Comfy Closets - Chapter 40: Chapter 40

There are moments when you can’t possibly know how to react. Should you be surprised? Sad? Sympathetic? What if you just had no business to react at all?
I stood in the doorway, dazed as I took in the downcast expression on the woman’s face. She held my gaze as if expecting an answer from me.
I gulped slowly and softly said. “I’m sorry to hear that…”
The fair-headed woman tried for a smile and failed but nodded in acknowledgement anyway. The urge to see my girlfriend had increased the moment she broke the news, and now, I didn’t think I could turn away. “Can- can I still see her? Please?”
Diane looked like she was about to insist that I really shouldn’t, but someone stepped into view from behind her just then, wrapping his arm around her waist.
Leah’s stepdad, Joe – if I recalled correctly, smiled softly in greeting. “Hi, Alyssa. Maybe it’d be good for Leah to have a friend there for her right now. She hasn’t been out of her room all day,” he said to me, but his sentence felt more directed at his wife as he subtly nudged her side.
The woman sighed but nodded, stepping aside to let me in. I smiled gratefully and stepped through the entrance, quickly treading up the wooden stairs. I glanced behind me to see my girlfriend’s parents with concerned eyes as they followed my movements up the steps. Focusing ahead, I bit the inside of my cheeks and stopped outside Leah’s room, softly knocking twice and waiting for a response.
There was none, and so after waiting for ten seconds, I knocked again. This time, a meek ‘come in’ was heard through the white door.
I didn’t know what to expect when I twisted the doorknob and pushed through. Given the nature of the relationship that this family had with the man who died, I couldn’t be sure how Leah would’ve reacted. So, letting out a deep breath, I braced myself to expect the worst.
The door easily swung open and I peered inside the dim room, the curtains mostly drawn to let only a sliver of light through. The room itself seemed normal, nothing out of the ordinary. But the girl who sat at the end of her bed in leggings and a sweatshirt was what brought my attention to focus.
Leah didn’t look up when I entered the room. Didn’t respond as I approached the bed and sat beside her. She just… stared ahead at the bookcase that was across from her bed, looking but not looking as I noticed a glazed blankness over her dark orbs, mind elsewhere.
“Hey,” I said softly as I sat down, the mattress dipping under my weight.
She didn’t say anything back, but I noticed the hands resting on her knees shift slightly.
It was something.
Despite my previous urge to see her, I didn’t know what to say, so I leaned forward and rested my arms on my knees as I waited for when she was ready.
As the silence enveloped us, I listened to the soft, even breaths that left her lips. They sounded calm and steady, but I doubted her reality was anything but.
After a few minutes passed, words finally left her lips.
“I don’t remember the last thing I said to him.”
It didn’t seem like she was expecting a reply to that, so I watched her silently and listened.
“I…” Leah trailed off, a sarcastic smile briefly flitting across her face. “I can’t really remember what he looked like, actually. I was eight when we left, and now… I can’t even remember his face.”
One of her slender hands that had been resting on her lap went up to discreetly wipe away a tear that escaped her eye, but other than the tear, her face was a stoic mask that blocked any emotion from sight. I furrowed my brows in silent worry as I sat upright and turned my body towards her. She continued, as if not registering anything else besides the thoughts in her head.
“He treated Landon like shit, y’ know? Made him feel worthless, like a waste of space and you know what – I hate him for that. My brother took a long time to bounce back from that. But-” my girlfriend let out a shaky breath, clearing her throat as she tried to compose herself, “the man’s dead now. He’s dead.
“The man I used to call Dad is now dead, and I have no fucking idea how to feel.”
The pace of her breaths quickened as she lifted her palms and covered her face. Sliding my left hand to rest on her lower back, I rubbed her skin over the fabric in soft, soothing motions. I knew it wasn’t much and I didn’t have the words right now to say anything good, but for now, this was what I could do.
“What are you feeling right now?”
It took a moment for her to reply. “Relieved. Empty. Very fucking tired, too.” As she let hands fall, she turned to me with worn out, half-lidded eyes. “What am I supposed to feel, Alyssa?”
Besides the worrying fact that she never called me Alyssa, I didn’t know how to answer. But apparently, she wasn’t expecting me to.
“You know, I went through feeling like a worthless shit with abandonment issues and a closed-off personal life - all because of that man. I should be angry, pissed off mad – and I was. But… he’s gone now.”
