James and Alice, 22 and 19, respectively were visiting their parents in their childhood home for the summer. They were both attractive and clever but did not have similar personalities. Where James was a loner, Alice loved to surround herself with friends. Where James was assertive, Alice was warm. However, in spite of their personality differences, they loved and cherished one another- even if they didn't talk much since James went off to college, Alice following at another university a couple of years later.
After having graduated, James decided to visit his family home for the summer before starting his career, a last chance to spend some time with his baby sister before his career took off. Alice was thrilled about the opportunity. She always looked up to her big brother, and the fact that his career was going to take off made her feel happy and excited for him. She knew they might not get a lot of chances together, but it would be great to spend time together.
The first two weeks of the summer passed somewhat uneventfully. Their parents had picked up hobbies since they went off to college, Dad spending time with his friends at a local garage, and Mom away at various book clubs and lectures.
Since their parents maintained their hobbies throughout the summer, not being bogged down by a scholastic schedule, James and Alice spent time catching up, and were getting along much like they had when they were children.
On Saturday, while watching a comedy on the couch, the sun setting in the distance, they heard a loud thud come from the outside.
"What was that?" asked Alice, with a touch of nerves in her throat.
"I don't know," James said, his eyes never leaving the television.
Alice took off her shoe, and threw it at James, smacking him in the arm.
"You're the guy! Go check it out!" She said, pulling a blanket over her body.
James rolled his eyes and reluctantly stood up and walked aimlessly outside. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he took a baseball bat just the same. Walking around the house to the side where he heard the thud, he saw the AC unit but it wasn't making the familiar hum that became normal for summertime in the southern United States.
He walked up to the unit and put his hand on it...nothing. "Fuck", he said to himself as he came to the realization that the AC unit was broken. He studied chemistry in college and was not at all mechanically inclined like his father. There was no fixing it on his end. He shook his head and reluctantly went inside to break the news to his sister.
"What is it?" she asked a bit frantically when she saw James walk inside. "Is it a murderer?"
James raised an eyebrow. "Alice...if it were a murderer I wouldn't be here would I?"
Alice nodded and looked at James expectantly.
"It's the AC" he responded "It's out. I'll have to call Dad".
Alice's eyes widened and she threw the blanket off her in anticipation of the eventual heat of the house "But it's summer...it's hot outside" she said in disbelief.
"Yeah", James responded, "I guess it was overworking. Go get all the fans from the garage, and set them up in your room, We'll hang out there till it gets fixed. Your room has the smallest window, so maybe it'll be coolest".
Alice nodded and ran off to get the fans and began setting them up in her room. Her room was always the coldest in the house, so it made the most sense.
James called each of their parents, but their dad reminded him that he planned to be out all night with his friends, as did his mother. The backgrounds on each call sounded familiar, so James began to suspect that his parents were away having their own fun for the evening. He shuddered at the thought and accepted his mother's offer that she would call the AC repair tomorrow morning.
He trudged his way up the stairs to his sister's room.
"Ta-da!" she said proudly, displaying the setup she had made on her bed. Across the room, she set up her TV so they could watch while sitting in her bed, and a few fans surrounded the bed.
The house was already warming up quickly, and the bedroom was warm enough what it was. But with the fans, relatively tolerable.
"This should keep us going til Daddy can come home and fix it!" Alice said with a smile. James shook his head and told her what happened in the conversation, and Alice sat defeated on her bed.
"Well, shit" she moaned.
"Hey, watch your mouth, Alice"
"Well, I'm sorry but it's already hot. and I checked your room it's like a sauna! How are we supposed to sleep?" she asked.
James shrugged. "I guess I just will sleep naked in my room, maybe take a fan."
Alice nodded and they leaned back in her bed to watch the movie.
Time passed and the house became hotter, and Alice found herself getting even more tired.
"James, I have to get some sleep," she said, wiping some sweat from her brow.
"Yeah, me too," James agreed, as he stood up and groaned with the warmth.
Alice sighed with relief when her door shut and quickly stripped out of her clothing, and spread out naked on her bed over the covers.
"I can't believe it is so hot," she said to herself, Thankfully she was at least surrounded by fans. It didn't take much time for Alice to start falling asleep.
Meanwhile, James went into his room which was indeed, a sauna. He realized also, that he didn't bring a fan with him, not that it would matter, because no fan would have kept his room from being this way. "Fuck. Maybe I can just sleep with Alice in her room" he said, turning around and knocking at her door.
*knock knock*
Alice opened her eyes "What up?" she asked.
"It's too hot in my room. Can I please sleep in there with you, it's too damn hot" he repeated.
"I'm naked," Alice said, pretty unwilling to move.
