Rewrite the Stars (bxb)

Chapter 7 Campfire

I wake up the next morning not knowing who or where I am, and, for me, that's peaceful. For once, my mind is silent, and I bask in it for as long as it takes me to start remembering.

I try to think back to when I fell asleep last night, but I can't even remember that.

I roll over, looking at Peter's empty bed and realize that it must be Monday because his backpack is also gone.

So I simply roll back over, get comfy, and try to find where my ipod ended up last night to continue reading where I left off.

I end up reading for far longer than I intended, only stopping because Peter walked into the room.

"Have you been in bed all day long?" he asks, one second from laughing.

I glare at him. "You're just jealous because you had to go to school."

"Yeah." He sighs, throwing his bag on his desk and then plopping on the bed.

I can tell something's off with him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He looks up at me with the same smile he used earlier, but now I realize how fake it really looks.

I sit up, throwing the comforter off of me. "What's wrong?"

He mumbles something, looking off to the side, but then his shoulders start moving, and I climb out of bed, going over to sit next to him.

I place a hand on his back. "Peter?"

He moves his arms up and wipes at his face. "I'm fine," he says. "Nothing I can't handle myself. No worries."

"I don't believe you for a second, but I won't push it. If you wanna talk about it, I'm here."

He looks up at me with the biggest and fakest smile I have ever seen. "Thanks, Blythe, but no worries. I am fine." He gets up and scrounges through his backpack, pulling out a binder and flipping through it. He glances back at me. "Though, I could use you for some math help. I'm so lost it's not even funny."

I roll my eyes and smile but go over to my chair, pulling it over to his. "What're you learning now?"

"Um..." He flips through his notes. "Verifying trig identities." He looks at me. "Whatever that means."

I laugh. "Don't worry. This is something I'm actually good at, so we'll be fine."

.~:*:~.

We were, in fact, not fine.

"Peter," I say slowly. "We just went over this."

"I know that."

"Then what is the answer?"

"Tanx?"

I groan, banging my head on the desk.

Peter groans too. "I'm never going to get this before tomorrow."

I turn my head to look at him. We've been working so long that the sun is already slowly coming down, and with the curtains open, the late afternoon sun lands directly on Peter, framing his face and making him glow.

My mind flashes to the moment when he kissed me.

"You'll be fine," I say, getting up and shaking my head. "Why don't we take a break? We've been working for a while."

He closes his binder. "Yeah, okay."

We both get up and wander downstairs, seeing what everyone is doing. I spot Orion in the kitchen getting his keys.