Where the Skies are Blue

Chapter Seven:

Unable to sleep, I push my covers off me and move over to my bedroom door, where I attempt to quietly turn the knob without making a sound. Once I have the door open, I slip out, and run straight into a brick wall, which knocks me back against my door.

Instantly, my heart thuds. My eyes dart up to see Henry standing there. He looks surprised too. He goes to reach for me, but I swat his hand away quickly. My hands are shaking. "What are you doing?" I hiss at him and take a step into my room, hand on my door, ready to slam it in his face.

"I'm sorry—"

"Why are you standing outside my door? What do you want?"

His eyes widen. "Auden," he whispers, like he's trying to not wake Katherine up. Was he going to try to come into my room? What is he doing out here? I knew it. He's secretly a pervert. He's just like all the other boyfriends. "I was on my way downstairs to grab something to eat. I couldn't sleep." He looks at me carefully. "I'm sorry, I wasn't standing outside your door."

I narrow my eyes at him. Bullshit. My hand grips the door tightly.

"Auden." He repeats and puts both his hands up, claiming a cease fire. "Really. Look, I won't even go downstairs anymore. I'll go back to my room, okay? I didn't mean to scare you." He backs away from me, keeping his hands in the air, then turns and goes down the hall towards his room.

I stand there until I hear his door shut, then release a heavy breath. My heart still racing in my chest. I quickly shut my bedroom door, lock it, and move over to my window seat, where I press my knees against the cold glass. Maybe I can't escape everything here. Maybe some of my problems followed me.

***

The following morning, I feel Henry's eyes on me. Yet I refuse to look at him, refuse to acknowledge him. Katherine hasn't come down this morning yet. I stir my spoon around in my soggy bowl of cereal that I have no desire to eat.

Henry quietly sips at his coffee. He's opened the kitchen window, allowing the sunlight to pool in and the sound of the birds to fill the space in the kitchen. The waves dance along the shore. It's so peaceful. I feel the warm sun on my skin.

"Auden," he then says slowly. My jaw ticks. "Did you think I was going to do something last night?"

I push my bowl away from me and continue to stare down at the counter. I'm embarrassed but also upset. At myself, at Katherine, at Henry, at everyone. My reaction last night was justified. I've been hurt enough in my life. I have every reason to be weary of the men my mom attracts. "I don't know anything about you. I don't know why you invited us here, or what your intentions are, so yeah, I thought you were going to come into my room or something."
I hear him exhale. "Auden, did something happen? Did your father hurt you?"

This makes me look at him. "I already told you, I've never met him. This has nothing to do with him. It's about you. Why are we here? Who invites two complete strangers to their house?"

He places his mug on the counter before folding his arms across his chest, his face soft as he looks at me. "It's no question that I'm lonely. My wife and I divorced years ago, but we were separated long before that. We had nothing in common anymore. We hardly talked. We rarely saw one another. She would take long trips to visit her sister, and then one day, she just didn't come back. I received divorce papers, and that was that. No children. No other family, as all mine are gone. My wife was the outgoing one, the one who was good at making friends. So, when she left, I never felt more alone. Then, I met your mother on some app, which I originally downloaded out of desperation, not taking it seriously. But we got to talking, and it was nice to have somebody." He shrugs lazily.

"The more we talked, the more I got to know her, and eventually she opened up about needing to get away from your town. She said you guys were struggling and had no place to go, and I have this big house all to myself, and I thought, why the hell not? And I apologize, Auden. I know as a teen it's hard to just up and move like that. I wasn't thinking about that when I offered. I just knew you guys needed some help, and I wanted to help. I have no ulterior motives. I have no expectations. And above all, I would never, ever hurt you, Auden. I'll never make you feel uncomfortable, and I'm genuinely sorry if I made you feel that way last night. I won't leave my room at night if that makes you feel better. Believe it or not, your mother makes me happy, and it's been so nice having you two here."

I'm frozen. Unsure of what to say. His words seem genuine. Surprisingly, Henry seems genuine. Like, maybe he is different. Maybe he's not a monster in disguise. Is he actually one of the good ones? Does he mean what he says? Something in me tells me to believe him. I hope I don't regret it. Now I'm wondering if Henry is too good for Katherine. He seems kind, and nothing like a pervert. He's just lonely and sad.

Before I can respond, Katherine comes into the room, immediately tossing herself on Henry, smothering him in kisses. "Morning baby." She says to him, with half her mouth still on his.

I want to vomit.

She looks at me, frowns with disgust. "Plans with your boyfriend today?"

"I have work." I grumble, then stand from my chair and rinse my dish off to place in the washer.

"Great, we have the house to ourselves today." She says to Henry before lathering her mouth on his once more.

That's my cue to get the hell out of here.

I hurry up to my room where I start to get myself ready for my first day. After showering and pulling my brown hair into a bun, I apply some light makeup before slipping into my baggy jeans and a cropped black tank top that reaches just below my belly button.

I'm looking forward to my first day. To be amongst all those books. Getting to know Maggie, who seems like a kind soul.

My mind keeps replaying Henry's words over and over again as I make my way out of the house, trying really hard to ignore the sex noises coming from the living room and outside, where I begin walking towards town. It's horribly hot today. The first thing I need to save up for is a car. Something cheap and used that'll get me to work and school.

In Arizona, it would get so hot in the summer that people would post videos of themselves cracking an egg on the sidewalk and watching it fry. Cars melt, the road turns to goop, anything you leave in the car during the day explodes or disintegrates. Arizona is one big black hole, with a few pretty spots up north, all of which I never got the chance to see. I never saw anything outside of my town. It was the same thing every day. Like I was stuck in Groundhog Day.

Now, I've broken out of the never-ending time loop. I see things starting to look up. New clothes, full stomach, nice house, a guy who seems to actually be interested in me, and Henry who has shocked me today with his words. Am I capable of having all these things? Is it actually possible? Did Katherine actually make a smart decision in her life?

Except, I don't want to give her credit for all this. She doesn't deserve that. This decision came from her selfish motives. Now she's going to feed off Henry and this town. A life sucking leech.