We were laying there together on Anthony’s bed, well, I guess I shouldn’t put it like that. There were four of us all sprawled out on the twin bed. Jeff had plopped down on the end resting his chin on the foot board, watching some stupid science fiction movie which Anthony had rented. Anthony and Lauren were somewhere in-between Jeff and myself, which left me resting my head on a small blue pillow up against Lauren. Lauren and I were both lying down, my eyes were closed but I didn’t think hers were. Anthony was sitting next to her, one hand was on her stomach, and the other was running his fingers through her pretty blond hair. My cheek rest against the side of her stomach. I could feel the vibrations of her breath and voice against the side of my face.

I tried to open my eyes to see the clock, it took a few moments but eventually my sleepy eyes did what they were told. 5:43 the green numbers read. I didn’t understand why I was already so tired. Anthony’s house always had that effect on me, maybe because his room was so dark. But, no one ever had any objection to me taking little catnaps wherever I could find a place to curl up. Anthony had always had an obsession with strange lighting. His bedroom was filled with disco spinning lamps, back lit fiber optic strands, lava lamps, plasma balls, moon globes, anything out of the ordinary really. It was always weird waking up from a nap inside his room.

Anthony tickled Lauren’s neck with the tips of his fingers, causing her to laugh. The vibrations of her chest felt pleasant against my face. She sat up slowly, giving him a playful dirty look. Words were said but I didn’t comprehend them, I shut my eyes. As she sat up her shirt grazed my cheek. I could smell her perfume, it was the one she knew all of us liked. My stomach tingled wishing I were Anthony, smelling that perfume from his perspective. My eyes cranked themselves open once again.

They were sitting nose to nose having a staring contest. Maybe for a reason, or maybe just to see who would give in first. Anthony won, as he always did. He cocked his head and smiled at her cordially. That smile even gave me butterflies but those were just from jealousy. I wished I could be him, as he probably wished that he could be someone else.

Lauren poked him in-between the eyes with her shiny pink fingernail then gently rested her hand down atop my forearm. Her hand moved slightly every so often as they were playfully prodding each other with the forks and pencils that could be found inside Anthony’s messy room. Her gentle grip tightened every so often when she was poked harder than she had liked. I did nothing but just lay there and pretend to be asleep, I didn’t want it to end.

I knew that none of this was intended to feel affectionate in any way, nor would it ever lead to that. We had been friends for to long, she didn’t see me in that light, and I didn’t see her in any light. She is Lauren, she makes me happy. If my body had stirred, or I had made any sounds other than asking, "Who took my cell phone?" this all could have stopped immediately, anything would have ended this. I knew that none of these feelings were intended for me, and I doubted that they were even intended in the first place, but something about her feminine touch made everything about me serene.