Full Strength

Seven-Logan 🏒

Oh my gosh, she saw me naked.

Oh my gosh.

You know those dreams that are always used as an example where you accidentally go to school in your underwear? And when you wake up, you're kind of scared but mostly just weirded out? Well, for me, those types of dreams are absolute nightmares.

I hated people seeing me without clothes. Even being shirtless was enough to make me sweat. At the beach, I always wore a rash guard. To sleep, I wore a thick t-shirt and long pants, or basketball shorts if it was warm. At games, I always changed from my suit to my uniform as fast as possible. Why was I like this? I had no idea. But having my bare skin on display made me want to crawl out of it and never be seen again.

Except now Lillian had seen me entirely naked.

I'd never been so mortified in my life.

She'd been nice about it and not at all weird. I hadn't even tried to convince her to let me shower by myself, since she was firm that I wouldn't injure myself. Thankfully, she'd stood out in the hall while I'd washed my somewhat greasy hair and my body. But then she'd come back to help me get dressed, which was another nightmare. By the end, the floor was slippery and I was redder than a tomato, but I was dressed.

Lillian opened the door for me, saying, "Want to sit down? I was going to ask you about groceries."

My mind was nowhere close to groceries. "Oh! Yeah. Good idea," I said, still panicking about how just moments ago I had been so very exposed.

She nodded, leading me to the living room and grabbing a notebook from her bag. I instantly loved this notebook. It was pale pink with gold rings to bind it. She had a matching pen, and matching pink sticky tabs stuck out from the pages. It was so organized and pretty at the same time.

"So I was wondering if you happen to have an old list lying around for comparison?" Lillian asked, clicking open the pen.

I squirmed. "Um...no. I don't really do a lot of grocery shopping."

She frowned, looking displeased with her blank list. "What about in the off-season? Surely you eat."

Yes, I did eat, as all humans do. "I usually just throw together whatever I have and then when there's no food, I make a trip to the store and buy whatever sounds good for the week," I said, feeling bad that I wasn't being more helpful.

"Well, I'll have to make do. What do you want me to make this week?" she sighed, taking a different approach.

It was weird knowing you'd have someone cooking for you all the time and not being able to help much. "Umm...whatever you like to eat," I said, blanking on any dish I'd ever eaten.

She raised an eyebrow. "I eat lentils with rice, spaghetti, and broccoli cheddar soup."

"That all sounds good," I said with an eager nod.

She wrote down the ingredients, and slowly we worked out more things, like snacks and coffee. She also added soft foods (like pudding) for after the surgery, since we didn't know if I'd have dietary restrictions.

"Okay, this is a good start. I'm going to get going if you're okay on your own?" Lillian said, standing.

I nodded. "I'm good. Thank you, for doing all this."

"No problem. Be back in a bit," she said, grabbing her purse and coat. I waved as she walked out, then felt silly. Waving was weird.

It was not five minutes later when the doorbell rang. Thinking she must've forgotten something, I called, "It's open!"