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Tom let out a groan as the curtains of his bedroom were tugged open, the sunlight shining directly in his eyes. "It's literally 12, what did you and Orion do that made you stay up so late?" Mateo's voice rang clear, despite Tom tugging the covers over his head.
The previous day was spent with Orion, much like every other day. Ever since the two decided to completely turn over another leaf for the remainder of the month, it seemed like everyday was spent with each other. Not that Tom minded, seeing as he was the one that always summoned her in the first place. He realized that Mateo was right, it was really hard to not like Orion once you got to know her. And now that he finally did get a chance to know her, he found himself oddly attached.
Nobody would think that the two were once at each other's throat with the way they acted. Orion had long strayed away from her "angelic tasks" of showing Tom around his new home, and just became Tom's go to friend. She'd bring popcorn to nights where he wanted her to watch his favorite movies from when he was alive. He'd help her sort files she brought home into alphabetical order while she ordered takeout for them. There'd even been the odd late night where Tom summoned her for the sole sake of venting, memories of his family rushing back to him on that particular night. It made him wish that night on the hill had happened sooner, because having Orion as a friend was something he didn't know he needed, and now didn't want to be without.
"We watched the entirety of the Scary Movie series," Tom muttered, feeling Mateo sink into his bed as he sat down. "What do you want, Mateo? You only wake me up to tease or ask a favor."
"Well-"
"You would have teased already, so what's the favor?" He tugged the covers down, squinting at the boy sitting at the foot of his bed. Pushing himself up, he sighed as Mateo's eyes immediately darted down. "Mateo, eyes up here."
The boy grinned at him, kicking off his shoes to sit cross legged on the bed. "Has Orion mentioned Kelsey at all?"
Tom's face fell at the mention of the girl, the same girl he's been avoiding at all costs. He'd turn away if he saw her walking in his direction, afraid of what would happen if she did approach him. After her argument with Orion in his house, he had a feeling their interaction would be anything but kind, seeing as his silence unintentionally made him side with Orion. Not that he would want to side with Kelsey, after all, she made him feel special when her true intentions were just to use him for his name. The last thing he should be doing was feeling bad for her, but he was in Heaven, it was against his nature to not feel sympathy for the girl.
"She has," He admitted, standing from the bed, feeling Mateo's eyes following him. "But, let's just leave it at if it was allowed, Orion would sound like a sailor when speaking about her."
Mateo sighed, "That's what I was afraid of." He threw himself back onto Tom's bed as the boy disappeared into his bathroom, the water running soon after. "Can I ask the favor now?"
Tom poked his head out of the bathroom, a toothbrush hanging from his mouth, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "It has to do with Kelsey?" He questioned, though it came out muffled as he attempted to brush his teeth at the same time.
"Yeah..." Mateo trailed off, a sheepish smile gracing his lips while Tom rolled his eyes. He gestured with a hand for Mateo to continue, disappearing into the bathroom again. "I need you to talk to Orion about Kelsey- positive stuff!" Mateo sighed when Tom poked his head, raising his eyebrows as if to say are you serious? "Kelsey has been so down lately, and I know she doesn't really deserve forgiveness, but it can't hurt to try. I know it's because of the status of her friendship with Orion, even if she won't admit it. She knows she took things too far this time, and I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, but my opinion isn't what matters this time."
Tom emerged from the bathroom eventually, pausing in front of his dresser. "And you think I can convince Orion to forgive her? Have you met the girl?"
"Not to forgive her, maybe just give her a chance to make things up. She'll think I'm biased because it's my sister, but you have as much reason to hate Kels as she does, so she'll trust you!"
"Okay, so where's Kelsey's apology to me?" He shot a pointed look at the boy before digging through his drawers, eventually deciding on a plain white shirt.
"She tried, but you run the other way when she approaches."
