"Ellie, is that you?" Who else would it be, I wonder to myself. Wrapping my body in a towel, I stop by the kitchen to grab a Gatorade and handful of cookies before heading upstairs. "I really hope there aren't strangers taking showers downstairs at 9pm, or really anytime for that matter," I call to my roommate, shuffling through drawers for a pair of boxers and a tank.

I turn around to a tall blonde with sparkling brown eyes and a mischievous grin, "well if they look anything like that Doctor Delaney you work with, I'm all for it!" He laughs, flopping down on my bed. "Oh so you weren't expecting someone?" I raise a single eyebrow at him, knowing full well he wasn't. Derek hasn't dated in years. Neither have I. That's what makes our living arrangement so great, we have each other and not many people ever encroach on our living space.

Ouchhhhhh. Having my hair up all day gives me uncomfortable knots at the nape of my neck. I know I should take my time and tease the knots out but that's not how I roll. I grab a fistful of hair and go to town with my brush, yanking the knots out one by one.

This is nothing new for me, I've always had long, thick hair. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to have less hair, maybe add some bangs but then no, I could never. My hair is like a security blanket for me. I like how I can let it down and it wraps around me like a warm hug. I love how I can rest my hand down by my hip and twirl the ends between my fingers, causing little tingly sensations to spread across my scalp. No no I need my hair, I'd be lost without it.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Derek snatches a cookie from my nightstand, "whoa whoa, get your own cookies buddy." I make my way to the bed, sitting between him and my cookies, "better yet, you could make yourself useful and lotion my tootsies, they've been abused these last few days." I pout my lip and give him my best puppy dog eyes as I wiggle my toes. He chuckles and grabs the lotion without a second thought.

"When do you work next? Do you have time to do something fun and summery with me this weekend?" He's rubbing my feet and my mind is become fuzzy, I can't imagine anything feeling better than this does in this moment. My head flops back onto my pillow and I close my eyes in absolute bliss.

"Hellllllo, Earth to Ellie." I blink down at him, "sorry, what was the question?" "This weekend. Let's do something fun. You're almost never off on the weekends." Wasn't there something I wanted to do this weekend... "Oh yeah! Mulch!" He looks at my incredulously, "excuse me?" "Yeah yeah. We need to head to farm supply and grab some mulch, I swear all that rain last week washed away the $300 we already spent on mulch this spring."

I lay back, ready for the massage to commence, but my toes have been abandoned. "You're telling me we have this beautiful summer weekend we could spend by the pool or at the beach and you want to haul a bunch of mulch and then labor in this sweltering heat to spread it under the blueberry bushes. Really?" I think for a second, "well no, not just the blueberry bushes... the blackberry bushes too!"

He rolls his eyes and goes back to rubbing my feet. He knows better than to try and change my mind. In all honesty, it would be nice to float in the pool or lounge on the beach soaking up all that fresh ocean breeze. I just couldn't relax knowing I had things that needed to be done, and those poor bushes are suffering in this inferno. Eventually I drift off to sleep as Derek is squeezing my toes, the cookies forgotten on my nightstand.