Supernova

Chapter Seven | gravitational collapse

Sterling

"Shit," I curse under my breath.

"Watch that mouth!" Patty calls from my living room and I roll my eyes.

"I just tripped in these heels," I explain as I walk into the room joining her.

Patty's face lights up when she sees me. "Look at you. Gosh, you need to wear dresses more often, Sugar."

I roll my eyes and sit down on the armchair. "Not happening. I'm only dressed like this because he's taking me to some big shot restaurant. Jeans won't do."

She waves me off and rolls her eyes. "Always whining with you. You are impossible. Go put some lipstick on."

I scrunch my face up. "I have lipgloss on, isn't that enough?"

She looks at me sideways. "Go get a pretty color. Take the gloss off and put it on. You can put gloss over it, but I want color on those lips!"

I groan and drag myself to my bedroom, trying not to trip as I do so. I don't even know why I listen to Patty. She's not my mom and she can't punish me. I still listen anyway. I dig through my small makeup bag for a lipstick that isn't ugly. A pinky nude catches my eye. I pop the cap open and apply it to my lips before topping it off with a shiny gloss.

I twist my face up. I hate lipstick. This is dumb. I look dumb. This whole situation is dumb. Why am I even going on a date? I don't go on dates. Patty practically coerced me to say yes to him and I'm thinking it's not about to be worth my one Saturday night off in months.

Yet here I am in a skin tight silk black dress and heels that give me blisters for days. As a nurse who works 15 hour shifts in the ER, that is asking to walk on hot coals in hell.

I walk back out to the living room and clear my throat to get Patty to look at me. Her small glasses sit perched on her nose and her feet are kicked up on the couch. She peers at me from over the lenses. A grin creeps on to her face.

"I told you some lipstick would look good. You look less dead. You always look dead," she sputters with a laugh and I roll my eyes plopping down in a chair.

"I do not."

"Yes, you do. I'm never wrong."

There's a knock on the door and my head whips over before checking my phone. 7:45. He's 15 minutes early.

"Well get up and answer the door," Patty demands.

I scramble to my feet and march over to the door. I reach the door and take a breath, letting my eyes close. I fix my hair quickly before reaching for the handle and pulling open the door.

Xavier.

What is he doing here?

He looks at me from head to toe multiple times. Then, finally, his eyes connect to mine. He looks utterly confused with my appearance. I'm equally as confused as to why he's here. I thought he was on a work trip. That's where he told me he'd be last time I spoke to him.

A simple yet oversized crew neck rests on his body. His hair is slightly messy but not in an unintentional way. His hands are tucked in the small pockets of his sweatpants. God... are sweatpants supposed to hug someone like that?

I quickly avert my eyes, but clearly not quick enough because he chuckles a tiny bit as I watch him crack a smile. "Wow. I've never seen you dressed up like this."

"Uh, yeah."

That's the best you could say?

"Are you wearing makeup?" he asks me.