Dedicated to TheUnwrittenKitten
Song for chapter nine: Closer by Tegan and Sara
|Skyler|
I walked into the library and scanned the area, slightly annoyed that Aden had picked the largest library I'd ever seen to meet up in. I had enough trouble actually finding the library, even with google maps and now I had to find him inside. The library was perhaps ten thousand square feet, lined with bookcase filled with books, all the way to the ceiling.
My phone buzzed inside my pocket, and I fished it out from my pocket. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the unknown number that stared back at me on the screen.
I slid my finger across the screen to answer the call. "Hello?"
"Hey Clumsy, you here yet?" Aden's voice was easily recognizable over the line.
I rolled my eyes, "Yes, I'm here, but I can't see your idiot ass anywhere."
"Hey, don't be a lunatic. Turn around ninety degrees and look up," he said. I could almost see the smirk plastered on his face.
I did as he said and I caught sight of him on the floor above, leaning over the balcony. He gave me a small wave, and I made my way towards him, jogging up the stairs. He had seated himself at an empty table, his bag laying flat on it.
"How did you get my number? I never gave it to you," I asked as I sat down.
"I have my sources," he smirked, and my eyebrow shot up. Sources huh? "I may have asked Josie after classes." A sheepish smile spread over his lips, his cheeks tinted a light shade of pink.
"And she gave it to you?" I asked incredulously. I was certain there was a rule between girls that if a guy asked for another's number, you were to say no.
"I can be very convincing," Aden leaned forward onto the table, closer to me. I gulped and stared into his eyes, admiring the green specks within them, complimented by the freckles dotted over his nose. My gaze flickered to his soft lips for a split second before I forced them back to his eyes.
My cheeks grew fiery and I hoped that he didn't notice, but the smirk that spread over his lips told me he did notice, much to my embarrassment.
I gulped and leaned back into my chair, putting distance between us. "We should get started," I said, clearing my throat.
Aden sat back as well, the smirk still evident on his face. God, I just wanna slap that smile right off of him.
"The bruise looks better," Aden said, looking at my cheek.
I shrugged, "It doesn't feel better."
He scratched the back of his neck and pursed his lips, looking guilt ridden and I sighed.
"It's not your fault Aden, for the last time," I told him, "I was the one who jumped in front of it." I wasn't sure why I felt like I needed to make Aden feel better, but the guilt in his eyes made me feel uneasy.
"Well, yeah that was stupid of you, Clumsy," he pointed out.
"Maybe you shouldn't have kicked it so hard," I narrowed my eyes at him.
"I can't help my skills," he smirked overconfidently. I wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.
"It was a game in gym class," I deadpanned and he shut right up.
I had finished most of the lab report, with just the conclusion left when my eyes started to droop and feel as if there were ten pound weights attached to them. The amount of sleep I'd been getting each night was finally catching up with me. Just as Esther had said, Aden was some sort of genius. He knew exactly what he was doing, unlike me. I was lost half the time.
Aden glanced at me over his laptop, "I can handle the conclusion if you want."
I looked up at him and blinked, attempting to rid the fatigue, "That wouldn't be fair."
"It's fine, besides, you've done a lot anyways," he insisted. I opened my mouth to counter him but he'd already started.
Who am I to pass up sleep. I thought.
I laid my head down onto the table and shut my eyes, after all, I wasn't sure when I'd be able to fall asleep again this easily. I wasn't even surprised when I drifted off within seconds into a dreamless sleep.
I only awoke when I was given a light shake on the shoulder.
"Leave me alone," I groaned, shifting to turn my head the other way. Except, whoever it was didn't stop. In fact, they were relentless. "What?" I snapped, sitting up.
Aden's face stared back at me, an amused smile on his lips.
"Oh, sorry," I gave him a sheepish smile, rubbing my eyes to wake myself up. Not going to lie, it was the best sleep I'd had in a while. Most of the time, I just tossed and turned in my bed, thinking of my mom until four in the morning at least.
"Remind me not to ever wake you up from a nap," he raised an eyebrow at me. "I've finished the conclusion, we can hand the whole report in tomorrow," Aden explained. I thanked him absentmindedly as I continued to rub the sleep from my eyes.
"Why were you so tired?" he asked.
"Couldn't sleep last night," I shrugged. At least it wasn't a lie, he just didn't need to know that it was every night. Aden stared at me for a few moments before nodding, and that was enough for me to know that he didn't actually believe me. I was glad he didn't pry.
"Still getting used to your new bed?" he joked.
I wish it was that simple. At least I could get used to that.
"Yes, I miss my old one," I played along with a smirk.
"Look, if you ever can't sleep, give me a call," he smiled a genuine smile that sent warmth throughout my body. His eyes on the other hand scrutinized me.
I felt my heart skip a beat and I grinned, for the first time in a while that I hadn't forced it out of myself. Come to think of it, I hadn't really been forcing any smiles or faking anything with Aden.
"Really?" I asked him in a hopeful tone.
"Yeah of course," Aden nodded, and then he leaned forward, resting his head on his hands. "Tell me about Canada."
"What do you want to know?" I leaned in as well, feeling a sudden stroke of confidence. I stared into his eyes and a warm feeling settled in my stomach, as if all the problems in my life had dissipated. It was a euphoric feeling even if it only lasted a few moments.
"Everything."
I sighed, a small smile spreading across my face, "I miss the cold. Sometimes in September, you can already see your breath in the air."
