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Tim and Stephanie sit silently in Tim’s room, listening to a Smiths album on a record player. Stephanie hums along to the song “Bigmouth Strikes Again”. Tim sighs and closes his eyes. The room is filled with the scent of incense, as well as the more pleasant smell of Stephanie’s perfume.
The Odyssey sits in Tim’s lap, shut closed as he leans into the pillow under his head. Stephanie closes her textbook and looks over at him. “What are you thinking about?” she asks.
“Just thinking about…” He looks over at her. “What I’ll do when Jason gets back to the house.” She hums as a response. “I mean, I don’t really want him to be near me, you know? After last time...”
“Tim, don’t do that to yourself.” Steph switches from her sitting position at the end of the bed to laying down right next to him. “That wasn’t your fault, ‘kay? You did nothing wrong.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Tim tries to shrug it off, shaking his head.
Steph takes his hand in her’s. He finally meets her eyes. “Hey, it matters to me.”
“I’m not interested in talking about it.”
“Tim…”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Steph.” Steph sighs, but doesn’t push it. She lets go of Tim’s hand and sits up and moves back to her old spot. Tim bits his lip and opens his book again.
A headache starts to bloom behind his eyes as soon as he tries to read the small print again. He rubs his closed eyes with the heel of his palm.
“Do you need your glasses?” Stephanie asks, noticing Tim rubbing his eyes.
“No, it’s just a headache,” Tim replies.
“You always have headaches when you’re getting a little tired. Maybe try to get some rest? You’ve been up for days.”
Tim dismisses her with the shake of his head. “It’s just too bright in here.” He sits up again, book falling onto the bed with the spine up.
“The window’s open,” Stephanie says, “want me to shut it and close the blinds?”
“Nah, I’ll just turn the light off.”
“What’s the point of having a light on if the window is open anyway?” Tim doesn’t respond, only shrugs his shoulders and flips off the switch. It doesn’t make much of a difference.
The two stop talking to each other again after that, the only sound in the room is the birds chirping from outside and the Smiths album. Steph tries to ignore the nagging in her mind. The more she tries to ignore it, the more irritated she gets. She finally lets it out.
“You’re dodging my questions.” It feels good to get it off her chest. Tim sighd heavily and looks over at her. “Why can’t you just say what you think?”
“I don’t know what I think. I’m just trying to make sense of it all,” Tim says, acting like it means something. “I can’t just say ‘This is what I think.’”
Steph rolls her eyes at the sarcasm. “Stop being rude, it’s not a good look.” Tim frowns in discontentment.
“I’m not being rude, it’s just that you’re the one who’s so irritating.”
Steph gapes. “Irritating?” she repeats incredulously.
“Yes.”
“You know what, you’re just rude and obnoxious.”
Tim folds his arms across his chest. “I’m not being rude.”
“Yes, you are.”
“I’m being honest.”
“You’re such a dick!” Steph doesn’t know why she and Tim are fighting, but she’s too pressed now to back out, and it seems as though the same can be said for Tim.
“Oh, so I’m the dick? Why are you asking me so many questions? This isn’t an interrogation!” Steph slams her textbook on the bed after Tim finished, although it doesn’t do much for her intimidation factor.
“Is it a crime to be curious now?” Tim doesn’t respond. His lips quirk the slightest bit upward. Stephanie furrows her eyebrows in confusion.
“This argument is so stupid,” he says finally before chuckling. Steph’s face softens as she too realizes how ridiculous the two must look right now.
After laughing a bit, the two fall into another silence, this one more comfortable. Steph watches as Tim turns back to his book. His eyes crinkle just slightly because of his soft smile, and loose strands of hair that have come undone from the bun on the top of his head fall into his eyes. He looks content.
Although the amount of answers she got today amount to zero, she’s content as well.