|| a featured story || Aurora never planned on spending her final month alive falling in love. When she meets Gus, a curious boy who is all too eager to waste away the days with her, she finds herself trading in her month of solitude for a month wit...
"This trip meant everything to them, Thom. I wasn't going to be the reason they cancel it."
Thomas gently grabbed his sister's hand in his, his eyes holding a softness she rarely saw. "You mean more to them than some trip, Rory."
She knew he was right. But Aurora had already said her goodbyes to her parents; already accepted that the day in the airport was the last moment she had with them. She swallowed her food and eyed her brother suspiciously.
"Who are you talking to?" she asked, pointing at his cellphone he couldn't stop glancing at.
He shoved the phone under the table. "No one," he said too quickly for it to be true.
Aurora's eyes narrowed. "Thomas," she warned, knowing her twin well enough to tell when he was hiding something.
With a long sigh, he said, "Ivy."
Aurora felt her face heat up, eyes go wide and mouth part open as she resisted the urge to slap her brother. "Ivy?" she spat. "Your ex-girlfriend that cheated on you three times?" Thomas nodded. "In a week?" He nodded again, looking elsewhere.
Being the same age and having the same friends, Aurora and Thomas had made a pack when they were merely thirteen to not date any of each other's friends. But Aurora would have gladly let Thomas date anyone other than Ivy, his on-and-off-again girlfriend of nearly two years. With long blonde hair and bright blue eyes, it wasn't a mystery what attracted Thomas to her.
After witnessing Ivy break her brother apart at the seams over and over again, she refused to let him fall into dangerous old habits.
"I ran into her yesterday at work," Thomas grumbled, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms stubbornly over his chest like a child that was caught by his parents.
"You should've kept running," Aurora murmured to herself. "Why, Thomas? Why are you putting yourself through that again?"
His eyes flickered up to hers and Aurora knew her brother was hopeless. "I missed her," he said. "I love her."
"The girl is poison, Thomas!" she all but yelled. "Her name is literally Ivy." Her brother's hands clenched into fists, knuckles tight, and Aurora took a deep breath. "She broke you, over and over. You can't go through that again."
He shrugged. "I know," he said, idly pushing around the food on his plate. "But she's the only that can put me back together again."
Aurora barked out a sharp laugh. "What are you, Humpty fucking Dumpty? You can put your own self back together. You don't need Ivy."
Thomas rolled his eyes and returned to his food. He was chewing thoughtfully when the sound of his phone vibrating caught his attention. "Don't," Aurora warned as he glanced at his cell.
"It's her," he said, hopeful eyes fixated on the screen.
"Promise me, Thomas," she begged, but her brother's fingers were already typing back a response. Aurora reached across the table and grabbed the phone from his fingers.
"Rory!" he yelled. Aurora could feel people begin to stare at them, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to not spend her final weeks consoling her brother after his heart got stomped on again. And although it nearly killed her to say her next words, she did it anyway.
"I'll be friends with Gus, nothing more, if you promise to stay away from Ivy." Her voice wavered as she spoke and she forced herself to breathe.
Thomas crossed his arms, intrigued. "You mean that?" he asked. Aurora nodded, placing the phone on the table between them.
"It's my dying wish," she said.
Thomas gave her a disapproving glance. "Stop using your death as leverage," he said.
Aurora shrugged, sipping on her water. "I'm simply taking advantage of my mortality."
Thomas eyed her, chewing thoughtfully on his lip before he grinned. "Deal," he said, grabbing the phone and showing Aurora as he blocked Ivy's number.
She swallowed what felt like a broken piece of her heart and forced a smile onto her face. Thomas continued to eat happily, not realizing that his sister's promise was slowly breaking her. "Great," Aurora managed to choke out.
They finished their meal, got the bill and tipped the waitress before walking outside, the diner bell chiming as they left. The sun beat down on them and Thomas tugged off his jacket as they strolled down the street.
"So you and Gus are just friends?" he said casually.
Aurora fell into step beside her brother, staring straight ahead of her. "Yup," she said, trying to make her voice sound normal.
"Then what was he doing in your bedroom this morning?"
Aurora stopped walking so abruptly she tripped, her brother grabbing her hand and holding her upright. She felt her face heat up as she turned to him, expecting him to be scowling. Instead, he was smiling, watching her expectingly with raised eyebrows.
"That wasn't Gus," she managed to say, fixing the hem of her tank. Her brother stared her down, waiting for her to admit the truth. "Fine," she whined, throwing her hands into the air. "It was Gus, happy? But all we did was sleep," she emphasized.
"Remember our deal," he called behind him as he continued to walk, leaving a stunned Aurora behind.
"I know, asshole!" She ran to catch up to her brother, shoving him playfully as they walked side by side.
The town was fairly busy today, the streets alive with people and children licking ice cream cones in the suffocating sun. Aurora wished she could live so easily, without a worry of tomorrow and what it would hold.
When a sign outside the church caught her attention, she grabbed her brother's arm and stopped walking. "What?" he asked, following her gaze to the sign that read Mr. and Mrs. Peter Johnson wedding ceremony at 1pm.
His eyes scanned the words before he chuckled, turning to his sister whose mouth was hanging open. "Peter Johnson?" he asked. "Wasn't that our grade nine science teacher that every girl was obsessed with?"
Aurora nodded eagerly, her mind back in high school, watching as girls eagerly flirted with the young teacher that was much too attractive to walk the halls of their high school.
She eyed the sign, then the church, then her brother, all the while a plan forming in her head.
"No," Thomas said, grabbing her arm and turning her away from the church.
"What?" she asked innocently, blinking up at him.
"I can see the evil wheels turning in your mind, Rory. What are you planning?"
Aurora grinned wickedly, her lips spreading mischievously. "I'm not planning anything," she said easily, continuing to walk down the sidewalk.
Her brother jogged to catch up to her, grabbing her arm again. "Aurora," he warned.
With a sweet smile, she turned to him. "I'm just thinking about how much fun it would be to crash a wedding."
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ou ou next chapter ou ou i'm excited. thoughts on what's coming next?