Tom tensed up, because, well, that was true. He did turn away from her whenever he saw her, never truly giving her the chance to offer an apology, so that was all his fault. "Fine," He muttered, snatching his phone off the side table as Mateo clapped excitedly. "But if Orion gets mad at me because of this, then I'm blaming it on you."
"Fair enough."
Mateo left shortly after, wishing Tom luck before going on his way. After a short pep talk in the mirror, Tom summoned Orion, and shockingly enough, his doorbell rang immediately after. "Since when do you use doors?" He asked as he tugged open the door, Orion standing impatiently on the other side.
She walked past the boy, plopping herself onto his couch. "Since never, you took way too long," She mumbled, Tom walking around the join her. "I'll just stick to my whole snap thing from now on."
Tom nodded, watching in silence as she got herself comfortable, debating how to start the conversation. "So..." Bad start.
Orion glanced his way, raising an eyebrow, "So?"
"Kelsey apologized to me today," He blurted, eyes widening immediately after. It wasn't necessarily a lie, she did try to apologize according to Mateo, but it also wasn't the truth. Orion stared at him blankly for a moment, before looking away.
"Cool."
"She's sorry about... you know," He tried again, eyes filled with hope when she glanced his way again.
"As she should be."
Not the reaction he was hoping for. Tom frowned at this, making Orion sigh as she looked away, fiddling with her phone. "Are you not gonna... talk to her?"
"Put yourself in my shoes, Tom," She began, crossing her arms over her chest. "Someone you considered your best friend has been taking advantage of you for years now, and when you finally decide to put your foot down in hopes that they'd stop, they go completely against your word and do whatever they want anyways. Would you talk to them?"
"Well, not at first, but-"
"You'd allow that person to continue to take advantage of you?" Orion asked bewildered.
Tom swallowed harshly. "Well, no. But I'd give them the benefit of the doubt."
Orion scoffed, "I've been giving her the benefit of the doubt for five years now. I'm tired of it."
She huffed as she sunk into the couch, arms crossed over her chest as her eyebrows remained knitted together. Tom fell silent, racking his mind for another way to try to spin this in Kelsey's favor. Orion had a very good point, but at the same time, he didn't want to see a friendship completely fall apart if she was showing signs of changing.
"What about a bet?"
"I'm an angel, I can't bet," Orion replied robotically, still not looking Tom's way.
"Okay... a competition?" She turned to him at this, raising her eyebrows. "Me versus you. I win, you give Kelsey a chance, you win, you don't. Deal?"
Orion stared down at the hand he outstretched to her, pursing her lips. "Deal." She clasped hands with him, lips tugging up into a grin. "You're so gonna lose."
On her road to becoming a top angel, she was morphed into what an ideal perfect girl was to be. If only Tom had been informed of that before challenging her, he would have backed out had he known how multi-talented she was. "You mean I didn't tell you I was on multiple sports teams at school?" Orion asked as Tom laid on the grass, sweat beading on his forehead. She hadn't even broken a sweat, one foot perched on the soccer ball they'd been playing with. Tom had expected an easy win, but he'd been utterly shocked when Orion made an effort to show off, revealing he didn't stand a chance.
"You know what, no, you didn't," He huffed, pushing up to lean against his elbows. Orion shrugged at this, kicking the ball forward to begin dribbling. Tom watched as he tried to catch his breathe, Orion not paying him any mind as she was in a world of her own.
Lately, Tom found himself examining the girl. It was something he never took the time to do when they were enemies, never seeing any need for it. But now that he did, he could understand why people seemed to chase after the girl. She was graceful, even now as she kicked the ball along the field. With her brown waves trailing behind her, and pink lips curled into a slight smile, she looked... angelic.
Tom tore his eyes away from her as the thought passed, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Angelic? Did he just describe Orion as angelic in a non ironic way?
"Tell you what," He lifted his head as Orion called out to him, ball tucked beneath her arm now, "I'll talk to Kelsey, but only because you tried your hardest."
Tom rolled his eyes as a teasing smile spread across her lips. "Oh, shut up."