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IT WAS AS if he sped up the stairs. By the time Alaina had pulled away from the window, pushing it back down with a groan of her mustered strength, he was standing in the doorway when she finally span around. It took them both a moment, just a moment, to realise that yes, yes, they were both standing there, in the same room, and they were both real. They were there, they existed, they breathed the same air. That, that in itself, was a breath of fresh air they both found they needed.
The boy with curly hair quickly rubbed his hand against the side of his trousers as he moved forward, a smile finding its way to his face as easily as he seemed to breathe. "I'm Jack," he greeted as if he was in a hurry, but yet he wasn't. In that room, with the girl he was yet to learn the name of, he was happy. He was overjoyed. There wasn't one other place in the world that he wanted to be more.
Alaina widened her eyes as she pushed herself away from the window with a kick of her foot. She met him at the foot of her bed. "Alaina," she smiled, shaking his hand softly. He noticed that almost immediately, her gentleness, the tender air that clung to her skin. To him she was like a plate of China, already he could see it. She was soft, she was fragile, and she was beautiful, yet what you couldn't see in a plate was her kindness and attentive nature. Jack was fond of that within himself, how easily he could read someone. However, there were things he couldn't infer about the brunette that he usually could with everyone else, and for that, he was thankful, because she was different.
"Sorry, I'm a mess . . I didn't realise you were coming today," he said blissfully as he moved away from the girl, ignoring the twang of despair when his hand left her own. She tried to ignore the feeling too, covering it with a small cough as she clasped her hands together and moved to perch herself on the edge of the bed. He pulled the covers up on his own mattress. "How was the trip?"
She smiled, moving her hands to rest behind her as she stared at the boy moving across the far side of the room. "It was . . . very bare," she said carefully, watching as he glanced up from collecting the glasses from his nightstand, amused.
