Escaping Our Names

Reflecting Smiles

Lila hummed as she put on her makeup in the mirror. The noise was so lovely and filled with so much happiness. Larken listened to her and smiled as he shampooed his hair in the shower. He was using Lila's strawberry soap, but he didn't mind. He liked the smell. Lila's humming turned into singing. She had the most beautiful voice that Larken had ever heard. The song had a dark feeling to it, but it was so mesmerizing. Larken couldn't help the feeling he had inside his chest. It was like a giant flower was unfurling and blossoming into something so great and indescribable. He was hopelessly in love, and he wondered if Lila felt the same way. Larken rinsed the soap out from his eyes and snuck a peek at his girlfriend. She was turned away from him, looking for something in a bag on the messy countertop full of useless goop. She tuck her long hair behind her left ear, but it kept falling in front of her face. A line appeared between her eyebrows as she grew frustrated with it. Looking closer at her, Larken wondered if she lost weight. He didn't mind, but he felt concerned. The thought quickly left as quickly as it appeared. Lila found what she was looking for and began to brush her eyelashes with black stuff. She continued to sing as she swung her hips back and forth to the melody of her own voice. Larken couldn't take it anymore, he needed her.

Lila wasn't paying attention as the sound of the water running started to hit the tub instead of skin. She yelped as a wet arm encircled her waist and pulled her backwards. She dropped her mascara and turned around to face Larken.

"What are you doing?" she half screamed at him. The naked teenage boy in front of her just smiled wildly as he pulled her towards the shower.

"No. No. No!"

"Come on Lil! Live a little!"

"No! I just did my makeup! " Larken paused right in front of the curtain.

"You don't need it. I like it when your face does that thing where your cheeks turn pink and your eyes are wild and you look straight at me and give me a smile that's just for me." Lila blushed and looked at him. In a few seconds, she began to smile. He smiled back.

"See." He leaned down and kissed her mouth. She pulled back wiping her face.

"You got me all wet, Larken," she said.

"Don't I always," he smirked and picked her up and stepped in the shower. Lila started screaming and he started laughing. The noise of their joy traveled down stairs and throughout the house. Lila's parents looked at each other across the kitchen as they cooked. Lila's mother smiled.

"I don't know if I like him," her father said.

"Phil, they're in love. Let them stay in it while it lasts." Tabi looked back down at the food," Cause God knows when it will end."

The doorbell rang at two, and three aunts came in, one husband, and five kids. The noise of background chatter erupted suddenly and Lila heard it from her room. She was in a pair of light colored skinny jeans and an oversized gray T-shirt with her hair long and wet, and a makeup-less face. She was laying down on her made bed with a silent smile plastered on her face. The bathroom door suddenly opened and she looked up at Larken who was wearing his old dark jeans and a flannel that used to be Lila's dads in the early 90's. His hair looked darker wet, Lila noticed. He looked like a dark prince in the fairy tales Lila used to read as kid.

"Wanna go down stairs? I heard company," he said looking down at her spread across the bed. She looked bliss filled, and actually, kind of high. She felt high too.

"Yeah, but they might notice that our hair is wet," she said slowly sitting up.

"So what, everyone takes showers." Larken moved to the end of the bed to help her up. Lila winced.