As she voiced out those words, her eyes widened as if a realisation just hit her. I sat beside her, slightly confused as to what was going on in her head to have her face scrunch up with that thoughtful expression.
With my free hand, I gently grasped one of hers in mine and squeezed once, trying to draw her attention to me to see if she was okay. I couldn’t tell if she was sad or mad or whatever else – but I wanted to be there to get her through it regardless.
“Whatever you’re feeling right now, I think is valid. The man was your father once, but he had also hurt you and your family a lot. Feeling both sides of it is okay. You’re not supposed to or meant to feel a certain way. You just do.”
Her eyes wandered over my face for a few seconds before she nodded a barely noticeable nod and faced forward again, her jaw clenching as she drowned in her thoughts again.
My hand drifted up to rest around her shoulders, and I pulled her to me. She subconsciously rested her head on the crook of my neck and we just stayed like that, our breaths naturally falling into synchronicity.
From the corner of my eye, I could see her bottom lip tremble the slightest bit but before I could do or say anything, the door opened to reveal the silhouette of a tall man.
Both of our heads swivelled to face the door to watch the sandy-haired man enter the room and focus on the girl beside me.
When Leah realised who it was, she sprung off her bed and leap into the arms of the man that caught her in a tight hug.
“Hey LeLe,” Landon mumbled, his head buried into his sister’s blonde hair.
I stood up and smiled weakly at him when he looked over Leah’s shoulder to see me in the room too. He returned the smile, looking grateful that I was there for his sister before he arrived.
Deciding it was time for me to go, I nodded and headed out of the room. I let my hand glide across my girlfriend’s back on the way out to signal I was leaving and left to go downstairs as I was reassured by the fact that my girlfriend was going to be taken care of by her loving family.
The siblings’ parents came out of the den when they heard my footsteps, looking to me with anticipation.
“I think she needs time, but she’ll be okay,” I said.
“Oh, thank god,” Diane breathed out, both of their features relaxing as their worries settled.
I hugged the caring woman, knowing she must be having a hard time with this despite the strong front she put up. I sensed the sombre air as soon as I stepped foot into the house.
We separated and she cupped my cheek endearingly before letting me go.
__________________
Leah was here the next day at school, which was a relief to me. She seemed better than yesterday, more centred and without that lost look in her eyes. I stayed by her side for most of the day whenever I could, just to be there for her anytime she needed. The distance we unintentionally put between us last week wasn’t enjoyable in the least, and I’ve realised that giving space to Leah wasn’t always what would help her most in any given situation.
But her main focus this week was now on the school play, as she spent her energy memorizing lines and practising with her castmates. I’ve heard from her and Gia that it was all coming together really nicely, except for the clothes department that had messed up a few costumes with their measurements. Turns out, they get really panicky over stuff like that.
The play was set to be performed on Friday, and it would’ve been stressful for me to go see it since the finals was just the next day. But since they released the news on Wednesday that the finals were pushed to the next week, I would thankfully be able to go, less stressed and more supporting of my red-headed friend and my insanely brilliant girlfriend.
The great news also suggested that I got to have more time to recover from my injury and train with my teammates. My parents had been really fussy about me going back, but once I brought up the ‘I want to make you proud’ comment, they got all gooey and just warned me to be careful.
But tonight was the night of the play and Gia couldn’t stop her jittering as she bounced around the place. It was light she drank ten cups of coffee and added an energy drink to the mix. Leah, although more composed, had not put down her script the entirety of the day as her eyes intensely focused on the words on the paper.
“Babe. Babe. Baby~ come on,” I groaned, trying to grab my girlfriend’s attention to no avail. I didn’t really like the fact that her attention was so captured by something else that wasn’t me.
Leah continued to hold up the stapled paper in front of her face, not acknowledging me as our group of friends all sat at the lunch table with us.
“Leah has a needy little girlfriend-” Ashton casually said to the table, causing everyone but Leah to snicker at my pout. The girl herself was still absorbed in her task.
A different tactic popped to mind, and a mischievous smile graced my lips. I leaned my mouth closer to her ear whilst my hand slid over to her thigh under the table, massaging it slightly as I whispered seductively into her ear. “Leahbabe, why don’t you put that down and look at me, hm?”
I smirked in delight as I saw a shiver run through her body. Her light greenish eyes drifted to me – playfully lustful as she regarded my teasing.
