Circles

1.

The crackling of a lit fire resonates through the room as the girl sits on the floor, patching up the foot of her companion. The fireplace is the only source of light at the moment, which makes it that much harder for the girl to see. He is not much older than her, but that doesn't mean he won't be more adventurous than her. That and the fact that he's allowed to be adventurous, a luxury she may never have. She adjusts her positions on the floor to better assess the wound on his leg that he'd picked up earlier that day. She sighs as she grows frustrated trying to dress the minor flesh wound.

"Ow. You're pulling too hard," the young man grumbles. She is fully aware she is pulling too hard, but this is the only way she can get the bandage to stretch around his ankle. It is at this exact point that she wishes she could call her mother or father from their room to help her. But she knows she can't. If she does, both she and her friend will get in trouble, and he will suffer the most consequences. She knows she shouldn't have brought him here in the first place—knowing that having a male at the house may taint her reputation and availability—and the fact that she has and hasn't gotten caught yet baffles her, yet she doesn't complain.

"I know Kai, I'm sorry." She bites back any comments she had and finishes up her patch job. She inspects it once, raises her body off the ground and hovers over him, still inspecting it. "I'm done now. How is it?"

Kai touches the newly bandaged spot with the curiosity and gentleness of a newborn kitten. He smiles up at her, and thanks her quietly so as not to wake her parents in the upstairs room. She quells a twinge of pride that threatens to rise in her, and moves a strand of her hair from her face.

"You should leave now, your brother will get suspicious." She warns him, but Kai couldn't care less. He gets off the chair and hugs her, the wide smile still on his face.

"Thank you so much for always worrying about me, Lilly." She can't help but return the hug. He was right after all. She worried about him so much, it almost became a pastime for her. He's one of the only true friends she knows she has, one of the only ones always there for her, not to mention the only one that listens. She wishes she could invite him to stay with her, maybe watch a movie with her. However, she knows she can't, she knows her parents would never accept this. But that won't stop her from dreaming about it.

"Don't worry about it Kai, you really should get home." She pulls away from the hug and looks down as she says these words, knowing she probably says it like he's overstayed his welcome. He knows better than that though. He knows what she means when she says those words. He knows that either of her parents can enter the room at any time and catch them. She begins to stutter and mumble out words in an attempt to clarify what she meant. He chuckles and releases her from the hug.

"It's ok. I know what you mean." He smiles as he walks toward the door with Lilly on his heels. As they go farther from the fireplace in the room, their colors begin to dim. Kai's cinnamon brown hair now resembles his older brother's dark brown hair rather than his own, and his light beige skin strangely seems to glow just a bit as they distance themselves even more from the light of the hearth. He bends down in front of the doorway to put on the shoes he abandoned in order to walk around the carpeted room. Lilly can't help but feel as though it's her fault that he has to go. As he opens the door handle to exit, Lilly grabs his hand over the handle to prevent him from turning it as she glances at the digital clock on the wall.

"It's late, it's e-eleven o'clock. It's not safe to walk outside at this time. Maybe you can s-stay?" Lilly can feel her heart pounding as she says these words. She knows that she really shouldn't be offering something if she can't follow through with it, and that she sounds too indecisive for her own good, but she can't let him go just like that. He looks her deep in the eyes, and grins once again.

"I'll be fine, I promise. We have class tomorrow anyways, I really should be getting home. I'll call you when I get there." He reassures her. She releases her grip on his hand to allow him access to the door. He waves goodbye to her as he exits the house closing the door behind him.

She locks the now shut door behind him. She walks back to the fireplace and uses a small shovel to separate the logs and slowly put out the fire. This process took her about fifteen minutes before she was completely sure the fire was out. As she sits there in dark, the realization hits her.

She's alone again. Glancing once more at the clock, she notices the time gets dangerously close to twelve in the morning. Lilly gets up and dusts her hands on her skirt. She tiptoes up the stairs as not to wake her parents. She was supposed to be in bed by ten, if she's found out, she will be scolded. At this moment, a scolding was something she decides she was better off without. She hurries to the bathroom to wash her and brush her teeth. She looks at the mirror once more before she leaves, and looks away in antipathy. She doesn't know why she hates the sight of herself, especially when she's the only one who been there her entire life. Lilly enters her bedroom dark bedroom, the only light in the room pours through parts and spaces in the curtains. She changes into her pajamas and lays in her bed. Although she's aware she won't be sleeping anytime soon. She lays staring at random objects in the room, illuminated by the blue light invited in by the old curtains. Her train of thought breaks as her phone begins to vibrate furiously. Lilly immediately picks up the phone after realizing who is on the other end.

"Hello?" She questions in a whisper, hoping Kai still hear her muted voice.

"Hey Lilly! I'm home now, ok? You can go to sleep now." He jokes from behind the phone, not even knowing the depth and truth behind his words. However, he does know that she probably wouldn't be going to sleep anytime soon anyways.

"Are you busy?" Lilly asks, her voice shaking as she does so.

"Um not really, do you need help with something?" The caring tone in his voice makes her feel as though she would always be safe with him. But she's already asked that question, she can't just say never mind anymore.

"Can you talk to me? I mean, to help me fall asleep," she lies. She won't be able to fall asleep while he's talking. As soothing as his voice sounds to her, or as boring as the topic may be, she won't be able to bring herself to drift to sleep.

"Yeah sure! I don't mind," he knows she's lying, that the only reason she wants him to talk to her is so she doesn't feel lonely. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Are you ready for the test tomorrow?" she pulls a random topic from the top of her head. A good topic at least, since he begins to ramble on about it. She smiles to herself as she realizes how much trouble he goes through for her. This is already the third time she's kept him awake past twelve on the phone this week. It may not mean much to anyone else, but she knows that Kai loves his rest, so just the fact that he would give it up for her means so much more than anyone would ever know.