Shy, of course, is not mad.
It’s morning when you wake up, and the sun is streaming in through the windows behind you.
For a moment, there is a sense of confusion and alarm. Waking up on someone’s couch after a night out the bar is always a bit bizarre, made no less so by the fact that there was no alcohol involved.
The facts return to you, the late night drive home and the strangely missing keys, resulting in a desperate decision to just sleep wherever.
Given the fact that you went to sleep at somewhere around four in the morning, and also that there are half a dozen cats, one small dog and a rabbit currently sitting on top of you, you decide it’s probably worth it to just stay there for a little longer, and doze a bit.
The sound of humming is what catches your attention. It scatters some of the animals as well, who move towards the short hallway to Shy’s bedroom, and begin to beg for food as she emerges.
She looks disturbingly bright for the morning. Bright eyed and bushy-tailed, as the expression goes. Her hair is dishevelled, of course, but it looks almost fetching on her, a fact enhanced by the fact that she appears to be wearing no more than a sweater at the moment, long, pale legs stretching from underneath the enormous piece of fabric, even though the hem still reaches just above her knees. It wouldn’t be polite to stare, but perhaps you can be forgiven for the lack of sleep.
Smiling and humming, she makes her way into the kitchen, petting some animals, and picking up others as she makes her way to a cupboard and pulls food out. She calls every one by name as they line up in front of a small bowl for each. In an ordinary house, you’d expect bedlam, but Shy’s special connection with the animals means each waits patient as she sets food out for it.
You’re left wondering what exactly the best means of introducing yourself into the situation would be, deciding that a small cough might not be overwhelming, and give her a chance to adjust to your presence.
You’re wrong, of course, and the noise causes Shy to let out a small shriek, with pets scattering everywhere as she searches for the origin of the noise.
As soon as she spots you, however, her expression turns to concern.
‘Oh no, are you alright? Were you hurt? Do you need to go somewhere? I should have made up the spare bed for you, you could have woken me up, I’m so sorry!’
You wave her down with a slight smile. Only Shy would take this unexpected appearance with more concern as to how she’d treated you.
‘I’m fine,’ you reassure her, ‘and I doubt I could have woken you at all, I had to carry you inside from the car because I couldn’t wake you at all. I dropped my keys at some point and when I went looking or them, they were just gone. I don’t know what happened.’
Shy looks confused for a moment, but then clarity dawns on her, and her face takes on a strange expression for her; cold determination. She raises her head, and in a loud, clear voice, actually shouts.
‘Angel! You come out here right now!’
Angel, the mischievous little rabbit. Come to think of it, he’d been sitting on you, but took off the other direction when Shy entered the room. She didn’t seriously think that the rabbit would have-
The little white monster hops into the room, and Shy accosts him with a stern look on her face.
‘You. You little monster. We are going over to your hutch, and you are going to return the nice man’s keys.’
It’s hard to gauge exactly how serious Shy is about this, but when she opens a little hut that you’d mistaken for an ottoman and pulls out your keys, you think it might be time to reconsider.
Shy deposits the keys in your hand, and turns back to the rabbit, talking in a firm tone.
‘You are getting no carrots for some time, you hear me? It’s nothing but lettuce and pellets until you learn to behave.’
She turns to you.
‘I’m so sorry, Angel can be quite the little trickster sometimes. You must be so upset.’
You don’t laugh. You get the feeling that it wouldn’t help, but the situation is so bizarre that it almost demands it. Instead, with no small amount of self-control, you manage to speak calmly.
‘No, don’t worry, must happen all the time.’
She smiles back, bright and warm.
‘Hey,’ you wonder, ‘How come you don’t seem any the worse for wear after last night? Danni must have snuck a few of those iced teas to you.’
Shy smiles again, this time looking almost sly.
‘This isn’t the first time I’ve gone out with Danni. I had the waitress start bringing me water as soon as she managed to convince Rae to drink whiskey. She never notices.’
You’re impressed, that’s good planning.
‘Wait, then how come you fell asleep?’
This time she blushes and looks away.
‘Oh, well, that’s just… um… it was past my bedtime.’