“Yes? You have my attention now…”
My smirk turned crooked as I continued to massage her under the table, slowly inching closer to her inner thigh. “That’s much better.”
Her orbs started to glaze over as she bit her lip to probably prevent any embarrassing sounds from escaping, and the thought itself caused a haze of horniness to cloud my brain.
“You guys - get a room, will you?”
The haze dispersed at the sound of Riley’s voice and a blush instantly coated my girlfriend’s cheeks, the heat on my own indicative that she wasn’t the only one. Our friends laughed at our expense, but I grinned happily without a care as I got what I wanted.
Leah lightly slapped my arm in scolding, but I gripped her hand right after and entwined our fingers under the table, smiling like a fool. She narrowed her eyes playfully, but she didn’t pull away and that made me all the happier.
Our attention was drawn away to Gia as she captured everyone’s attention with her large voice. “Okay, guys. Just a heads up – get to the theatre early. The good seats are going to be taken up quickly, and in order for you all to see our fabulous performance in all its glory, you guys need to get there early for the good seats. Early. Do I need to say it again?”
“Yes, we get it – early,” Zach rolled his eyes.
Gia leaned over the table and got up in his face to emphasise her point with a menacing glare. “Early.”
The boy lost his sassiness and gulped. “Yes ma’am.”
I snickered and was about to make a side comment to my girlfriend, only to groan at the sight of her.
“Not again.”
The rest of lunch consisted of Leah ignoring me as her eyes stayed glued to the sheets of paper. I almost went to grab it at one point so I could burn it with one of those Bunsen burners in the science lab.
Soon, though, the bell rang and released us back to our classes as the two performers went back to their rehearsals in the theatre. Just then, I wished I’d been a part of the play - even controlling the lights or something, just so I wouldn’t have to face Mrs Parry alone in Chemistry.
Thankfully, the rest of the day turned out to go by quick and I was soon out the doors with my friends, walking to the diner close by for a quick bite before heading back to see the show.
We ate quickly and, with the heated warning from Gia clear in our minds, we made it back early to grab the good seats.
Not a lot of people were here yet, but I knew to expect way more because the school play always did well every year. The drama department always managed to raise a lot of money for these things, and thus, always had a big budget to work with. The audience will definitely be expecting big, fabulous things in this year’s performance.
The play that they apparently chose to do was Peter Pan, which at first, I thought was a little weird – because wasn’t it a children’s story? But Gia and Leah were quick to shut that opinion down, saying it was way more intricate than I thought. I guess I’ll have to see for myself.
But what was interesting about this performance was the fact that they’ll be doing a gender switch. So, characters like Peter Pan and Captain Hook will be played by girls, whereas characters like Tinkerbell was done by a boy. The first time I heard about it, my eyes bugged out and I grew really intrigued, which I’m guessing is what will draw many others from our school to watch this performance.
As we entered the halls, my friends and I gave our purchased tickets to the ticket boy who I presumed was a freshman, since he looked intimidated and tiny as he sat behind the table. We entered the spacious theatre and got seats close to the front, settling down and chatting amongst ourselves.
The seats held little pamphlets that had all the names of the cast and crew printed out for the audience and I quickly flipped through to see my friends’. Gia’s name was near the front, with the character name ‘Captain Hook’ printed right next to it. I shifted excitedly in my seat as I showed the others.
“Dude, guys, Gia’s the person with the hook!”
“The Captain Hook? Wow, I knew she could pull off evil,” Zach grinned teasingly. I slapped his arm playfully, and Ashton had this look of realisation on his face.
“Oh~ that’s why she kept holding onto that stick when she practised her lines. I thought it was a weird attachment thing. To a stick.”
Riley, who sat at the end of the row, snorted. “Not everyone has a weird attachment thing like you to that-”
“I told you not to ever mention it!”
“Oh, right!” his girlfriend laughed sheepishly.
I rolled my eyes at them in amusement before turning my attention back to the letters printed on the paper, trying to find my own girlfriend’s name.
I spotted hers not far down from Gia’s, with Wendy Darling printed next to hers.
Zach, who was looking over to see the paper too, noticed the same time as I did. “Dude… this play is gonna be so cool.”
I grinned, bouncing in my seat with impatience as we waited for the play to start. “Yeah, definitely.”
Soon, more people filled the seats of the large theatre until the room was almost full.
I was minding my own business, chatting excitedly with my friends when a person called out my name.
