Xandra | My mom's best friend

Sunscreen

In the next morning I woke up with nothing but a headache. As I got up from my bed, I noticed a pill and a glass of water on my nightstand. I swallowed them, hoping I won't die because of them, and went to the bathroom.

After that, I headed downstairs, and there, I saw Larry sitting on the couch. Next to him was sat Xandra with her head laying on his shoulder. I felt a slight wave of anger washing all over my body. You have no right to be mad. Plus Xandra would not look at someone like you. I thought to myself She would never look at someone like me.. That thought made my heart ache a little.

I cleared my troath and the two turned to me. "Erm.. I'm going for a walk." I said. I noticed Xandra looking at me up and down before she turned back to the TV. "Ok" Larry mumbked. I rolled my eyes as I left on the front door.

The cool, morning air hit my body and it felt like heaven. I started to walk towards Boris's house. I knocked three times on his door and after a while, I was greeted by a man. "What?" he asked with a russian accent. "Um.. Hello! Is Boris home?" I asked. "Why?" the man asked angrily. "I um- it's for a.. Project. Yea... We have a school assignment." I lied. "He's not allowed to have any visitors." and with that he slamed the door in my face. Dude.. What is this? A hospital? I looked up to Boris's window. It wasn't that high. I started to climb all the way up. When I got to his window, I slowly knocked so I can have his attention. He was shocked to see me, but eventually, he opened the window. "Ava, what are you doing in here?" he asked me. I didn't answer. I was too busy looking at the huge mark he had on his face. "Boris.. Who did- Are you okay? Is this why you were missing school?" I asked him, worried. He looked into my eyes, knowing what I was talking about. As he sat down on the bed, he let out a sigh.

"My father isn't.. In a good mood lately. He- he's taking his anger out on me." Boris answered with a few tears forming into his eyes. I sat on the bed, next to him, and pulled him into a thight hug. "I'm sorry." I whispered. "You can always stay at my house for a while. My mom isn't home and you can have the house all by yourself. Plus mom wouldn't mind that at all."

He looked into my eyes and said "Thank you.. But it's better if I don't run away. My father would get even more mad." I wanted to cry. I felt so bad for him and I wanted to help but I didn't know how. Boris stared into my eyes and suddently, he leaned fowards, pulling me into another hug. "Thank you!" he mumbled between his sobs.

...

"I should go." I said as I made my way to the window. I stood with Boris for a while. I told him about Anna and what happened at the prom. I didn't tell him about Xandra because I didn't thought it was important at the moment.

"My offer is still avaliable." I told him before leaving. Outside, I took a last look at Boris's window and saw him already looking at me. I waved at him and he did the same.

At Xandra's house, I noticed that Larry's car wasn't on the driveway. I entered the house and I was met by an amazing smell of food. I went to the kitchen and I saw Xandra with her back facing me. She was cooking something. After I started at her for a while, I finally cleared my troath, making her turn around and bring her attention to me. "I'm back." I said. She hummed in response. "Sit down!" she said. I took a seat at the table and she put an omelette into my plate. "Thank you!" I said. I could swear I saw her smile a little, but maybe it was just in my imagination. She sat next to me, and started to eat too. "Where's Larry?" I asked after I took a few bites from my food. "He's gone at work.. Not that it's one of your business." she answered. I lowered my head and stared at my food. After a while, I could feel Xandra's knees touching my thigh, making me feel a warm and fuzzy feeling into my stomach. "My mom will be back in a few weeks. That means you can finally have peace." I joked. Xandra arched one of her eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked me. "Well I- you don't really seem to enjoy my company so I'm just saying." her face seemed to soften a little. "That's not true." she said. I looked at her before I moved my gaze back to my food, trying to hide my smile.

Later that day, after I finished most of my homework, I decided to go for a swim. I put on my swimsuit and I made my way downstairs. I noticed no one was there and I was a little confused, knowing that Xandra wasn't supposed to be working today. I looked after her but she was nowhere to be found. I went in the backyard and I saw her laying on a deck chair, wearing a swimsuit. Her skin was glowing under the sun's hot rays and she was smoking a cigarette.

As I opened the door, her head turned to me. Her brown eyes moved down to my body and back to my eyes. I sat on the edge of the pool and started to apply sunscreen.

I turned back to Xandra and she was already staring at me. "Uh.. Could you help me put some on my back?" I asked her nervously. She looked into my eyes and nodded. I got up and sat next to her on the deck chair. I handed her the bottle with cream and she started to slowly apply it on my back. I flinched at the cold solution making contact with my skin but then, I got used to it. My mind started to concentrate on Xandra's warm hands massaging my back. Her movements were slow and soft. It seemed like she didn't want to break me. I couldn't feel my legs anymore. I let out a gasp as her palms moved to my sides, massaging them too. As she finished, she handed me back the sunscreen and I looked into her dark eyes, thanking her.

I entered the cool water and let out a sigh. It felt nice and relaxing. I didn't know how to swim but I was enjoying sitting next to the edge. The whole time I could feel a pair of eyes all over me and I knew it was Xandra. Not gonna lie.. It was quite embaressing that I couldn't swim. I looked at Xandra and she had an evil smile on her face. "Why are you smiling?" I asked her. "Nothing." She answered shaking her head, her smile never leaving her face...