Chapter 19
Everyone in our class would die of jealousy
I ride to the one person who actually gets me, my best friend Aaron.
“Hey”, she says softly as I arrive.
Without a word, I walk into her house and climb the stairs to her room.
She doesn’t follow she knows me too well.
I throw myself onto her bed with a heavy sigh.
I hate mixed emotions. You can’t work with them, you can’t live with them. Either you love
Someone or you don’t. Either you hate or forgive.
This in between mess?
It just makes everything worse.
The door creaks open.
Aaron walks into her room, holding a mug of hot chocolate.
I take it with a quiet “thanks”.
No words are needed between us, we’ve always been like that. One look, one glance, and
We just know.
She waits silently while I sip the drink. When I finish, she gently takes the empty mug from
my hands, pulls the blanket over me, and kisses my forehead.
Then she leaves the room without a word.
My phone vibrates.
The screen shows I’ve been asleep for over an hour.
And that Ewin has tried calling me for the ten- thousandth time.
I ignore it.
Then I set the phone down.
NO! Scratch that. I turn it off completely.
Peace at last.
Before heading downstairs, I check the mirror, brush my tangled hair into something semihuman, and follow the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen.
Aaron an her mom are chatting like everything’s normal. Like I’m normal.
I catch my reflection in the hallway mirror one last time and step in.
“Is that..?” I start.
“Exactly. There’s a carrot cake in the oven with your name on it”, Mrs. Ann says with a warm smile..
I return the smile, though it feels a little forced. Not because of her, because of everything else.
But like always, the best thing about this house is that no one asks. Not why I’m here. Not what happened. They welcome me like a guest, feed me cake, and talk about their day as if nothing were off.
“School starts again in four dasys”, Mrs Ann says with a sigh.
“You’re not looking thrilled either, Aaron. Right, Asta?”
I nod and give a half- hearted smile as I chew.
“Asta, has Shirley told you the latest yet?”
I nod again, mouth full, and reach for another piece of cake.
The conversation flows on until Mr. Ann joins us at the table.
The evening ends with a board game, in which surprise they all let me win.
“I’ve made up the guest room”, Mrs Ann says with a win, “but I assume you girls would rather share a room?”
She close the door behind her, and my gaze shifts to Aaron.
I can already see it in her face.
That one topic.
The one she always brings up. No matter what. No matter when.
“So…looking forward to seeing you Kenan again?”, she giggles, teasing.
She knows exactly what that name does to me.
She sees it, the stupid grin that spreads across my face every time I hear his name, or see something that reminds me of him.
“You’re so cute when you think about Kenan”, she gushes in an overly dreamy voice.
“Aaron, stop!”, I say, flinging a pillow at her.
She dodges it like a pro.
“Okay, okay! Topic change. Now…”
She stares at me, all eyes and anticipation. She knows me too well.
Should I tell her?
She would believe me. Of course she would. But something inside holds me back.
“Come on! I can see it, it’s right there! Don’t leave me hanging, just say it!”
I twist a strand of hair nervously. I trust her. But…
“I don’t even know where to start. But when you cancelled the trip, I was already at the station. There was this little kid playing with a ball, and then…”
“And then what?”
“Then I…gave him the ball back”
I hate lying to her.
But I literally can’t say the truth.
Whenever I try, my voice fails. It’s like I’m under a spell or a seal. When I lie, nothing happens.
But when I try to actually tell her what happened….my throat locks up.
I need to talk to him about this.
“That’s it?”, she asks, confused.
Sorry, Aaron. There’s so much more I want to tell you.
“The worst part is….Dr. Stalker’s basically part of the family now. The guy’s in our house
twenty-four-seven. And the other day, he even”
“Asta”, she cuts in, “don’t take this the wrong way, but what exactly is your issue with him?”
I blink.
“I mean, other than you and Lauren, he gets along with everyone. And it’s not like he’s
done anything to deserve the way you act around him, has he?”
Of course she’s right.
Again.
“Yeah”, I admit, reluctantly. Though part of me still wants to argue.
“I guess he’s not that terrible. But something about him just rubs me the wrong way.
And now there’s my cousin too”.
Cousin.
Oddly enough, when I call him that, the seal doesn’t react.
“Cousin?”, Aaron perks up instantly, intrigued. She is got that ‘show me what he looks like’ look again.
“Yeah, Cuno. And before you judge me I dislike him just as much as Dr. Stalker”
Aaron gives me a look.
“Sometimes it’s like the two of them are made from the same weird wood. Which is, of course, totally impossible”.
Well…impossible used to mean something in my life. Not anymore.
“Do you have a picture of them?”, she interrupts my spiralling thoughts.
“Yeah, I had to take some photos today. Hold on”.
Before I hand her my phone, I switch on airplane mode.
No more Ewin interruptions.
“The blond one’s Dr. Stalker. The dark haired guy is Cuno”.
She snatches the phone out of my hand and starts
Scrolling
Zooming
Comparing
Shifting
their face side by side like a forensic analyst.
I just stare at her.
“I don’t get you”, she gasps.
“You’ve got two hotties living under your roof, and you’re still crushing on Kenan?
He’s like… a zero compared to them!”
Typical Aaron.
I mean, yeah objectively they’re not unattractive.
But hotness doesn’t equal likeability. Especially when one of them is a literal demon.
If only I could tell her…
“Everyone in our class would die of jealousy”, she continues, still obsessing over the screen.
I flop onto the bed. She’s completely absorbed in their pictures, while I can barely keep my eyes open.
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