Hidden Under Perfection

Chapter 6: Doran

When I wake up that morning my arm is wrapped around something, I do not know what it is and panic envelopes me before I realize that it is Claire. Her back is pressed against my chest and her head rests on my arm. She smells like vanilla, I have no idea how but she does. The even rise and fall of her breath means that she is still fast asleep. I lift my arm off of her side and she stirs but doesn't open her eyes. I hook my arm under her knees and pick her up, my knees protesting with the extra weight. Her head nestles into my chest as I carry her back to her bed. I try to put her down as gently as I can, then I try to walk as silently as I can back to my moss mat. I lay my head down and listen as her breathing becomes even again.

I know that watching someone sleep is creepy but I cannot clear my mind. Her face is full, the pale color of her skin curving over bone like a sculpture, the color of her hair standing out against the ivory skin. The brilliant green eyes that hide behind those eyelids, so mesmerizing. Her light pink lips chapped and lush in a small smile. There is a little wrinkle in between her eyebrows as if something from her dream is worrying her. She is perfect; I think I might be falling in love.

Her voice appears in my mind, she is telling me about her nightmares, the name Liam comes up, I do not know if that is her brother or her friend. His name bounces around my head like a hover-ball. Then I remember that she has not seen her mother in five years, I want to know what happened but I also do not want to inflict more pain. Possibilities bounce around in my head; did she die? Did she move away? Did she get sick? What if she is in a coma? What if she is out here with us?

In front of me, Claire stirs. Those bright green eyes open and look at me. They look deep into my soul, looking for my darkest secret. A smile breaks on her face and her eyes light up, recognition on her face. Her voice is a whisper when she speaks, "good morning Doran."

"Good morning Claire." She reaches to her bag and pulls out a banana and a water bottle. She sets the bottle down gently, as if it would break if she were not careful. She grabs the banana by both ends and snaps it in half; she reaches towards me with the yellow fruit in hand. I reach for it and my hand brushes hers and a blush blooms across the back of my neck. I murmur my thanks and start to peel the skin off of the banana. Her voice is soft when she says, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For waking me up when I had nightmares, and for listening to me after." She pulls herself into a sitting position against the tree and looks at me.

"It was no big deal,"

"Maybe not to you but for me it means a lot. I miss my mom a lot and I miss my siblings too, even if it has only been two days."

"If I may ask, what happened to your mom?" I ask hesitantly, knowing that it is a touchy subject.

"Five years ago my brother, John, and I were looking at a journal he found in the library when my mom came out and took it away. I was confused at first then we overheard her talking to my dad. When I woke up in the morning she wasn't there. I went to school thinking she had gone to work early but when I came home I turned on the television and on the screen it said that my mom was missing and presumed dead." Her voice shakes and her breath catches, her eyes glaze over reminiscing in another time. She curls into herself and will not let me in.

"I'm sorry, that shouldn't happen to anyone."

"Yeah, can you please stop apologizing for things you didn't do?" she snaps.

"I'll try my best. Who is Liam?"

"What?"

"I know you heard what I said, but I'll repeat my self just in case, who is Liam?"
"How do you know his name?" She has a skeptical tone and her green eyes turn a shade of military green with distrust.