Let Me Open Your Eyes

Chapter 8- Questions

{"It always comes back to you

                       boils, circles, itches its way back to you"}

"Do I look okay?"

My mother was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, nervously applying her lipstick, her hands shaking slightly. She was going out to see her friends and I imagine that she was dressing up to prove to them, or to herself, that she was okay. That nothing was wrong or had changed. Like her husband wasn't pretending to stay at the office every night because she didn't want to tell her daughter that she had kicked him out.

I nodded as she turned for my answer. She looked beautiful on the surface, but I knew that there were cracks underneath. It showed in how her hair was pin straight, almost crispy with how perfect she tried to make it. In how her lipstick was smudged slightly due to her shaky hands.

"I think that's them outside now" she bit her lip, checking the notification on her phone before putting the lipstick down. "Will you be okay on your own?"

I shrugged with a smile and yawned, stretching my arms out.

"Try and get a good night's sleep, sweetheart. I love you. I'll see you in the morning" she kissed my cheek before grabbing her purse and meeting her friends outside.

Despite feeling tired and my eyes stinging, my mind would not shut off that night and I found myself twisting and turning in bed until midnight, trying to get to sleep. I got up from my bed with a reluctant sigh and wrapped a dressing gown around my pyjamas, shivering from the cold air that my duvet was no longer protecting me from. I walked down the stairs softly, deciding to make myself a cup of tea to make me feel more sleepy.

A soft knock on the door made me jump slightly as I was stirring my tea.

"What the hell are you doing here? Are you stalking me now?" I sighed as I dragged a freezing Aspen Blue into my house, slamming the door.

"Well, hello to you too, Paisley" he joked. "I couldn't sleep."

"What am I supposed to do about that?" I snapped. "It's midnight. I was making a cup of tea to go to bed."

"Couldn't sleep either?" he looked up at me with those blue eyes almost as if he knew straight away that I was already awake.

"No" I grumbled. "My tea is ready, excuse me."

I walked back to the kitchen, sipping my tea to calm my nerves but jumped yet again in fright when Aspen helped himself into my home and sat next to me on the counter.

"Why can't you sleep then?" he asked, taking my tea out of my hands and taking a sip freely, ignoring my protests.

"My mind was racing. Can I have my tea back now?" I sighed and held a hand out.

His fingers brushed mine as he handed me the mug back and he looked like he was trying to stop himself from smiling. I pushed a hand through my hair, I was never going to be able to sleep now.

"I'm sorry for pushing you. I have learnt that it isn't the best way to deal with you" he said quietly and I nodded, sipping my tea. "So I wondered if we could play a game. Where I get to ask you questions. You can have three passes to questions that you don't want to answer but I hope you don't use them all. You can ask me anything you want as well."

This last sentence perked my interest, I really didn't know too much about Aspen Blue and part of me was interested to know more.

"Do you get three passes as well?" I tilted my head to the side.

"Sorry sunshine, but it has to be fair. I have to be allowed to pass some questions too" he grinned, like he knew how intrigued I was by him.

"So, who starts?