Burned Pieces

Her Name

The street lights were the only light leading her towards the door; she barely knew him, and for some reason she didn't care. She knocked again, harder this time, and at last he opened. In the matter of seconds he went from almost yawning to widening his eyes, looking confused at her.

- "What are you doing here? He asked, looking as if she had just woken him up, which she probably had.

- "Can I come in?"

They were outside in the yard, sitting on the ground while leaning onto some chairs. It was still warm, and she could feel the wind blowing softly.

- "What happened to your hand?"

Even though she hadn't bothered to hide it he had noticed it before her parents. They had been too busy lecturing her to even see what was happening right in front of their eyes.

- "I cut myself."

He looked at her, and she realized her mistake.

- "Not on purpose. But that's not why I am here."

After blasting out everything that had happened the last few days, she grew silent and wondered once more why she was burdening him with this information.

- "I did the right thing by lying to them to protect him", she said, more to ensure herself than him. The uncertainty in her voice was enough to even make her doubt herself.

- "You did what you thought was right."

- "It was right", She turned over to look at him, trying to sound confident in her answer.

- "So why do you worry then?", he asked, looking at her with eyes that could cut through anything.

So why did she worry? She leaned back onto the chair, looking up into the night sky. The question had bothered her even before he said it out loud. As if she feared her own answer, she closed her eyes.

- "Because what if it wasn't?"

Returning to silence, they looked up at the starry night sky in search of answers it wasn't able to give them.

- "Can I stay the night?"

Despite having nowhere to go, she sounded unusually calm. She wouldn't be able to crash at a friend's place since they would realize that something was seriously wrong and she wouldn't have the strength to keep pretending any longer.

- "What?"

She didn't want to meet his gaze.

- "I was kicked out."

She never imagined her own parents kicking her out. Especially not for anything like this.

- "How?", He gave her a startled expression. She probably didn't come across as someone who usually gets thrown out.

She finally worked up the confidence to look at him, turning her head slightly and begging him wordlessly. His expression of surprise changed to laughter. It was the first time she had seen him laugh, and unwillingly she couldn't resist smiling.

- "Oh my god", he said, tracing his fingertips over his eyes, not believing he was going to let a girl he didn't know stay the night. "May I at least know your name?"

In her tired and drained mind the question sounded almost sweet. As if he cared about her. Or at least cared enough to ask her.

- "Valerie Green, but most people call me Val. And you?"

- "Corey Sterling. Most people call me Corey."

As if they had never met before, he extended his hand, in a playful gesture. Giving him a amused smile she took it, before letting go and enjoying the last parts of the evening.

He opened the door to the guest bedroom and flipped the switch. It was a typical bedroom with a bed and a desk turned towards one of the walls. She could probably go home, but she didn't want to be the one crawling back. While he stood in the doorway, she walked in slowly, as if inspecting the room. He was just about to leave when she turned around and stopped him.

- "Thank you for letting me stay", He stopped walking and turned around. She could almost see a hidden smile on his lips.

- "Goodnight Val", and with that, he closed the door behind him.