Lies We Tell

16 : Casa Amor

It was definitely too early in the morning when Zahra's phone vibrated with an incoming text, jolting her out of her sleep. She fumbled in the dark sleepily for it, then read the text. She was too tired to concentrate on the full message, but she got the gist: girl's trip away from the boys.

Sitting up slowly, she peered over at Noah, who was still sound asleep. Careful not to disturb him, she slipped out from beneath the covers and crept over to Priya's-- and Lucas's-- bed. She crouched by her friend, who was reading her own text.

"Trip?" Priya whispered, squinting in confusion.

"Come on." The girls crept out of the bedroom and found themselves followed by the other girls, who all had woken up, too.

"What's this about?" Marisol asked. "A girl's trip?"

"How exciting!" Chelsea said happily, keeping her voice low.

Hope shrugged. "I guess." Zahra noticed she wouldn't look at her.

Lottie was the one who shook them out of their confused stupor and got them up to the dressing room to change. "Whatever's happening, we ought to look our best."

The girls moved quickly, slipping out of the dressing room and to the front door, where they'd been instructed to wait. Zahra trailed at the end, her attention focused on the boys in the bedroom. Why were the girls sneaking out so early? Why couldn't the boys know they were leaving?

Deciding it made no sense, she made the split-second choice to find Lucas before she left and snuck back into the bedroom. He was asleep, unaware that the girls had left. Kneeling by his side, she tenderly placed a hand against the side of his face. "Lucas."

It took two more whispered tries before he was awake and responsive, but finally he blinked at her blearily. His mouth curled into a crooked smile when he saw her. "Hey."

She smiled back. "Listen, I don't have much time to say this, but the girls are going off on a secret trip."

That got his attention. Suddenly less sleepy, Lucas propped himself up on one arm and glanced around the room. "How did you all move so quietly?" he asked, amused. "I didn't even know."

Zahra smirked. "When you're out cold, you'll sleep through anything, hun."

Lucas smirked back. "Where are you off to?"

"Don't know," she said. "All we know is it's supposed to be a secret."

He got a mischievous glint in his eyes. "So that means I'm not supposed to know?"

She rolled her eyes. "Next time I won't bother," she said, her voice airy, and moved as if to walk away.

Lucas grabbed her hand, pulling it back to his face. "I'm glad you told me. It'll be odd without you here today."

"Try not to kill Noah, okay?" she asked, raising her eyebrows expectantly. "I mean it."

Lucas sighed, dropping back into his pillows. "No promises, but for you, I'll try not to."

She patted his cheek, smiling in satisfaction. "Thank you."

This time she did get up, which made him frown. "Where's my goodbye kiss?"

Zahra laughed quietly, but truth be told, she wanted that kiss as much as he did. She leaned down, intending to just give him something sweet and tender, but that plan went out the window as soon as Lucas sat up to meet her halfway, his arms coiling around her waist to pull her onto his lap. She landed softly, adjusting to straddle him as she wound her own arms behind his head.

When he nipped at her lips, trying to encourage the kiss to go deeper, Zahra pulled back with a single, quiet laugh. "I've got to go, babes," she said, laughing again as he planted kisses up and down her neck.