Alvarez

Sixteen

There's a universe inside your head, constellations of things you left unsaid. - Lauren Aquilina.

Mia
It was a strange few days. As promised, Christian texted me every hour on the hour, calling a couple times as well. He was relentless. It was very irritating, but I appreciated his concern. It felt nice. He told me the house was almost ready for him to move in.

I hated being here. I would've gone anywhere. I appreciated the fact that he was letting me live with him, but I wouldn't just go ahead with it. I had a plan, and these last few days gave me plenty of time to cook it up.

Graduation is in a month. I intended on going with Tony but he hasn't returned from DC as yet. Whilst all my work was submitted and ready, I didn't get a chance to ask if I could go out and get a job. I put my work on hold when Oscar asked for my hand, and he didn't seem to care if I was raped in his presence, much less whether I studied or not.

Now, everything hung in the balance. My degree is in education, senior and university phase teaching. My major was English, and I was one of the top students at my online university. Surprisingly enough, even an online university had an in-person graduation.

I did this for my mother. She was a school teacher when she was my age. I'm only 22, and the course was 3 years long, but my mother taught 5 to 7 year old kids. She loved children, as do I but I don't find that kind of teaching mentally stimulating. I like a challenge, and most of all, I love dissecting literature. It's one of my greatest hobbies. When I leave this house, I will be sure to take all my novels with me.

I already had a graduation outfit planned, and I was really excited about it. Now, I had to ask Christian. I had to ask for his thoughts on a school or university. I wanted him to be there at my graduation. I don't know what it is, but over the past few weeks, he grew on me. I was too used to him for my own good.

A full month has passed since Oscar's death. Meaning I have known Christian for a month now. This week I had a strange feeling he wasn't telling me something. Something was on his mind. I'd dig it out of him. Over our unnecessary phone calls, I gave him a glimpse of my attitude now and again. He called me on Monday, asked me to box up my necessities to take to the new house. He never came by this week and I figured he was very busy. But he still had time to call.

It was nearly 6pm, he said he'd be here for me at 6 sharp. He's always punctual, and the gate whirred open. This time, a white Range Rover with no license plate entered the yard. I could see his face and inked fingers gripping the wheel through my bedroom window. He got off the car, in a black leather jacket, jeans and a white shirt. He looked like a model, I swear I've seen this before.

I felt butterflies. They escaped the cage I'd put them in, and occasionally came out when I heard him chuckle or speak to me in a tired voice over the phone. I fought back a smile. It wasn't just the safety and comfort I felt around him that had me giddy. It was him.

I heard the front door creak open and he called out my name like he owned this place. "I'm up here, in my room." I said, and Albert peeked his head inside. "I'm scared." he said, softly as I heard Christian's coming up the steps. I chuckled.

"it's fine, Al. He's helping me. Remember?" I told him. We had a lengthy conversation about how Christian and I would get "married", and if I get assigned a new guard he would never replace him. He decided to resign. His wife lives in Florida and I'd wired him some extra money I had saved, even though he swore he didn't need it.

"Mia. Everything alright?" Christian asked, and I flashed him a smile. The moment his eyes met mine it was as if something changed in his expression, like he eased. I think Christian's eyes were my favourite part of his face. I could tell Albert was looking between the both of us like this was some form of witchcraft. He looked around my room that was quite bare, my succulents and plants all over the place. The hardwood floors were covered in white rugs and my bed was near the entrance. I didn't pack up everything, just some clothes and essentials. All my books were in a separate box, and I needed to organize them when I moved in with Christian.