Heat.

| Chapter 2. |

The scorching hot shower water felt amazing pressed against Aaron's ivory rogue skin, as he was finally able to clean himself since his long trip last night. He was brought to the home of a woman with 5 children, whom told him to address her as Miss Lulu, when he met her briefly last night at precisely 2:00am. Now, it was a little after sunrise and he was awake getting prepared for the next day. He was told that although he had just arrived the previous night, he was still expected to attend school the following morning. Which he didn't understand because he didn't even know where he was.

"You can't bring any attention to yourself." Agent Hill explained over and over, as if he had gotten more than four hours of sleep, or better yet, wasn't in a foreign country. "You have to live day to day like normal."

But it wasn't normal. And clearly, they already had Aaron's plans put together. So, despite not wanting to follow the orders of people who he just met, he listened to the agents hired to take care of his well being while he was away. Plus, Agent Hill was very comforting. So, complying the wishes made by her really wasn't that hard.

Climbing out of the small bathtub, he wrapped the clean peach towel around his waist. Water dripped down his bare torso as he darted into the bedroom across the hall that was given to him. Drying himself off as soon as he closed the door behind him.

He searched the drawers and closet, finding undergarments, crisp black dress pants, a white button up and a solid black tie. Once on, he tossed on the black vans he was already wearing and went to the mirror. He smirked at his reflection before brushing his hair up the way that he wanted with his right hand. Pleased with what he saw, he swung open the bedroom door and made his way downstairs.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, there was a odd smell coming from a certain direction and he followed the scent until it lead him straight into the dimly lit kitchen. There, stood Miss Lulu stood in front of the stove stirring up something in a large saucepan with a spoon. He ran his hands through his fluffy brown hair as he stared in the room from the doorway.

Seated at the kitchen table was 1 little girl- maybe around 4, 2 young boys about 8, another young boy that looked about 10, and a young lady that seemed like she was closest to his age. And even then, she looked to only be about 15 years old. He also noticed her lighter complexion as opposed to the others, but didn't really care. None of them took notice of Aaron as they all seemed busy with whatever they were doing. Miss Lulu finally turned around, spotting him and taking in his presence before speaking.

"Good morning, baby. Come sit, your breakfast is just about done." Miss LuLu was kind, nurturing like a grandmother, as she continued to stir what he assumed was breakfast. He was starving, having not eaten anything since leaving school the day before.

He nodded, taking a seat at the end of the long rectangular table, as all 5 children's eyes shifted on to him. Out of awkwardness, he began squirming in his seat, Miss LuLu tossing a bowl full of some form of oatmeal in front of him. He looked down, scrunching his face up as he played around with the food in the bowl. Honestly, it didn't even look edible to him and on top of that, he was never the oatmeal type. Back in Florence, the only breakfast served to him was bacon and eggs- not whatever this slop was.

"Eat up, baby." Her voice eased his nerves, as she began walking back over to where she was in front of the stove. He looked inside the bowl once more, a pout forming on his lips as he stared down at it. He didn't want to be rude, but, it was disgusting to him.

"Aniyah, stop looking at that boy like that! Acting like you ain't got no common sense." Miss Lulu hissed, as the youngest girl turned her attention away from him to her.

"But nana, why is he so light skinned? He don't look like us." She whined, as everyone else shot her death glares across the table. Aaron coughed, suddenly feeling extremely uncomfortable. He knew that he was visibly the only white person in the room but not one thought crossed his mind about mentioning it.