Astronomical (girlxgirl)

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty (Skye's POV)

Saturday morning, I spend an embarrassing amount of time picking an outfit, styling my hair and applying makeup.

I'm turning into Aunt Lauren, I reflected mournfully. Feeling anxious or unsure? Just make sure to cover it up with cute clothes and a painted face, and hopefully, no-one will notice...

In the end, I decided on something similar to what I would wear to school – a deep blue three-quarter sleeve blouse, a swirling knee-length skirt and a pair of black flats. After forty minutes of putting my hair in a hundred different styles – I just let it fall down my back naturally.

You see Rose every day, today is no different, I tried to convince myself. Except you went and kissed her yesterday and you have no idea how she will act today – if she even shows up at all.

I heard a knock at the front door and almost tripped down the stairs in my rush to answer it. I didn't give myself time to think or worry, I just opened the door and hoped for the best.

Rose stood in the most casual outfit I'd ever seen her in; black skinny jeans and a grey Henley, sans leather jacket. I smiled in what I hoped was a natural and semi-confident way, and she returned it with a muted version of her trademark smirk, "Hey..."

I realised that she was unsure of herself as well, but just far better at hiding it than I was. "Hey", I replied softly, opening the door wide and gesturing her inside.

As we made our way silently to the dining room, I remembered my courtesies, "Can I get you anything?"

"A cup of coffee would be wonderful", Rose asked quietly, and I noticed the dark circles under her eyes. I guess she slept about as well as I did...

I wasn't used to making coffee – I didn't drink it, and Aunt Lauren always made her own – but Rose sighed contentedly when she took the first sip, so I supposed I didn't mess it up too badly.

Should I talk about the elephant in the room? I worried to myself. Do I want to talk about it?

I flashed back to the way Rose sat frozen in her seat after I kissed her, and decided that I would wait for her to bring it up.

Despite the unspoken tension between us, I felt myself relaxing a little bit as we turned our attention to my English notebook. The more I was around Rose, the easier it was for me wind down a little – and not be constantly worrying about saying or doing the wrong thing. I was still self-conscious, but it wasn't the usual overbearing panic I was used to in the presence of people.

Maybe that's what Dr Cassidy meant by exposure therapy; acclimating myself to being around others...

Rose read quickly and intently, with a cute look of concentration as she moved her lips silently with each word - in spite of her previous jibe that movie versions were better than the book. I sat filling out a worksheet that Mr Mosley had given us yesterday.

It occurred to me that she had gone the entire week without notes on our novel, How did she manage to complete all of the homework Mr Mosley threw at us?

When I voiced my question quietly, Rose laughed – but I couldn't see what she found funny, "I bribed Mickey to photocopy Sara's notes for me".

I felt a frown tug my lips down, "Then why are you going over my notes?"

She looks like a kid caught red-handed with the cookie jar...

A barely perceptible blush rose on her cheeks as she stared at me, "Honestly? I wanted an excuse to spend time with you. That's about eighty per cent of the reason... Five per cent is that Sara sometimes skips Mr Mosley's class to smoke on the bleachers because she can't deal with how much of an asshole he is, so her notes aren't reliable; the other fifteen per cent is that I've seen you write notes in English class. You don't just copy exactly what he writes on the whiteboard, you make little side notes and diagrams to yourself for future reference that I find fucking adorable. It's interesting to decipher those messy little thoughts and get a glimpse at how your mind works".

I felt my cheeks and neck flush – so much more noticeably than Rose's light blush, "Oh..." I had no idea what to say, as my mind raced at a hundred miles a minute and I tried to come to terms with the fact that Rose – super hot, confident, popular Rose – found me that interesting.

I noticed that when Rose was angry or embarrassed, the red flush on her face started at the tips of her slightly-too-large ears instead of her cheeks. The longer I'm around her, the more I see that Rose's features aren't perfect - but all of the little imperfections don't detract from her beauty, they make her more approachable...

She cleared her throat and stood to take her coffee cup to the sink and wash it out.

By the time she sat back down and glanced at me, I still hadn't gotten myself together. I thought that I should return her sentiment, and let her know that I thought she was mind-blowingly beautiful; and that – at first – I had thought I loved her confidence best.

That is, until I discovered her vulnerability and how sweet she could be when she wasn't trying too hard.

But my crush on her was pretty darn obvious already – so I left that all unsaid.

After sleeping on it, I came to the decision that I didn't regret kissing Rose; yes, it had been impulsive and poorly thought out – but I was genuinely interested in her, and was amazed to learn that she felt the same for me. From what I could gather, she didn't regret this kiss either – which I found astonishing in and of itself.

Rose drove the nail home further into my heart by continuing, "And when I lean over to rest my arm on the back of your seat in class – I'm not just trying to get closer to you. I'm also looking over your shoulder at what you write because your notes are a hundred times more interesting than a teacher's lesson. Sometimes that backfires, though – because I get distracted by you chewing on the end of your pen".

I laughed, startled and flattered by turn, She can't just be making this up; Rose really feels that way about me... It felt strange – I was so used to blending in with the scenery, and being the one observing other people – that I didn't know what to do when someone took notice of me.

Don't get ahead of yourself, Skye; remember, careful and considered, not impulsive and in the heat of the moment...

"I... ah... I don't know what to say, Rose – other that I think you're a little insane for taking such an interest in me", I grinned impishly, trying to play off her words, so they didn't worm their way inside me any further.

Rose laughed huskily, "I think you're delusional for not waking up every morning, looking in the mirror and thinking 'fuck – I'm awesome!'".

I looked away, a hesitant smile twitching on my lips.

I glanced pointedly to the notes in front of her, with my eyebrows raised in what I hoped was a strict librarian-like expression, to remind her what we were meant to be doing. Rose grinned back unperturbed.

I laughed at her and shook my head softly, She must be crazy... There is no other explanation...