah, spreading her arms and glancing down at herself. “I still have my clothes on.”

Heather regarded her with skepticism. Sarah shook her head and smiled.

“Sorry, you’ve never woken up next to a boy with your clothes on, have you?”

Heather threw her pen at Sarah and turned back to her computer. The bathroom door opened and Matt strolled into the room. He had wet his hair and appeared much more alert now. Grinning at Heather, he winked at Sarah, pleased to have annoyed Heather so early in the morning. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Matt reached for his shoes.

“Guess I’ll go home now,” he announced, putting on his left shoe.

“Thanks for walking me back last night,” said Sarah, pulling her knees to her chest.

“No problem! It was fun.”

Pulling on his other shoe, he glanced at Heather, who appeared to be ignoring them. Satisfied they were not under observation, Matt regarded Sarah one last time. His expression thoughtful, he opened his mouth as if to speak. A noise from Heather’s direction distracted him and Matt gave Sarah another smile as he rose to his feet.

“I’ll see you around,” he announced.

He patted Heather on the head as he passed and she batted away his hand in irritation. With a laugh, Matt opened the door and gave Sarah one last smile before departing.

Once Matt was gone, a stillness fell over the room. Heather continued to sulk in silence. Sarah opted to take a shower and grabbed a fresh set of clothes out of her dresser. If her roommate remained in a foul mood when she emerged, Sarah would work on her studies under a tree somewhere. It would be warm and humid, even in the shade, but it beat the tension in their room. More importantly, it would give her some time to think about what had transpired last night.

Avoiding Heather for the rest of the day, Sarah spent her Sunday alone. She staked out a large tree under which to work and buried her nose in her books. Several people passed during the course of the day, and a friend from her English class waved hello, but no one stopped to talk. Sarah knew how to close herself off from the world when she wanted, discouraging anyone who might approach. And today, she wanted to be alone with her musings.

Her thoughts returned to Matt and the events of the past evening. Sarah had to admit she’d enjoyed his company. It had surprised her to discover they had so much in common. They’d known each other for almost two years, but never spent time alone. Sarah had seen Matt at parties and around campus, but unless he was in their room bothering Heather for something, their conversations had been brief. She wasn’t the type of girl he dated. They wouldn’t even be friends if it weren’t for Jason and Lori.

Sarah’s focus shifted to Lori. She’d always envied her best friend. Sarah knew she wasn’t ugly, but next to her friend, she sometimes felt unattractive. With her long, flowing hair and captivating smile, Lori was beautiful beyond words. Everywhere she went, boys turned to watch, their eyes full of desire and admiration. The scrutiny never fell on Sarah, or their other friend, Maria. In fact, had it not been for Maria and her pretty but average looks, Sarah doubted she could’ve been Lori’s only close friend.

And now Lori was marrying Jason, she thought to herself. Sometimes it made her nauseated to watch them, for they were so in love. Passion ignited between them with a mere glance. Sarah wished some boy would look at her in a similar fashion. The boys she dated were only interested in one thing. There was none of the magic that sparked between Lori and Jason. Sarah concluded she attracted the wrong boys.

She noticed the afternoon shadows growing longer and decided to go inside. As she gathered her things, Sarah thought again of Matt. She reasoned he was on her mind because she’d been without a partner for so long. She’d enjoyed having him beside her last night, though. The whole evening with Matt had been fun. Shame that would probably be the last time she saw him before Lori’s wedding. Maybe she’d get a chance to talk with him then, if Heather didn’t monopolize all of his time.

One more month and her best friend would marry Mr. Right. If only Sarah could find one that wasn’t so Mr. Wrong.