Annalise

Normalcy

I pulled my blanket over my head and ignored the chime of my phone. The bright white of my walls and the sun piercing every square footage of my room was enough to make me want to hide. As soon as I'd hit silence, it was ringing again. I rolled my eyes knowing it was Cristian and that he wouldn't give until I answered. That if I didn't answer, he would come inside and drag me out.

"What're you doing?"

His voice was relaxed but I couldn't match his tone and answered with annoyance. "What do you want, Cristian?"

"Let's get ice cream."

I could hear the rumbling of his truck outside my window but tried my luck anyway. "It's too early."

"It's twelve Anna. Get dressed, I'm outside."

The line disconnected, and I groaned getting out of bed. I washed my face hoping to diminish the red pillow welts on my pale skin but wished I hadn't. It now looked like I had a bad sunburn with misplaced tan-lines. I released my curls from the pony and allowed them to frame my face to hide the imperfections until they cleared. I threw on my skippers and sleeping sweats out of laziness and jumped through the window.

He was waiting outside with boredom on his face and his phone in hand as he typed away on the keypad. As I crossed the grass, he shoved it into his pocket and smiled. People who didn't know him would tremble at his stature, assuming he was an alpha.

I knew his looks were deceiving, and he acted nothing like those douche-bags. He always smiled a smile that was as bright as his eyes and had a mood as light as air.

"You look nice," he lied. "Did you at least get the drool off your mouth?"

I rolled my eyes at him, jumped into the truck, and folded my arms. He walked to his side and slid in with ease before handing me a coke. "Going back to your wild days, huh?"

He continued to joke as he placed his hand in my hair and ruffled it. I slapped his hand away and threw my feet on the dash to annoy him. He loved his brand new 87 Silverado, although it wasn't so new, and I knew this was payback enough.

"Why must you bother me so early in the morning? Do I not suffer enough being your friend?"

"I told you it's twelve." He leaned over to place my feet on the floor and snap my belt.

"Yeah but it's the weekend, so technically it's still morning," I slid my hair off my back and rolled down the window as Cristian snapped his belt and pulled off. The May heat in North Carolina was unforgiving, and I cursed myself for wearing the sweats.

As we drove down the road, I let the wind fly through my fingers, as Cristian sung along with the radio and sipped his soda. We pulled into Billy Ray's burger shack and searched for a spot to park amongst the many cars and dirt bikes. Ray's sat at the edge of our land right above the bank of the lake and away from the parents. It was a perfect getaway, the only place for us to hang out without having to drive an hour into the city If our parents even allowed it.

The white paint was chipping, and the jukebox was older than all of us, but it was our spot. The music was always loud, and the voices filled the place with overlapping noise, but the food was good. And the adults left us alone when we were here.

"Two cones please," Cristian said to the cashier as he handed her a five. They were only a buck fifty, but he always left her a tip. She ignored me as she flirted with him and begged for a date. When he'd promised her that date she left to get the desserts and Cristian turned to me, "What are you doing tonight?"

"I don't know," I answered, nonchalantly scanning the room.

"You wanna go out? Maybe sneak into the city?"