Between the Lies

24| Fire

┏━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┓

Fire

┗━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┛

Chapter 24: Fire (Aaron's POV)

I changed in the room since I had already brushed my teeth and the bathroom was now occupied by Vanessa. I lay down on the bed, grabbing the hem of my shirt to take it off but stopping when I remembered I'd be sharing the room and bed with Vanessa. Normally, I don't sleep in a t-shirt. "Damn it," I sighed, draping one arm over my eyes, resting the other on my stomach. I heard the bathroom door open and then close.

"Can I turn off the lights?"

"Huh?" I pulled my arm down, looking over at.

She ran a hand through her hair, scanning the room, one hand on the light switch. "Can I turn off the lights? Turn on the lamp, would you?"

"Yeah." I turned the lamp on before she flicked off the lights and went to her side of the bed, sitting with her back to me and grabbing her phone.

She stood up a minute later with her thumb hovering over the 'call' button. "I'm going on the patio, I have to call my mom."

"It's nine o'clock here, that means it's about two in the morning in Florida. Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"My mom doesn't usually sleep until three or four. She's kind of an insomniac, at least that's what we think. I thought I'll talk outside if you're sleeping already."

"No, it's fine. You can talk to her here."

"Hmm. So you can eavesdrop?" She lifted a brow.

"I'm not really in the mood to translate Spanish to French, then English."

"To French?"

I nodded. "It's easier in my head since I learned French before Spanish."

She sat on her side of the bed, crossing her legs. "Fine. I'll talk here then."

I nodded again.

She put the phone to her ear and waited for a few moments, fiddling with the hem of her shirt as I glanced at her hair then her clothes. Her hair was kept down and free, flowing down her back. She had on an old white t-shirt with Hello Kitty on it and was wearing matching pink pajama shorts on the bottom with Hello Kitty's face over the shorts. She uncrossed her legs, straightening them out in front of her, keeping on top of the covers rather than under them.

My eyes trailed down and over her legs. I took in a breath, noticing the little beauty mark on the side of her left thigh, the little scar right on top of her knee, another beauty mark on the side of her calf, another scar on her shin.

I looked all the way down to her painted sparkly blue toes and then looked back up at her face as she laughed, "Hey, Mom." She waited for a reply and then said, "No. Estoy en Maui. Sí, Hawaii, mamá..." No. I'm in Maui. Yes, Hawaii.

I know I said I wouldn't translate, but it's hard not to.

She faced me, pausing and then looking away from me again. "FaceTime? No, mi amiga está durmiendo." FaceTime? No, my friend is sleeping.