“Alyssa!”
Spinning my body around in the seat to look behind me, my eyes scanned through the crowd in confusion as I couldn’t spot anyone familiar immediately. The person called my name again and I pinpointed the now familiar voice, seating two seats to the left on the row behind me.
“Mom?”
“Hi, sweetie! I can’t believe I spotted you!”
My head tilted in pure befuddlement. “Why – why are you here?”
The woman swatted a hand my way. “Oh, I wanted to bring Addy to see the performance since I’ve heard it’s going to be good.”
“Oh…” I trailed off, feeling slightly awkward at the fact that my mom was here at my school, with my friends sitting right beside me. I waved at my little sister who I now noticed as her little form occupied the theatre seat beside the brunette woman. “Hey, Addy.”
“Hi!” the seven-year-old waved excitedly. “I heard Gia’s in the performance!”
“Yeah, and Leah too.”
“What?! Oh my gosh, this is going to be so great!” the little girl squealed.
I chuckled and looked back at my mom to see her staring at Zach with a curious expression as he sat right beside me. I took this as her sign to introduce them.
“Hey, Zach, I don’t think you’ve met my mom. The one sitting next to the little girl is her - and Mom, this is Zach, a friend of mine.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“You too, Mrs Woods,” my friend smiled brightly. He was really good with the parents.
As Zach turned back around, I noticed my mom giving me this look that suggested something, but at the moment I couldn’t really decipher it, so I slowly turned my attention forward and ignored it. I’m sure it was nothing.
“By the way, just curious, does your mom know about you and…” Zach trailed off, not needing to finish his sentence for me to get it.
“No, not yet.”
He hmphed in acknowledgement and reached out to squeeze my hand briefly, showing me I had his support anytime. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as my heart warmed at the gesture.
The lights of the room soon dimmed, indicating the performance was starting. A girl I recognised from Junior year walked out on stage - the narrator of the play. She went on to introduce the story and soon after, the play was set into motion.
After two hours of watching the performance, all I could comprehend was of the utter brilliance the performance turned out to be.
Gia turned out to be a badass and alluring pirate queen. She moved across the stage with confidence, commanding the audience’s attention with ease. The girl who played Peter Pan happened to be brilliant as well and created a captivating dance between the two on stage. The boy who played Tinker Bell – who was anything but dainty and petite, but actually lean and more hulky, surprised a lot of people too.
They didn’t change anything about the story, just some of the genders, but the difference was amazing to watch. The whole performance, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Leah. She played her character in a way that made it hard to believe she was even Leah at all. That, I’d call talent.
The show left the audience in awe. Heck, they somehow even managed to get Peter Pan to fly on stage with some rig they set up! It was an unbelievable success and I was sure Leah and Gia were bouncing in excitement in the wings as the curtains closed to indicate the end of the show.
I quickly got up and headed to the halls, wanting to find my talented friends and congratulate them myself. Pushing past the crowd of people, I slipped out into the corridor and made my way to the secluded doors I knew would lead me to the secret doors of the stage wings that would lead to backstage. I’m sure my friends were following me, but I was too eager to check behind me to see.
Going through the entrance, I weaved past the buzzing cast members and crew as they headed in the opposite direction I was coming from, going to see their friends and family. Hoping I hadn’t missed my friends, I continued forward into the backstage area.
Luckily, I spotted a head of dirty blonde hair as the girl in the familiar costume was packing some things into her bag. Seeing no one else around, as everyone was all outside in the halls, I crept up behind her and wrapped my arms around her body in a hug.
Leah, realising it was me, relaxed into my touch and chuckled. I kissed the side of her head affectionately.
“You did absolutely amazing up there.”
“Really?” she asked, turning around and draping her arms around my neck with a soft smile stretching her lips.
I hummed out an ‘mhmm’, my hands sliding down to rest just above her hips. “You… you amaze me, Leah Bennett.”
She pulled my head closer as her smile turned into a beautiful grin. “You flatter me, Alyssa Woods.”
Our bodies drew close to leave no space in between as our lips met with familiarity and undeniable passion. Her soft, plump lips moved against mine with eager energy as her hands dug into my brunette waves, and I couldn’t help but let my hands wander up and down her back, dying to slip under her dress to feel the soft skin underneath.
As we continued this dance of passion, the only thought flitting through my mind at that moment was how incredibly grateful I was to have this breath-taking, brilliant girl right by my side.