𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𓆩⟡𓆪 𝕏𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕟 ℝ𝕚𝕠𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟

「 ✦ 0.09 ✦ 」

"We will." Xaden confirms, throwing his arm across both mine and Garrick's shoulders, trapping me between them. I don't mind, though, they provide comfort I've never felt in my life. Even from my parents. All I got was coldness from them.

Both of the boys led me straight into the kitchen, where Xaden's mother was moving around the kitchen with such grace. I could hear the sweet melody that escapes through her lips as she prepares lunch for everyone. Her movement is captivating, almost like she was dancing. Her shoulders were relaxed and she was at peace. I envy her ability to feel relaxed.

"Mom, Ainsley and Garrick are here!" Xaden says and her mother spins around, smiling widely at Garrick before moving her gaze towards me. Her smile falters as her golden eyes move down to my lip. I could sense she wanted to say something, but instead she smiled at me softly.

"I'm so glad to see you again, Ainsley." She says, earning a gasp from Garrick.

"What about me?" He shouts, a pout making its way onto his face and Xaden's mother rolls her eyes.

"Garrick, I see you all of the time. In fact, I saw you this morning." She says, narrowing her eyes at Garrick. There's no anger in her eyes, but mischief in her expression. Garrick rolls his eyes, as he takes his arm off my shoulder and walks further into the kitchen to peer into the pot of food. He goes to stick his hand into the pot, to taste it, but Xaden's mother swats his hand away scowling. "It's hot!"

Garrick holds his hands up in surrender, before stepping back slightly to watch her cook. Xaden stands close to me, his arm still around my shoulders. I look over at him and he smiles down at me, tightening his grip around me.

"See? You fit right in, no need to be nervous. I knew everyone would love you." Xaden says softly, so only I can hear him. I nod slightly, smiling widely at him. "I'm sorry about what your dad did."

"It's okay, it's not your fault."

"I'm still sorry. If it happens again, please come to me and I can help you." He says, frowning at the thought of it happening again. Little does he know, it has happened since I could remember. Anytime my father was angry, it was instantly my fault. Even if it wasn't.

"Okay." I say softly after a moment of silence. A safe place to escape to would be nice, especially when my father was full of rage. I'm sure he'll be angry at me when I get back, just for going to a sleepover and leaving the house.

"Promise?" Xaden asks, sticking out his pinky towards me. I smile, shaking my head at him. I wrap my gloved pinky around his, tightening my grip and smile up at him.

"Promise." I say and his gaze falls towards our pinkies. Xaden instantly notices the birthmark on my palm that is peeking out from my glove, his eyes filling with curiosity. He raises his other hand and brushes his fingers over the birthmark with featherlike grace, causing a shiver to run down my spine.

"Is this a birthmark?" He asks softly, not taking his eyes off of my hand. I pull my pinky from his and take my glove off, so he can get a better look at the birthmark. There, on the palm of my left hand was a star-shaped birthmark resting just below my wrist. It stood out against the discoloration on my hands, the pink glistening against the white. "Cool."

"What are we looking at?" I hear Garrick say from behind us and I jump, forgetting he was in the room. My cheeks heat up and I take a small step away from Xaden, ignoring the way he frowns and drops his hands. I quickly go to put on my gloves, but Xaden stops me smiling.

"He won't tell anyone and my mom left the room." Xaden says and I look to see that his mother did leave the kitchen at some point during our interaction. I just hope she doesn't see anything or it will get back to my father and I will be in big trouble. "You can trust us."

I look over at Garrick and he nods his head in agreement. I sigh, before holding my palm out for Garrick to see.

Garrick looks down at my hands, noticing the discoloration for the first time. "Woah. Why do you have spots on your hands?"

"Garrick!" Xaden scolds, hitting him in the back of the head and he yelps, rubbing where Xaden hit him.

"I've had these white patches since I was a kid. I have this discoloration on the majority of my body and it's the reason why one side of my way has the patch." I explain, knowing Garrick didn't mean any harm by asking. I'm sure everyone was curious about the spot on my face and why I wore gloves.

"Is that why you wear gloves? To hide it?" Garrick asks, his eyes not leaving mine. His curiosity was refreshing.

"Yes, that's why I wear gloves and clothes that cover everywhere on my body. The only thing I can cover is the patch on my face." I explain, pulling up the sleeve to show the patches that scatter across my arm, swirling around my left arm. Xaden and Garrick step closer, their eyes trailing up my arm as they look at the patches.

"It makes you look cool. You shouldn't hide it." Garrick states confidently and I smile, nodding. I wish I didn't have to hide it, but I have no other choice. I look over at Xaden, knowing he is the only one to know why I really hide my 'imperfections'. If it were up to me, I wouldn't care if others saw it, but my dad and mom care.

"I'll keep that in mind." I say, not knowing how else to respond. I don't want to mention that I'm being forced to conceal a part of me. One day I might share with Garrick about the reason, but I've already shared too much that could get me in trouble.

"Let's eat!" Xaden says, changing the subject and I smile gratefully at him. I follow the boys over to the pot of soup sitting on the stove. The salty aroma of spices smack me in the face as I put some soup into my bowl. It smells delicious.

Once we all had our food, we headed towards the table and sat close to one another. As the boys joke around and laugh, I gaze around the room at all of the paintings decorating the walls. It was beautiful here and calming.

I look back over at my new friends and smile fondly at them. I am going to like having best friends and many more sleepovers.

꒦꒷︶꒦꒷︶꒦꒷ Author's Note ꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶꒷꒦

I hope you enjoyed and had a wonderful Christmas if you celebrate!

Sorry for any mistakes!

Don't be a ghost! Comment!

Until next time x