The Night Children

Chapter 9

Edited. 

A flash of uneasiness surged through me from the anger rinsed in his voice. His fingernails dug into my skin ever so slightly and I drew my hand away with a sharp intake of air. A look of hurt flashed beneath his eyes but he quickly hid it by blinking.

"Nobody." I answered simply. It was a stubborn response, one that screamed dismissiveness.

His lips twitched, fading into a frown. "Did Isaac hurt you?"
At the sound of his name I stiffened, my joints locking. Isaac, the boy who tried to hit me. I narrowed my eyes. "What does it matter to you?"

Aarons eyebrows drew together in confusion. "I want to know if you're hurt."

"Why?" I snapped back, my irritation from my earlier argument with Mum swamping my current mood. "Why do you want to know if I am hurt when you barely know me?"

He looked taken back, as he blinked rapidly, stirring his fringe that trailed across his eyelashes. "Because I—"
"Care?" I didn't let him finish. "You don't care about me Aaron. You see me as just another game. I am just one of those girls who hide in the shadow without an identity and a sketchy past with a story to tell and you want to understand me, you want to waste your time figuring out what it is that haunts me before you grow bored."

His green and gold gaze searched mine, dilating in surprise. "Is that what you think this is?"
I took in the way his lips parted, his breath stirring the flyaway hairs near my neck. "There is no this." I said, blinking to clear my head.

"I've known you for what, a week, and you're acting like you know me." I continued, and I began to hear my voice. It was seething with frustration. A part of me realised the frustration wasn't aimed at Aaron.
"Renee," the word slid off his tongue delicately, so careful that it was barely above a whisper. "This is exactly what I'm talking about."

I stared at him.

He quickly continued, his voice gentle despite my own tone. "As soon as anybody shows they care you begin to despise them. You're afraid to show emotion because you think people will think of you as vulnerable."
I narrowed my eyes. "Don't patronise me Aaron."

He shook his head softly, his lips tilting into the tiniest of smiles. "There it is again."
I forced myself to keep my mouth shut, biting my tongue to remain silent.

He leaned closer, his face looming towards mine. "So I'm going to ask you again, who hurt you?"
I turned away to stare in the opposite direction to him, ignoring the sudden throbbing of my hand. I could feel his gaze on me, as gentle as his voice.

"You're persistent." I said after a few seconds of silence.

"I'm good at getting what I want." He answered and I could tell his lips remained in a small smile.

I turned back to his green eyes. "Except the truth."

Aaron opened his mouth as if to reply but then seemed to reconsider it. I took the time to study him. The green in his eyes was particularly eerie today. It was like looking into a jungle, vines hanging in thick, humid lengths while the sun beamed down on them without so much as a second thought.

"You're so invested in knowing who I am when I barely know you."

His smile faltered to fall into a confused line. "What do you mean?"
I ignored him to give him a slight incline of my lips. "Let me guess. You were head jock at your old school, and you had a gorgeous blonde girlfriend who cheered you on with the rest of her team when you landed the winning try during homecoming."