You laugh, ‘Well, that’s fair enough, it was definitely a late night.’
‘You’re not going to make fun of me?’ She actually looks startled, ‘Danni always makes fun of me for it.’
‘I’m not Danni, and frankly, I think it was a bit past my bedtime too. If I had a complaint, it would have been that you apparently sleep like a log, cause I couldn’t wake you up to get you inside.’
‘Oh, I’m so sorry, I should have warned you, or thought of something or done something. I always sort of… well… sleep heavily.’
You laugh again, ‘It’s no big deal, Shy, I slept on the couch just fine, and I had lots of friends to keep me warm.’
One of the cats, having finished eating, has come back and is demanding attention. You reach down and scratch under the chin, and are rewarded with a soft purr.
‘Next time, I’ll just remember to keep a better hand on my keys, and watch out for Angel there.’ You say, pointing to the rabbit, sitting just at the border of the room, almost looking ashamed. Almost.
You sit up on the couch and stretch. After a good stretch and in the light of the sunshine, a Saturday suddenly seems like a very pleasant occasion.
‘Oh, um, I should probably thank you.’ Shy says.
‘It was nothing, Shy. It was a good night.’
‘No, I insist, you were very nice. I know you didn’t have to come at all, but you did, and you offered to take me back, and then you even carried me inside here. You didn’t have to do any of that.’
‘It was the right thing to do,’ You respond. You’re not really sure what else there is to say.
‘Lots of people wouldn’t have done any of it. Thank you, I really appreciate all of it.’
She hugs you, wrapping her arms around your midsection with a firm grip. Sometimes, people hug just for the sake of propriety, with no feeling, but Shy is not that sort of person; for her, even something as simple as a hug is done with sincerity, and communicates her gratefulness. You reciprocate, putting your arms around her shoulders, squeezing lightly. Her hair fills your vision, smelling lightly of vanilla.
There is a knock at the door, and you turn, seeing faces pressed against the fogged glass. Shy walks over to the door and looks through the peephole.
‘Oh, it’s those three.’ She says, and prepares to open the door.
‘Uh, Shy,’ You interject, ‘you’re um, well, not wearing pants.’
The speed at which her face turns bright red is astonishing.
‘Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I must have been – I mean I’m – I didn’t want you to- but you’d never – and- um. Oh’ She stutters out about half a dozen partial sentences, then just stops, before suddenly bolting for the bedroom.
When she returns, she still looks a bit red, but she’s wearing a pair of pyjama pants.
The faces are still staring through the fogged glass, cupped hands around the shadows of eyes and noses, when Shy opens the door and catches three young girls, looking perhaps just old enough to be in high school, all looking somewhat abashed at being caught looking.
‘Good morning, Miss Cheyenne,’ they declare in unison.
Two of them make immediately clear their identities, just from appearance. The first is a girl with reddish-blonde hair, freckled skin with a tan and a southern drawl that seem far too familiar to be coincidence, and the second has skin the colour of caramel, and a clipped, slightly British tone. Besides that, the former is dressed in faded denim and a flannel shirt, even though her hair is tied in a large pink bow, and the latter has elaborate curls and make up.
These, then, could only be the sisters that Rae and AJ referred to last night, Abby and Belle, if you remember correctly.
The third girl is unfamiliar, though. She’s a little shorter, wearing street casual clothing and carrying a scooter under one arm.
‘Oh, hello girls, what can I do for you?’ Shy asks.
‘Miss Rae says she’s hungover and there’s no way she can make food, so we thought maybe you could make us pancakes? Please?’ the blonde, Abby, says, in a wheedling tone.
The three then unleash a combined effort at puppy dog eyes that Shy stands no chance against. Not that there was really any question anyway.
‘Well, OK, I think I can do something like that. Why don’t you girls come in?’ Shy offers, opening the door for them.
The problem with letting them in, of course, is that they immediately see you, and as soon as they do, there is a gasp from among the three newcomers, and a number of sly looks directed at Shy, who looks horrified. Evidently, this came second in her thoughts as well.
