Chapter 33
Another month of hectic school work passed before it was finally time for Spring Break. This year’s Spring Break meant Sydney and Michael’s one year anniversary. They weren’t going to the beach again, not wanting to repeat the previous year’s disaster-filled vacation. Plus the fact that Jess refused to spend any time alone with just the two of them doing each other (or so she put it). Instead, they were simply going to spend a quiet week alone at home relaxing together. That is, relaxing in between working on the mounds of homework they both had.
On Saturday, the first day of their break, Sydney and Michael went to the mall together to shop for anniversary presents for each other. The previous week Michael had sadly announced that after a very tiring search, he had discovered he had absolutely no idea what to get her for their anniversary. To this, Sydney laughed and told him that was perfectly fine because she had no idea what to get him either. That was when they came up with the solution of going to the mall, choosing something they liked and having the other person pay for it, thus getting each other anniversary gifts.
After a few hours of shoving their way through crowds, they had finally chosen their gifts. Sydney chose a silver watch with a pink face and Michael chose a new pair of sunglasses since he had sat on his and broken them the previous week.
On Sunday, the two of them went out to dinner at a nice restaurant in town to continue their celebration, which would culminate the following day when they’d spend the entire morning in bed, per Michael’s suggestion (though Sydney wasn’t complaining).
~*~
“Did you hear a door?” Sydney asked in a paranoid manner. It was shortly after one in the afternoon on Monday. Michael’s parents were at work and Jess was out trolling for guys at the mall. At ten a.m. that morning, Sydney had gone over to the Vaughn residence and she and Michael had been ‘celebrating’ ever since.
“Um no,” Michael told her. “But, if you did, it might just be Jess and she knows better than to come in here.”
“True,” Sydney sighed, lowering her head back onto Michael’s chest.
Unfortunately for both of them, while Jess may have known better, she certainly was not listening to that knowledge. After hearing muffled footsteps ascending the stairs, they heard two quick knocks at Michael’s bedroom door. Before either of the less-than-dressed bed occupants could respond, the door opened and Jess poked her head inside, though her eyes were notably closed. “Syyyyd, do you have a minute?”
“Actually, she’s in the middle of curing world hunger right now – she’ll have to get back to you,” Michael retorted in a very annoyed tone.
“Sheesh, somebody isn’t getting enough action around here,” she muttered. Michael snatched a book from beside his bed (it was the only item within reach) and chucked it at her face. It missed, but barely, and she yelped and opened her eyes. “Jesus, don’t try to kill me.”
“QUIT BARGING INTO MY BEDROOM!” Michael retorted.
“I’m sorry, but I need to ask Sydney an important question,” Jess told him.
“What?” Sydney asked, annoyed.
“Can I borrow your new pink purse? I just bought a new jacket and it’ll go so well with it for my date tonight!” she said with a giggle.
“Um, yeah, sure, whatever… it’s downstairs on the floor next to my shoes just… put my stuff in a plastic bag or something,” Sydney sighed.
“Thanks! Enjoy the rest of your anniversary,” Jess winked before leaving the bedroom.
Sydney sighed and propped herself up on her elbow, resting her head in her hand as she looked down at Michael. “Should we be concerned that she’s become so casual about walking in on us while we’re in bed?”
“I think so,” he said in a serious tone.
“That’s what I thought,” Sydney sighed as she flopped back down against her pillow. “There’s something seriously wrong with her.”
“Something?! Something implies just one thing is wrong with her – there are many things wrong with that girl,” Michael told her. Sydney nodded in agreement.
The two of them lay in a comfortable silence with their hands intertwined for ten more minutes before, suddenly, Sydney burst out into giggles. When Michael asked her what was wrong with her, she calmed herself and explained, “Nothing, it’s just… a year ago when we were at the beach I never though we’d be here, a year later… having sex all day long,” she laughed.
“We’re not having sex all day long. Jeez Syd, you’re making us sound like nymphomaniacs or something.”
“Sorry,” she laughed. He muttered and shook his head at her before turning his head to face the ceiling once more. After over five minutes of silence, he suddenly rolled her on top of Sydney, causing her to squeal, “what are you doing?!”
“Well, as long as you think we’re having sex all day we might as well be doing it,” he grinned evilly before attacking her neck with kisses.
It seemed the two of them were destined to have a very interesting first anniversary because not another two minutes had passed when Amelia came up the steps in search of her son. Unfortunately, Jess had failed to shut the door the entire way, so, when Amelia pushed it open, she was met with a very shocking sight that made her yell. Her scream made Sydney and Michael scream until they realized that they had been caught – very, very caught – and then they nearly died of mortification.
Sydney turned twelve shades of red and covered her face with her hands, wishing Michael, who appeared to be frozen, would roll off of her. When Michael finally regained his ability to breathe, he slid off of Sydney and buried his face down into his pillow, begging time to rewind. “I-I’m just going to…,” Amelia let her voice drift off as she quickly left the room.
“Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god,” became Sydney’s mantra as she shook her head back and forth, praying that the event that had just taken place had been a terrible nightmare.
“This is bad,” Michael sighed into his pillow.
“NO, REALLY?!” Sydney hissed at him. “I thought this was a good thing, Michael!” she wailed.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah just… put your clothes on,” he sighed.
Five minutes later, the very sheepish duo crept downstairs and slid their way into the family room. Neither of them wanted to confront Amelia so soon (or ever really) but they knew the quicker it was done the better. Plus, Michael definitely did not want to involve his father in the situation. They found Amelia in the kitchen sipping on some tea. When she made eye contact with them, they both blushed once more. “Sit,” she told them simply, gesturing towards the large oak table with one hand.
Sydney and Michael slowly sat while gulping slightly. Amelia paced the room, sipping her tea at even intervals for another two minutes before she spoke again. “The two of you are over twenty years old and you’ve been in a relationship for a year now, so I’m not going to tell you what you can and cannot do. However,” she said sharply, “I do get to dictate what takes place in my house – is that understood?”
“Yes Mom,” Michael mumbled while Sydney mumbled, “Yes Amelia,” though neither of them looked at her; they were staring holes through the table in front of them.
“That being said, I do hope you will use discretion in the future,” she sighed. She was just about to walk away when she said, “Oh and, that would be the one condition when your door should be shut – and locked.” With that, she left and Sydney and Michael exhaled a very heavy sigh.
“That was bad,” Michael said.
“Very bad,” Sydney commented.
Before either of them could speak again, Jess flew through the back door saying, “Forgot money…,” though she paused when she saw Sydney and Michael. “Oh, have you two seen Mom?” she asked. It was obvious she was trying to hide laughter in her voice. Sydney and Michael exchanged looks of shock upon the realization of what Jess had done. Within a second, Michael bolted from the table and lunged at his sister, ready to pounce, but she had already slipped back out the door.
“I’m gonna kill her,” Michael hissed.
Sydney nodded; she wasn’t even going to bother stopping him that time. “I’ll help.”