Skin Deep ✔️

Chapter Nine

I pause from studying, picking up my phone to check the time. 2am blares across the screen and I sigh putting my phone down again and going back to my maths textbook. After two minutes of staring at a problem I cant understand my phone rings and I look to see Isaac is calling me. 

I put it on speaker and look back to the textbook. "Hello?"

"Why aren't you sleeping?" He asks me, accusingly. 

"How'd you know I wasn't sleeping?" 

I smile even though he cant see it. 

"Just one of my many talents."

"Of course."

I roll my eyes. 

"Seriously though. You should go to sleep." 

"Cant. I need to study."

"Tonoya, you've studied enough. It's bed time."

"Well why aren't you sleeping?" 

He stays silent for a moment and I know that means I have him stumped for an answer. 

"I cant sleep knowing you're awake depriving yourself of some much needed down time." 

"Why do you care so much?"

"Because people think you're pretty and you need sleep in order to stay that way."

I chew my lip in thought, having no idea what he's talking about. 

"People don't think I'm pretty."

"Of course they do. I know a guy who thinks you're extremely beautiful." 

"Who?"

"Well actually I know two guys. But Ezra called dibs on you so I guess I cant have you anymore even if I wanted to."

"What do you mean?" 

"He's basically in love with you."

Isaac's laughing but in my mind cant find where any of this is funny. I don't know what to say or think other than that cant possibly be true. In my sixteen years of living no guy has ever had a crush on me let alone been in love with me. What makes Ezra any different?  "He's not in love with me." 

"Yes he is." 

My iPad rings from the other side of the room and I get up to get it seeing an incoming facetime call. Ezra. Speak of the devil. 

"Who is it?" Isaac asks me, a hint of amusement in his voice. 

"Ezra."

"He's so in love with you." 

Before I can retort and say anything to make him take it back he hangs up the phone. I look at the ringing iPad and quickly wipe my face with my hands before answering it. After a beat I see Ezra's face appear on the screen and I smile. 

"Hey beautiful." He says. "What are you doing?" 

"Revising." I tell him. 

"Cool." He says sarcastically and I Laugh. 

"Couldn't sleep?" I ask him and he nods with a small grin. "And here I though you just wanted to talk to me." 

"I always want to talk to you." He whispers barely audible. 

I think back to what Isaac said and I wonder if its a good idea to ask him about it. 

"Put your glasses on." He says, looking at the top of my head. 

I frown and reach up to pull my glasses down. "Why?" 

He ignores me and smiles softly. "You should wear them more often. You look cute." 

I roll my eyes at him but decide not to take them off. I pick the textbook up and put it in my lap, then set up my iPad across from me so he can see. I look up a couple of times to see him just watching me and I smile.

"Isaac said something weird to me earlier." I blurt out. 

He raises an eyebrow and smiles. "Isaac says a lot of weird things. What did he say?" 

"He said you were..." I laugh a bit suddenly feeling nervous and not wanting to say anything at all. "Never mind. It's stupid."

He frowns at me. "Are you sure?"

I nod feeling silly. "Yeah forget about it." 

"OK." He says, sitting himself up. "What kind of math are you doing?" 

"Pythagorean identities." I say looking up from my book. "You know anything that can help." 

"No not really." He laughs. "But hey maybe it'll be easier when you're fresh as a daisy tomorrow." 

"What's with you and Isaac trying to get me to go to sleep." I pretend to be offended. "I'm a big girl." 

"We care about you." He says simply falling back onto his pillow. 

"Fine." I say quietly packing up my books and revision cards. 

He watches silently as I move around the room trying to clean up my pens and stuff as best as I can before collapsing onto my bed. I take off the robe I was wearing and throw into the corner somewhere and let out a much needed sigh. 

"Is that my vest?" Ezra smirks as he now has full access to what I'm wearing. 

For some reason I look down at the vest even though I already know that I'm wearing it. I then look back at him. "Is it a problem if it is?" 

He looks at me with so much meaning behind his eyes that I want to look away. "No. No problem."

"Great." And like a coward I look away. 

I get ready to end the call but he stops me. "Don't hang up."

I say nothing. 

"I just." He pauses, licking his lips. "I just sleep better when you're near."

I still don't say anything. 

"That night when you stayed over. It was the best night sleep I've had in forever and I don't even know why. I've always had trouble sleeping but when you were there I slept like a baby." 

"Why have you had trouble sleeping?" I ask him. 

"Loads of different reasons." He shrugs. "Time zones, stress, anything."

"Is it hard travelling from one place to another?" I question, wanting to understand him and how he feels. 

"Sometimes." He says quietly. "I like being out and travelling to different places, trying new things but I like it better when its just me and my dad in Boston. No fancy ribbon cuttings, no cameras, just us. I don't think that life suits me. The business man life. I just want to make music."

I smile sadly at his words. "Have you told your dad how you feel?"

He shakes his head. "I think he'd be angry with me. Everything he's done is so I had every opportunity in life. Doing music would just be throwing it all away."

"I think you'd be doing the world a favor by letting us hear your music." I whisper.

I turn over on my side, my back to him and wait until Ezra falls asleep before falling closing my eyes myself. The room is silent other than the soft snores coming from behind me.