"My mom would take me skiing after school too when it got cold enough. But she was horrible at skiing, so it was more just me. Once, we went up to the chairlift onto a black diamond run, but she was so scared she ended up just taking off her skis and scooted down the hill on her ass instead," I laughed at the memory.
Aden's smile mirrored mine, "You must've been close with her?"
"Oh yeah, we were very close," I nodded. "I spent more time with her than my friends sometimes, which is kind of embarrassing but, whatever."
I realized in that moment that I'd told Aden more about myself and my mom than I had to anyone in New York, including Aunt Claire. Even Josie didn't know anything about my family, or the fact that I lived with my aunt since it had never come up.
It was nice though, talking about my mom in a good way. For the first time I was recalling the good times I'd spent with her in my brain rather than her last moments.
It brought a lighter feeling into my heart, as if the huge weight I'd been carrying for the past month had disappeared temporarily. It felt as though this huge wall I'd put up had already begun to disappear when I was around Aden.
"Enough about me, I still don't know anything about you," I pointed out.
"There's nothing about me. I've always lived in New York just with my dad," he shrugged, "and I play soccer but you already know that." he smirked and I frowned.
"Okay, but those are things that I already knew," I rolled my eyes. "Hmmm, what do you want to do with your future." I asked, the random question popping into my brain.
A large smile spread over his lips, "Oh, we're getting deep now aren't we?"
I couldn't help my eye roll, "No, it's a casual question. I'm not asking you about your biggest dream or aspirations. I'm also not asking you to sell your soul."
Aden let out a small chuckle at my last part, "Alright, well I don't know for sure what I'd do, but I know that I'd like to help people."
I opened my mouth to respond, but Aden's phone beat me to it as it buzzed wildly on the table.
He slid his thumb over the phone and picked up the call. "Dad," he greeted with a flat tone, his lips pressed to a thin line. His father on the other line spoke for a good few moments and I watched as Aden's eyes hardened and his body tense up.
"I'll be right back," he said to me before walking a few meters away to be in private. I stared at the table, and even though I knew it was rude to eavesdrop, I strained my ears anyway. It was a pathetic attempt to make out anything I could.
A bit of his conversation was audible, "What happened now..." and "why can't you ever...", and then he hung up, walking back towards the table.
His jaw was clenched and his whole body taut, his playful demeanour that he always had had vanished. Something was clearly wrong.
"Is everything okay?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing.
"I gotta go," he stated coldly as he stood up, packing his laptop into his bag and swinging it over his shoulder. I couldn't decipher his expression. "I'll... see you tomorrow."
"Oh, okay," I said. "See you tomorrow." But he was already walking away as I said the last part. If he wanted to tell me what was wrong he would.
My stomach dropped slightly in disappointment with the fact that he didn't trust me enough to tell me what was wrong. But I couldn't be hypocritical, I was also keeping from him the real reason I'd moved to New York, just to avoid any unwanted sympathy and pity that I didn't need.
I sighed, shoving my books into my bag as well. It was already half past five and Aunt Claire would be wondering where I was. I pulled up Aunt Claire's apartment on google maps and began making my way home.
It wasn't until I was halfway home on the street when I realized that I had spoken about my mom in the past tense — since, of course she was gone.
But it wasn't just that.
It was the fact that Aden didn't even question it. Either he noticed and jumped to a conclusion without saying anything, or he hadn't noticed at all and it slipped his mind. I hoped it was the latter.
|Aden|
As I walked out of the library, I mentally scolded myself for being so cold to Skyler. This wasn't her fault after all, in fact, this had nothing to do with her.
I didn't know why I couldn't bring myself to tell her what was wrong, and what had happened over the phone with my dad. But a part of me knew that I didn't want to scare her away, and it was the most shameful thing about me.
It had taken me two weeks to tell her about how my mom picked up and left me alone and how bitter about it I still was, meanwhile, it took me a year or more to tell Ryan and my other friends. I trusted Skyler, but I didn't want to scare her away.
I knew that she was already dealing with some tough things already, even if she wouldn't tell me or admit it. I didn't even know what it was.
Either way, I would be there for her.
She meant way too much to me in this short amount of time already, and that freaked me out.
Falling in love was something that could be ruthless unless it was played just right. It was a trusty thing, a risk and with her, I might just be ready to take it. I just hoped she felt the same.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hey guys, I hope you liked this chapter!
What do you guys think is wrong with Aden's dad?
Anyways thanks for reading and please vote, comment and share if you liked it!
~SweetnessInTheSalt
Rules:
1. Write ten things about yourself
2. Write 5 crazy facts based on literally anything
3. Tag 10-15 people
I was nominated by ArushiUpmanyu for this challenge! I call it 'Facts' cause my creative streak has run out.
Facts about me:
1. I'm 17 years old
2. I'm a Sagittarius
3. I like listening to music
4. I'm probably a hopeless romantic so that sucks
5. I'm very loyal to all my friends (and that includes you guys!!)
6. I can identify a Taylor Swift song within seconds (or less) when it plays
7. I can't cook
8. I've never broken a bone before
9. I love Selena Gomez too
10. I low key ship Dramione 🙈
Random facts
1. The sky is blue cause it's the only wavelength my light that makes it past the atmosphere
2. The earths magnetic field protects us from dying basically (but I think everyone knows that)
3. Tortoises aren't actually that slow
4. Sloths are clumsy on land
5. The quadratic formula can be useful in chemistry.
I'm not gonna nominate anyone (sorry!)