Promise & Me

Chapter 3

Daddy's blue eyes resembled the storm clouds that hung in the sky. Unlike their normally bright color, they were gray and murky looking. The clouds held back their rain, just like daddy held back his tears as he gave me one last hug.

"I love you, Aidan," His strong arms wrapped tightly around my thin body, and I returned the gesture. "Be careful."

"I love you too," My voice came out in a soft whisper, and I refused to let my tears fall. He slowly let go of the embrace and took a step back, before he ruffled my hair and caused me to pout. A forced smile played at the corner of his lip, and I returned it.

"Don't forget about your momma," My mother's voice came from behind me, and I turned to face her. Unlike daddy, momma had tears trailing down her cheeks, causing her almost perfect makeup run.

"Never," My arms immediately wrapped around her, and I pulled her close. Her tears were cold as they fell onto my bare shoulder, but I refused to pull back from my mother's comforting embrace. We stood like that for what felt like an eternity, until daddy broke the silence.

"We better get going," He cleared his throat, and I stepped back from the two of them. Momma wiped her eyes, smearing her makeup even more. I ran my thumb beneath my eye, showing her that she had a smudge.

Momma quickly fixed her mascara and straightened out her plaid shirt. "We love you," She smiled gently and took hold of daddy's hand.

"I love you too," The words came out hoarse, and I awkwardly cleared my throat. They gave me final nods, before turning around and walking out of my new room.I stared at the white door for what seemed like hours but was only minutes, before I took a deep breath and looked around the dorm.

The walls were a girly pink color that made me feel like throwing up on the white carpet. Two black framed beds were pushed up against the walls, and a circular mirror hung between them. Right below the mirror was a black nightstand that held a white frilly lamp and a remote for the flat screen. The TV sat across from the nightstand against the other wall on top of a large black dresser. Next to the bed closest to the entrance of the room was another door, which I assumed was a bathroom. Beside that was a large walk in closet.

My eyes wandered to the unmade bed that I had claimed earlier, and I frowned at all the suit cases I had piled on top of it. I ran a hand through my straightned hair and walked over to the bed closest to the open window. With a grunt, I lifted the heaviest of the cases and dropped it to the ground with a loud thud.

Some of the contents plummeted to the floor along with the luggage, and I reluctantly gathered my clothing in my arms. For some unknown reason, my movements became lazy as I slowly shoved clothes into the drawers closer to the bed I had claimed. I closed the dresser drawer and stood to my feet with my hands positioned on my hips. My eyes scanned over my things, and I groaned, knowing it would be at least half an hour of unpacking.

~

An hour had passed by the time I finished putting away my things. I could have had it done in a quicker amount of time, but I was just too lazy to bounce around and organize.

I grabbed a black hair tie from around my wrist and pulled my hair back into a messy bun, before I plopped back onto the sky blue sheets on my bed. My eyes slowly closed to find colorful stars beneath my lids, and I squinted harder to keep the sunlight from drifting in.

A vibration came from my back pocket, and I jumped in surprise. My eyes widened in shock, before I realized that it was only my phone. Reaching into the back pocket of my shorts, I pulled out my iPhone.

*Check on Promise*

I closed the reminder on my phone and shoved in back into my pocket. All fatigue seemed to vanish, as I jumped to my feet and bounded out of the door. After making sure I had my silver room key, I locked the door and walked down the crowded corridor.