The Beginning of the end (WIP)

Chapter 2

"Would you like to tell me about yourself?" Aaron asked as they walked in the light of the full moon, casting great shadows from the shrubs and trees. They stayed on the stone walkway so that Lorena's dress and shoes wouldn't get ruined with dew.

"I don't think that there is anything interesting about me to know," she hesitated, they stayed a very respectable distance apart, no part of them, or their clothes touching one another, something that was always awkward, making sure to keep large amounts of distance, Aaron didn't seem bothered by her stand-off attitude.  

"You don't have any interesting made up stories that you tell to young gentlemen such as myself to keep them entertained but not letting them know anything about you at all?" He asked sounding surprised, but the glimmer in his eye -that wasn't just the moon- could have only been sarcasm.

"Well," Lorena folded her hands in front of her and walked with a slight sway, "all of my friends call me Lore, you know, Lorena is much too long for such a small thing like myself." She said smiling in his direction, she wasn't a very talkative person, but she had read plenty of books about girls who were shy and quiet but a whole new person when they wanted to be. She could try on this new alias Lore and see if she liked her.

"Oh? Lore is it? That sounds interesting" He said, with a voice that said that it wasn't interesting at all.

"Yes I know, I am a terrible storyteller, or so I've been told." Not that anyone but herself has actually heard her make up any stories ever, but this Aaron didn't need to know that. "Tell me about the mysterious Aaron Ryder." She said, maybe this Lore character suited her. 

He gave a guffaw of a laugh, "I guess that there is not much to know," He sighed and looked up, more then likely he was contemplating whether or not to make something up, tell the truth, or tell her that her company was horrible and that he wanted to go back inside. But after a moment or so he was still there and he was now looking at her with contemplation. Which made her squirm under his steely gaze, so she tried to smile at him trying to take on Lore's fun and flirty personality.

"What is your favorite color?" She asked him, looking him straight in the eyes, somehow when you are just looking into someone's eyes time could fly by without you ever noticing, just stay there in the world of green, blue eyes and the moon.

Aaron cleared his throat and they continued walking. "That is such a hard question for me, blue I would say, but then there is all the complexity of the sunset, all the explosion of color, orange and red, purple and blue. But then there is the black of a starless sky, or the shadows at night. So I'd say the sky, but people assume blue." She glanced over at him, maybe he was trying his inner complex character on for size tonight, or maybe he was this thoughtful, gentle human all of the time, maybe he just said this to every girl he invited to walk in the garden unchaperoned to be saved from a dull boring party. That would be just her luck, having a conversation with an attractive young man, just to find out that he was just using her as something to pass the time. 

But right here and now, in the full moon, with him. She felt as if she could say anything, anything at all, but she brushed it off.

"Why have I never met you?" She asked him, looking around. The shadows from the bushes and the soft breeze from the south, spring had just arrived and with it the chill of winter had gone on somewhere else.

"I just moved here with my father." He said, the lie had had told her earlier, about not seeing her at parties and events.

"From where?" Maybe she was becoming too inquisitive, too unladylike by asking real questions, and not just the average compliments that ladies gave men.

"Saint John," he was looking around, Lorena was trying to remember where Saint John was and silence fell upon them, Aaron cleared his throat, "Oh, sorry. Saint John, Canada. I forget that most people don't know much about that here." He said with humor, so he wasn't mad that she didn't know where that was. Thank heavens.

"Do you live in London?" Aaron asked her, and she shook her head.

"My family lives in the country, Andover, Hampshire." She said, glad that conversation had resumed. "Are you planning on going back to Canada after the season is over?" Lorena asked him.

"I believe that we're planning on staying in England permanently, but also I can't be too sure, when we moved from Canada my father told me that we were going to leave in one month before we actually did." He said, feigning humor, but bitterness laced his tone. "But," -his tone becoming brighter- "we're currently staying in a hotel, so I hope that that arrangement doesn't last long, my father was meeting with some people about housing today so I have high hopes." He said, not sounding like he did at all.

"Well I can't say that I can relate at all," Lorena said honestly, "we have never moved from where we live now." Saying it out loud sounded boring and unintelligent, but there was no way that she could take it back. 

"That sounds nice." Aaron said, now sounding bored. Lorena remembered that her family was inside and she couldn't remember how long they had been talking, it couldn't have been too long, but the moon did seem considerably higher then when they stepped outside. Aaron seemed to sense where her thoughts were going. "Now look at me, the first dinner I've been to and I've already made a name for myself." He said with a chuckle as he turned on his heel and held his arm out for Lorena, they had been walking for quite some time and he had not done that so far, she took it and they walked to the bright lights coming from inside.

When they came to the door Aaron held it open for her and she thanked him. They went their separate ways and Lorena took her spot near the wall once more, the walk had done good to clear her head and shoo away any signs of a headache. Aaron caught her eye and gave her a bright smile and a subtle wink, making her heart jump surprisingly. She smiled back.

When her mother sent Nora to come and fetch her to go home she felt tired but had surprisingly light spirits compared to every other dinner party she had been to before. Her mother and father were waiting at the door, thanking their host and receiving their jackets and wraps.

When Lorena and Nora had gotten into the carriage and became comfortable, ready for the ride back to the house that her family was renting out for only one more month, Nora gave her a questioning look and turned the other way, clear that they were going to be having a conversation later in their room. Nora sat so elegantly with her head held high, Lorena wasn't elegant, and she wasn't tall like her mother and her sister either. She clearly had gotten her height from her grandmother on her father's side.

The bumpy ride of the carriage was uncomfortable, but she was so exhausted that it almost lulled her to sleep, the ten minute ride from the dinner to their house was nearly over and Lorena had firm plans to ignore any attempt at conversation that Nora had planned for her. 

~

When they were both alone in their room Nora kept on glancing over at Lorena, expecting her to talk about where she had disappeared to with that handsome man. But Lorena would just look away and ignore her when she caught Nora looking too long.

Maybe it was just a conversation for another night, but Nora had to admit that it hurt, she thought that her and Lorena were close but she was clearly mistaken.