"So... do you wanna come in?", he asks me as we sit in the Mitsubishi Storm parked in front of his house. My heart, pounding with excitement. I could feel the pressure building up in my hips. I do want to come in, but I hear this constant nagging at the back of my mind. "Are you crazy? Everyone's at home. His mom, his dad, his brother. If they wake up and find you there, you might wanna think about life as a fugitive. How does Thailand sound to you?"

"I don't know. I really want to but..."
"It's ok. Cowboy bah.", he assured me. I don't really know why, but he would use the term 'cowboy' whenever he wanted some sense of adventure. And since I am an adventurous person...

"Ok. Yeah, I'll come in. But let's plan how I'm gonna sneak into your house."

So we planned our lil scheme for about 10 minutes. Then we were just gonna make it up as we go along. It feels like high school all over again. This whole sneaking into his house thing. Somehow he makes an old thing feel like a new thing.

"Ready?"
"Yeah. Hell, yeah".

As his electric gate opened, I could hear my heart pounding so hard and so fast. I waited in the Storm as he got out to unlock the gate grill. Next he unlocked his sliding door. Then he disappeard into the dark house. My little mind working the plan in my head over and over again. I had to have good solid excuses should we get caught tonight. "Where is he? What's taking him so long? Did someone wake up?"

I sighed a huge relief when I saw him come out. That's my cue to go in. The point of no return. I got out of the vehicle as quietly as I could. Took my sandles off and brought them with me. The house was pitch black. Not that that mattered. I could walk with a blindfold over my eye and I wouldn't lose my way. The huge TV on my left, family pictures on the right, parents' room at the back, brother's room across the hallway, I turn right and voila! His room. He walked me to his bed, gave me a quick kiss and told me to hide under the covers while he took a shower. In the silent night, I could hear everything in that house. The grandfather clock ticking away in the living room and the sound of him showering in the bathroom.

I don't know how long I waited under those sheets, with his cuddly toys. "What grown men sleeps with cuddly toys?!" I don't mind. So what if people say that it's a sign of insecurity? Everyone has insecurities. My favourite toy is his softtoy mouse, which he calls Mr Mouse. Thinking about Mr Mouse reminds me of Mr Tortoise, which is actually a real tortoise that he keeps outside the house in a blue basin. I wonder if Mr Mouse still has his tail. I first met Mr Mouse years ago and pretty much almost pulled his tail out. I was being a bad girl that day. He gave me a good scolding bout it and pretty much 'punished' me the entire day. Though Mr Mouse wasn't my toy, he did mean something to me. He said that Mr Mouse reminded him of me. It looked like me, which I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment. "I'm glad you're still around, Mr Mouse".

Everything smells like him. Man, this place brings back memories... The bed used to be a double-decker bed. It was fun climbing on the top bed, but I prefer this single bed now. Climbing on to the top bed requires quite a bit of energy. Perhaps I am getting old. Or maybe I'm just lazy. Yeah, definitely the latter. I looked up the ceiling and saw the glow-in-the-dark stars. It used to be just a few, but now the stars pretty much covers most of his ceiling. When I first left town, he gave me some of his stars for me to stick on my new ceiling. "Something to remind you of what you're missing back home...". I did stick them onto my new ceiling at first. But staring at it made me miss him so much that I would cry myself to sleep. So I took it down and hid it in my drawer. I wondered if he still has his blue ski jacket. He gave that to me as well. I would roll it up and hug it at night, thinking it was him. That jacket contained many traces of my tears. It broke my heart when he asked for his jacket and stars back when we got into a fight. Sigh... So much of my lifestory lies with him.

I rubbed my tiny feet together and got comfortable under the comforter. This room is starting to get really cold. So I hugged Mr Mouse (who hasn't lost his tail despite his age) and closed my eyes. "Hmm... sleeping feels really good now since I won't be getting any tonight. Just gimme 10 minutes..."

Then suddenly, someone pounced on top of me. All the sleeping sensation ripped away from my body. I woke up immediately, ready to panic. Did I get caught? I didn't hear anyone entering the room. How long was I asleep? I picked up all the courage my body could muster and pulled down the comforter to confront my attacker.

To be continued...

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