it's just chemistry

eight

       (lowercase intended)

throughout the night el kept tossing and turning, no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't stay asleep

after a couple more turns and useless attempts to keep her eyes closed she huffed and sat up, jumping when she remembered that it was pitch black in the basement

el sighed and lifted the blanket off her small body before getting up and grabbing her phone to use the flashlight on it

once she found it she turned it on and then moved her phone side to side in the dark room, she squinted her eyes and rubbed them with a tiny yawn. el reached down on the table and grabbed her glasses before putting the frames over her eyes and blinked rapidly, waiting for her vision to de cloud

once she could see, she shone the light towards the stairs and started to walk up them carefully, hearing the cracks with each step she took

her hand reached out to the door knob once she made it to the top of the steps and slowly opened the door. slowly she peeked her head out and looked left and then right, coast was clear

el started to tip toe quietly into the hallway. it still looked pretty dark outside so that made her wonder what time it was, her finger tapped the screen of her phone and seen it was around four in the morning

"ugh, really?" she whispers with a groan

how's she ever gonna sleep now? maybe it was because she didn't have her stuffed lion with her.. yeah she may be seventeen, but shes had that lion with her since she can remember. roary was her only friend in that big scary building, he kept her safe as she laid in her springy bed with a thin sheet and her shaved head.. she's kept him this whole time, yes, she didn't even wanna remember her time there but roarys been there for her throughout everything. all the tests he did on her, when she felt like.. some kind of machine, like a rat that he controlled..

el sighed and closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to remember what happened there.. it's over with, the building is burned to the ground, he got what he deserved.. behind bars for the rest of his life to rot

she shook the thoughts out of her head before walking down the hallway and seeing the kitchen

which looked occupied by the one and only mike wheeler

he was in a white tank top with some black joggers, his hair was all messy as he was leaning against the kitchen counter drinking a glass of water

she hid behind the corner and peeked her eyes over watching him, it was so weird seeing a boy close to her age at this time in the morning. el's only ever seen her dad like this but actually instead of water it was either milk out of the carton or a beer

but this was mike

she could see the light from the moon shine through the white blinds of the kitchen, casting a shadow on his tall figure his features looked more prominent, his hand slightly gripping the glass full of ice and water as he brought it up to his parted lips while tilting his head back a bit and taking another long drink

it was kind of mesmerizing honestly.. watching a teenage boy in his natural state, just being themselves with no one around—well that he knows of

el leaned over a bit more to get a better look, there was something up, with her being labeled as 'the freak' at school she observes. she can tell from people's faces or their body language better than others when somethings wrong. and with the way his eyebrows looked furrowed, his face was rested, it looked like he was in deep thought

it was pretty dark in the kitchen other than the moonlight casting in so she couldn't see very well so she leaned over a bit more, which she shouldn't have done