‘I told you there was someone in there with her.’ The one whose name you don’t know whispers to the others.
Oh boy, this is going to go over real well, you think. You can just imagine what you’ll get from Rae about this. Let alone AJ (Didn’t she threaten to knock your teeth in last night?).
‘Oh, um, girls, this is a friend of mine,’ She introduces you. They all smile, mirth in their eyes.
‘Uh, hi.’ You manage to get out. High school aged girls are a dangerous breed. You remember that age. The less you say, the better.
‘And he stayed the night here?’ Belle asks of Shy, eyelashes fluttering.
‘The uh, rabbit stole my keys.’ You say, and mentally kick yourself. What did you just tell yourself about not talking? Let alone telling them the stupidest possible thing.
‘Uh huh.’ The sarcasm is heavy. They all stare at you. Shy’s face grows red again.
‘Why don’t I make you girls some pancakes?’ She says, her voice suddenly slightly high-pitched.
Fortunately, hunger is a more powerful motivator for teenage girls than gossip, if only barely, and they turn back to the kitchen, where Shy is rifling through some cabinets, trying her hardest not to look at you or them.
‘Uh, I’m going to head out, ok Shy?’ You call to her, ‘I’ll probably be back tomorrow or Monday, though.’
Shy nods, her face still flaming, and you try to make your escape by way of the front door.
Unfortunately, this is not to be the case, as just outside of the door you find Rae, wearing a decidedly fashionable house coat and heavy sunglasses, almost unrecognizable with her blue-black hair tied back.
She looks at you with bleary eyes for a moment.
‘Are the girls inside? I told them I wasn’t going to be much good for cooking this morning, and only then realized that it certainly wouldn’t be fair to make Shy do it either.’
You nod, even managing to not look totally guilty, but Rae brushes past, one hand held to her forehead. You almost make it out the door when she turns back, realization dawning on her face.
‘Exactly what are you doing here this morning?’ She asks with an arch smile, clearly not actually requiring an answer.
You’re really left with no option here.
‘The, uh, rabbit stole my keys last night.’
Strangely, it doesn’t feel quite as dumb to say it the second time, but Rae doesn’t seem to buy it any more than the young girls did, and you can hear the giggling.
‘Oh really?’ Rae says. It’s not a question. You blush this time. You’re not really sure why, but this whole situation does not seem to be getting any better. Blessedly, she lets you turn away and heads into the house.
You manage to make it to the car this time, turning the keys and almost letting out a sigh of relief before another figure approaches from the light brush that leads to the orchard farm. The shadow of a Stetson hits the car window.
Oh god. You’re really not getting away from this with any dignity. You sigh and bite the bullet, rolling down the window and bracing for the worst.
AJ’s sunny (and somehow mocking) grin meets you.
‘Leavin’ so early? A gentleman usually makes her breakfast at least.’
It’s better than her being mad at least. Small victories are really all you can hope for here.
‘The rabbit stole my keys.’ You explain. It’s definitely getting easier.
AJ really just looks confused at that.
‘I don’t rightly know what you just said to me.’
‘Never mind.’ Your face is red regardless. You swear to god if Danni comes up that driveway, you’re just going to crash the car in a ditch. Poor Shy has it even worse, there’s nowhere to run.
‘Is Abby in with them? They usually come beg for food, on account of Shy being such a fine cook.’
‘Yeah, she and the other two are in there, Rae too.’
‘Prissy-pants? Oh well, guess she and I should really learn to get on, though. See ya later. Oh, and best be sure that if I find a mess in there, I’ll be comin’ for you.’
‘Yeah, I know. Can I please go before this gets worse?’
AJ laughs, and heads over to the house, leaving you to finally make an escape.
You do so.
Oddly, though, once you’ve made it out of the possibility of further embarrassment, you wonder if it was so bad. No one actually seemed that mad at you, even Shy, oddly enough, was only embarrassed at the implication.
Poor Shy having to stay there with all five of them. You feel awful having left, but you’re really not sure it would have been any better to stay and make more insinuations.
Well, you’ll be back in a few days. You’ll make it up to her then.