Halo of Light Around the Moon | Rilaya

5: Waxing Crescent

"And last but not least, this is my room," Lily states, as her and Ayla enter her bedroom. "What do you think?"

"It's big," Ayla answers, while she continues to look around Lily's room.

"Yeah, it can be kind of lonely sometimes. Especially when my parents have to work late."

Ayla doesn't respond to Lily's comment. Instead she stops to admire something on her dresser.

"That's an old toy I've had since I was born. Aunt Riley and Aunt Maya got it for me," Lily explains.

Ayla turns her head towards Lily. "Who are they?"

"Mrs. Matthews-Hart-Hunter's name is Maya and her wife's name is Riley."

"And they are your aunts?" Ayla asks, raising her eyebrows up.

"Well, not by blood, but I still see them as family. Here I can turn it on if you want me to," Lily says, grabbing the toy.

"It's a moon?"

"Yeah, it lights up and shows you the different phases of the moon. When I was little I would use it as a night light. I was scared of the dark, so I would keep it on the full moon all of the time."

"You can stop it?" Ayla asks, as she had been watching the moon switch through its different phases automatically.

"Yeah, just press the button on the side of the stand."

Ayla waits for the toy to cycle through the different phases, until it gets to the phase she likes and presses the button.

"That phase is called the waxing crescent." Lily states. "Why'd you stop it there?"

"It's the first phase that there was any light after the moon went completely dark," Ayla replies.

"Oh," Lily hums, as she watches Ayla smile at the toy moon. "You know that's the phase of the moon right now."

"Really?" Ayla asks turning towards Lily, her face instantly lighting up.

"Yep. If you look up into the sky tonight, that's what you'll see."

Ayla takes one last look at the toy before asking, "do you want me to turn it off?"

"No, you can keep it on. I don't think we've ever changed the batteries. They have lasted this long, I doubt they'll stop working anytime soon."

"Okay. So what do you want to do?"

"Well, we don't really know each other too well yet, so I thought we could just talk for awhile," Lily suggests.

"That sounds good with me," Ayla agrees and they both go over and plop theirselves down in a couple of bean bag chairs.

"So what have you liked most about New York?" Lily inquires.

"Probably becoming friends with you, Danny and Brandon."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean at first Danny kind of scared me, but he turned out to be pretty funny. And you are kind of like my first best friend."

"Wait," Lily interrupts. "Didn't you have friends back home?"

"Not really." Ayla answers.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lily says, worried that she offended Ayla.

"Don't worry, I had myself and that's all I needed then," Ayla smiles.

"So what do you think of Brandon?" Lily asks, trying to quickly change the subject.

"He's nice. Plus, he likes you so he must be a good guy."

Lily's eyes quickly widen. "What do you mean?"

"I think he has a crush on you," Ayla answers.

"Why do you think that?"

"Because he acts all nervous around you, but I could be wrong. Do you like him?"

"I-I don't know," Lily blushes. "I think I'm too young to start dating anyone yet. I don't even know what love is."

"I don't think anyone knows what love is. I just think it has a way of finding you."

[A couple of hours later.]

"So do you need to head home? My dad can give you a ride," Lily offers.

"Actually I was wondering if it would be okay if I spent the night here?" Ayla shyly asks.

"Of course," Lily happily replies. "Do you need to call your dad to make sure it's okay with him?"

"No, I don't think he'll notice."

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A/N: The moon.