Till The End

Chapter 3.

Jake

I feel like today is going to be a long day. I just woke up, and my whole body is in pain. The house is totally quiet; they must all have left already. I was supposed to visit my mom this morning before heading to work for a full shift, but I have overslept and I only have an hour before my shift starts, so I will lie here a little longer, hoping that the headache will stop. I will visit her tomorrow morning instead.

Resting did not make anything any better. As soon as I stand up, I feel like my room is spinning and my head starts pounding, I have to hold onto the nightstand to steady myself. I must have stood up a little too fast. As I enter the living room, I am startled by the sound of a sudden, soft voice saying good morning. I turn my head to find Aelia sitting at her favorite reading spot with a book on her lap and a half-eaten chocolate bar in her hand. She didn't sleep over last night, so her mother must have dropped her off earlier today. I can't help myself from noticing how pretty she looks sitting here with her oversize tee and shorts, her curly hair in a messy bun, the morning sunlight reflecting on her face from the window next to her, highlighting her honey-colored eyes.

"Morning!" I reply.

She looks at me for a few seconds and frowns before saying, "You look horrible."

"I could never look horrible even if I tried, Nugget." I smirk at her, not taking offense at her comment. I can't hold back a grin when she rolls her eyes at me. I am the only person who can get these reactions from her, and I love that. She always hides how she feels from others, but she does not keep anything in when I exasperate her. I always knew she was more than the shy girl everyone thinks she is. She was diagnosed with selective mutism and social anxiety years ago, and most people who know about it only see this side of her, but she is way more than this. I realized that she is more comfortable talking about the things she likes and knows a lot about. I knew that she could overcome her fear. I wanted to help her without her knowing that I pay enough attention to her to know her likes and dislikes. The very first time she talked to me was to tell me how wrong I was, and the more I insisted on being right, the more she argued. It gave me the idea of always trying to piss her off by saying things like her favorite books sound boring or her favorite TV shows have no interesting plot. It would make her angry and she would prove me wrong. One time she even made a PowerPoint listing all the reasons why I was wrong about the best way to grow vegetables in the backyard. I was both pissed off and amazed, but in the end, we got beautiful lettuces and juicy tomatoes. I swear she would make a badass lawyer if she wanted to. We fight so much about these little things that she has grown to think that I'm a tasteless idiot, and I am pretty sure that she hates me, but who cares? As long as she is getting better at expressing herself...

I shower and get dressed for work, still feeling like someone is banging my head against a wall. My muscles are sore as if I just ran a marathon and did not stretch. On my way out, I find Aelia in the kitchen, holding two cups.

"Drink this," she says, putting one of the warm cups in my hand. She must have seen my confusion, because she adds, "It's green tea, lemon, and honey. It helps when you are sick. I heard you coughing your lungs out in there."

I eye her suspiciously, knowing that I am far from being her favorite person. "How do I know that you are not trying to poison me?"

"Drink the damn tea, Jake!" She rolls her eyes again. Twice in less than an hour, I'm getting better at this. Speaking of time, I'm going to be late if I don't leave right now. I finish the tasteless tea in two gulps before making my way to the door.

"Where are you going?" Aelia asks as she follows me.

"To work."

"No!"