I roll over and bury my face into the pillow to block the sunlight from my eyes.
The only bad part about sleeping? Waking up.
I readjust a couple of times before sitting up against my pillows.
Why the hell is it always so bright in my room? I should invest in some curtains.
I stretch out my upper body before reaching under my pillow for my phone. Instead, my hand hits a book. I pull it out and open it to the part my bookmarks in. I quickly reread the page, then the next, then the next, until I get so into it I'm sinking back down into my bed.
My arms are in pain from holding up the book but it's just so good, I don't care.
I love reading, most people think it's boring but I just think they haven't found the right book yet.
I love romance, mystery, dystopian, poetry, almost everything. I even enjoy researching. Sure, I hate the assignment that comes with it but I find reading about different everyday topics very interesting. I like to think that knowing those things makes me a better person which gives me more motivation to continue.
Mom says I just use reading as an excuse to ignore everyone and be alone. She may be right but I think it's healthy to spend time by yourself. Everyone needs to learn how to be alone because, at the end of the day, we're all we have.
I play with my gold heart locket that's around my neck as my eyes roam the pages.
Suddenly, I hear noises outside my room. I don't move but I look at the door and then at my window. I shrug it off and go back to my book.
I hear it again but this time with an added quiet groan. My heart drops thinking it's Sage doing his... business but when a shadow pops up at my window, I feel like I'm about to have a heart attack. I sit up quickly and grip my book tightly in my right hand, ready to throw it at anyone who's there.
Elijah's stupid face pops into view and the next thing I know, he opens my window and climbs inside.
Before he gets completely in, I grab a pillow next to me and chuck it at him. "You are a moron, Rivera!"
He catches it against his chest and his face lights up with amusement. "Good morning to you too, princess."
"I will burn you alive. Stop calling me that."
He casually licks his bottom lip and bites it clean. I see his eyes drift down and I notice his lips start to form a smile. "Frankenstein?"
I look down at my book and then back at him. This time my face lights up with amusement. "Yes, have you read it?"
"No, not yet. Is it good?"
I nod. "Ver— wait, why the hell did you just climb through my window?"
"I just wanted the exercise," Elijah states.
I glare at him confusingly. "Get—"
"You forgot your phone," he interrupts. "I came to bring it back to you."
I wanna smart mouth him back but he did bring me my phone... screw it.
"So, instead of going through the front door like a normal person you climb through my window like a damn—" I grab another pillow and fling it at him— "pervert."
He catches it at his chest again but this time he throws it back at me. I'm slightly shocked as I catch it against my own. "Look at you coming into my room and just trashing the place."
"Do you want your phone or not, Lavender?" He gives me a look.
"Of course I do." I narrow my eyes at him.
Elijah walks closer and hands me my phone along with the first pillow I threw at him.
I quickly thank him as I grab my things.
"You know, I rang the doorbell twice and knocked," he says.
I look up at him from where he's standing beside me and shrug. "Sage and I have always been heavy sleepers."
"Or, you're a heavy reader."
"Probably." I finally look at my phone and read the few texts I have; eight from Harper, and one from each Theo and Malakai. I smile.
"You painted porn?"
I look up to see him staring at my sketchbook on the edge of the bed that's flipped to a page containing a woman's naked figure.
I turn back to see him eyeing the messages on my phone. I flip my phone over and lean forward to grab the sketch. "I didn't paint it, I drew it." I grin at my joke.
He raises his eyebrows and a smile starts to form.
"No," I let out a single dry laugh and look down at my paper, "It's um- It's one of my favorite things to draw because no matter how you do it, it'll always be beautiful."
I look back up at him not knowing what to expect. His head's slightly tilted but I can't read his expression.
"Can I see the rest?" he asks, taking a seat on my bed.
I feel my heartbeat speed up. My mouth opens but nothing comes out. I take a quick deep breath to keep myself from stuttering again.
"Sure, go ahead." I hand the book to him.
Elijah takes it and flips through the pages. I stare at him as he does, trying to catch any type of reaction. Those are my drawings. I don't think anybody really cared enough to genuinely ask me about them, besides Harper. Let alone look at them for more than three seconds.
I see the slight furrow in his dark eyebrows, the little twinkle in his brown eyes, along with the subtle resting pout in his heavy lower lip.
I eye him back up at his hair, it's messy, probably from just waking up. I kinda want to fix it, is that weird?
My gaze settles on his clothes. Grey sweatpants with a black pullover.
He looks good in black.
No, go away voices.
"Uh, there's not that much in there, everything's mostly in the garage," I interrupt my thoughts.
"I want to see the garage then." Elijah pauses. Looking back at me, he adds, "If that's okay?"
The small imaginary twinkle I saw in his eye suddenly got bigger. "Yeah, sure. I just- um, I gotta put pants on so..."
His eyes widen as he stands right up. "No problem. Uh- I'll just wait outside then."
He awkwardly closes the door behind him and I smack my hands on my face.
I hate it. I hate it so much. I hate that he gives me attention and I hate that I enjoy it. I despise the things he does and I despise the way he can make me feel with just a couple of words.
I can cut him off with the snap of my finger but... I just can't. Harper was right. I spend all my days competing with him, trying to show that I'm better than him. If he's gone, what do I have? It is not that I like him, I just like the way he keeps me distracted from myself.
I get out of bed and walk over to my dresser and throw on some random grey sweats to go with my white loose long-sleeve shirt. The pants are a little on the tighter side but I shouldn't overthink it, right? It's just Elijah. He's seen me worse, even in my awkward middle school phase.
I quickly brush my fingers through my messy half-wavy-half curly hair. I open the door but when Elijah's not there I speed walk to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face.
When I walk out of the bathroom, I bump into a boy. "Where were you?" I ask him.
"Sage wanted to show me something," Elijah replies.
"He's home?"
"Yeah... do you guys just like- not talk to each other?"
I bite the inside of my cheek. "C'mon."
I start walking and he automatically follows.
Sage sits on the couch as we walk downstairs and gives me a greeting with a movement of his head. I return the gesture and open the garage door.
I let Elijah walk in first and close the door behind us. He looks genuinely amazed. His lips part as he looks around.
"You did all this?" he asks, his eyes not leaving the walls.
"Mhm. Well, I guess not all of it. Harper did like five and Sage did that one," I point to a small canvas covered with multiple different-sized triangles leaning by the door. "That's a— actually, I don't know what that is."
I look back at Elijah with a closed-lip smile.
"This is really amazing, Lavender." He looks right into my eyes as he says it.
My face softens, and so does my heart, along with my body, everything in me.
He's so doing this shit on purpose.
"You even have a pottery area? Oh, look, another naked body." He playfully hums as he points to a cup shaped as a woman's chest.
"Well, I have to go. I'm gonna make brunch for everyone." He walks past me but before he leaves the garage, he looks back at me and gestures his finger around the room. "But this? This is great. Good job."
He shuts the door behind him and I slap my hands on my face, again.
I'm about to follow him and either punch him in the throat or kiss his stupid face.
"I need to call someone," I mumble to myself.
***