Pretty Girls

CHAPTER 16

the calm

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

THE WAY THAT most people described mornings was a lie. As far as I could tell, there was none of that sappy fairytale-styled nonsense about waking up in the morning. No matter how radiantly the sun might shine or how heavenly the blue sky looked, all I wanted was to bury my head deeper into the pillow and throw a blanket over my head to block out the light.

Unfortunately, I did not have a say in the matter.

"Rise and shine, sunshine! We have a plane to catch today and if you don't get up soon, we're going to be late." Apollo's unmistakable sing-song voice pierced through the air as he tossed open the curtains, allowing the glaring sunlight to stream into the room like a thousand poisonous darts. The feeling of sunlight against my skin was not relishing even in the slightest-it was acidic.

"Go away," I muttered, voice evidently muffled by the pillow as I quickly turned my body around to face the other side, desperate to drift back to sleep.

I would have succeeded as well if it weren't for a sudden rush of cold air that swarmed around my legs, forcing my body to curl up in an attempt to preserve body heat. Shivering, my eyes shot wide open to glare at Apollo who had his fingers curled gleefully around my blanket, holding it high up in the air and away from the bed. He wiggled it slightly, taunting me with a smile on his face.

Groaning, I moved to lay flat on my back, holding the back of my hand against my forehead and eyes in an attempt to shield out the blinding sun.

"What happened last night? My head is killing me and I could barely even remember a single thing after we said goodbye to Opal," I whined.

When I was only greeted by silence, I sneaked a peek behind my fingers, straining my eyes to see what Apollo was doing. Instead of replying, he simply stood at the foot of the bed, eyes glazed and appearing realities away as his hands fell to his side.

"Apollo?" I tried again, calling out his name. That seemed to snap him out of his trance.

He looked up, staring blankly at me for a few seconds before he blinked his confusion away rapidly. Slowly, a familiar but half-hearted grin stretched across his lips before he gently placed the blanket back on the bed in his guest bedroom, scratching the back of his neck.

"We were at the New Year's Day countdown in Times Square. You fell asleep, remember? We had to turn back at the last minute because of how drunk you were after we left Josie's."

I frowned. There was something off about Apollo's story but I could not seem to be able to place my finger on it. Instead of arguing or prying further, I simply nodded once slowly, dipping my chin down towards the base of my neck before pursing my lips.

"Oh. I'm sorry we couldn't make it on time. It must have been beautiful. Maybe next year? We could even go ice skating after that."

"Nah." He waved it off nonchalantly, stepping towards the door. "We can always watch it online. Besides, next year is your year, remember? We will have someplace else to be."

Our gazes collided, eyes staring right through one another's soul as a silence drenched the room. Apollo cleared his throat once, forcing himself to look away as he rested a single hand on the silver handle of the door.

"Get ready. We'll leave in an hour."

Just like that, he stepped out of the room and shut the door behind him, leaving me in a ringing silence that felt too heavy of a weight on my heart. A single question kept repeating itself in my mind, the answer to it buried away deep in my memories and unable to resurface.