𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎

chapter ten

Connor ascended the stairs that led up to Roxy's apartment complex, drew in a deep breath and pressed the buzzer.

The red brick entrance towered above him. For a moment, Connor felt incredibly small. He found solitude in examining the crevices in the wall, distracting himself with its infinitely minuscule details.

He knew that the sleepover would be more than enjoyable. But either way, he was filled with nervous excitement. He was also sure to be interrogated about Jamie.

After a period of time that seemed to last an eternity, Roxy's grainy voice spoke to him.

"Come in!"

Then, there was a constant, light ringing followed by a satisfying click. Connor pushed against the door and it swung forward.

When Roxy opened her apartment door, an almost identical version of herself, wearing pigtails, stormed out into the corridor and launched itself into Connor. He, stumbled, laughing as he wrapped his arms around Keira, Roxy's younger sister.

"Hi Connor!" she squealed, her wide smile allowing honey-like laughter to billow out and resonate throughout the hall.

Despite being in high school, Keira adored Connor no less than she had for the last five years.

"I love your pigtails!" Connor said, toying with them.

"Roxy did them for me," she said, beaming.

"Okay, enough's enough, you two. Come inside."

Connor took his shoes off and followed Roxy into her living room. The TV was blaring vivid colours, the low, ambient ceiling lights accentuating the biege of the walls.

"Mum and Dad left for the night, so it's just us taking care of Keira," Roxy continued, leading Connor to the bedroom the four of them would be sleeping in. "She'll just be watching TV until she wants to go to bed."

Lily appeared in the doorway, her dark hair loose around her shoulders.

"Hey," she said, adjusting her collar. She had on a pair of baby pink Peter Alexander pyjamas, patterned with images of vibrant peacocks.

Connor hugged her from the side as he found an empty space in the relatively small room to put down his bag. It had been intricately decorated with an assortment of dim, gold-coloured fairy lights that hung around the walls. It looked like all the pillows in the house had been stacked along one side of the room, accompanying an immense variety of thick, warm, multicoloured blankets and covers. The blinds were, for the most part, closed, only letting in a sliver of the light from the magenta horizon. A bunk bed, a small desk, a wardrobe as well as two mattresses filled the remainder of the room.

"You went all out," Connor remarked.

"I helped!" Keira said.

"She scoured the house for all the blankets we had and dropped them in here," Roxy said.

"And some pillows."

"And a few pillows," Roxy confirmed, smiling, after which Keira satisfactorily traipsed back to the living room.

Lily collapsed onto a mattress.

"Also, I've got some drinks almost ready in the kitchen, if we want to have them now."

"Don't tell me we're about to have Roxy's signature caramel hot chocolate," Lily said, her voice quavering.

Roxy nodded.

"With marshmallows on top?" Connor added hopefully.

"Yes."

"Debra can wait," Lily laughed immediately, hauling herself off her feet. "I need a fix of your hot chocolate."