Pretty Girls

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

AS PREVIOUSLY SUSPECTED, the start of school was an absolute bore. The holidays had been a nice escape away from the horrors of realities but like all good things, it had to come to an end as well. On the first day back at school, we had already been assigned a new pile of worksheets, all to be completed by the next week. This led to my current predicament, cramped inside my cozy room with a man that had made my stomach churn in confusion just the night before.

The sudden clap of thunder that reverberated outside the windows of my quiet little bedroom made me jolt upright in surprise. My hand jerked violently with the shock, causing me to drop the pencil that I had held in my hand onto the floor. Apollo, who was seated right by my bed where I was sprawled lazily on, looked up at me with amusement quirking at his lips. The beginnings of a very colorful vocabulary had already begun to tease the tip of my tongue right before I caught it, biting down on my bottom lip hard.

"Don't tell me that you are afraid of the storm." My companion raised an eyebrow questioningly, fingers stretching toward the pencil before placing it right in the open palm of my hand.

The tense air between us seemed to have evaporated over the one night away from each other, leaving nothing but unspoken memories and unsaid worries. It was as if there was a silent agreement placed between the both of us, a contract to be signed that stated that all events of our little getaway were to be sealed tightly shut.

I shook my head, gripping the pencil tightly in my hands before sighing.

"No, I am not. I was always more afraid of the calm before it." My tongue darted out to lick my bottom lip, fingers carelessly placing the pencil onto the paper where I had random notes and doodles scrawled all across it. Lying flat on my stomach, I began to mindlessly play with the pencil, flicking at it when it came too close to my face and watching as it shot up to the top of the paper before rolling back down again. This continued on for a few silent moments.

"Now that's even more bizarre than being afraid of the storm. There is no real danger in the calm." Apollo scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, placing his own set of stationary onto the ground right beside his current assignment. Slowly, he got up from his spot before making his way over to the bed, sitting right on the edge of it, careful not to accidentally sit on me instead.

"It is the anxiety, actually. Knowing that something is going to happen and you can do nothing to stop or change it. That makes me more afraid than the physical dangers of a storm." Flipping over to lie on my back instead, I made sure to move further inward so as to allow Apollo some more space to sit on. He smiled softly in gratitude at my actions, shuffling in just the slightest towards a comfortable spot.

"Nonsense. There will always be something that you can do to change your current predicament," he retorted with a snort. "Like, for example, if you're worried about failing an exam, study for it. If you're worried about risking your life during a hurricane, find a shelter instead of standing in harm's way waiting for disaster to strike you."

"Well, if you put it that way..." I trailed off, fiddling with my thumbs.

A blanket of silence enveloped the both of us, draping over our figures like an armored fortress. I cleared my throat once, resting my head in the palm of my hand, elbow pressed against the soft duvet of my bed before taking in a deep breath to prepare myself.

If I wanted to fight through the fortress, I would need the offense to be impactful.

"Apollo, be honest with me. What were you angry about yesterday? Was it because I didn't want to go skate?" I dared to ask, bracing myself for the impact. I hadn't even noticed that I had been holding my breath during the suspense until Apollo had spoken, allowing me to breathe out in relief.