The Moth

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Days In Color// Colors

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Days In Color// Colors

Kait Rokowski — "Nothing ever ends poetically. It ends and we turn it into poetry. All that blood was never once beautiful. It was just red."

Súton: (n.) twilight. Dusk. The approach of death or the end of something. 

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He met me early that day. When I dragged myself out of bed, there were numerous messages on my phone. I sighed, opening them up and making a quick mental note to pay my cellphone bill. It couldn't be late like last month.

Hey. I just woke up. Sorry, give me a min. I'll be there in a couple hours.

I shoved my hair out of my face and grabbed a towel, heading off to take a quick shower. It was nine-thirty. If I wanted to make it there by noon, I'd have to be quick.

Twenty minutes later, I walked out in a towel, patting my dripping hair with a dry T-shirt when I couldn't find another towel. There were murmurs downstairs and I frowned. Dad was out. Or...should have been. So Aaron... was talking to someone else?

My heart rate picked up and I swung open my bedroom door, going to the staircase.

"And then the tiny dinosaur lived happily ever—"

Lyon's head jerked up and he blinked before looking away. "Hey."

My face burned. "Hi. Sorry, I'll be right back. I didn't know who'd come in."

"Yeah, Aaron let me in."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Aaron don't do that," I said, walking back to my room.

"But it's just Lyon."

"Still, Aaron. You don't open the door. Ever. Okay?" I called.

"Okay."

I locked my bedroom door and sighed, flopping on my bed as the towel loosened around my body. My muscles hurt and I wasn't in the mood to go anywhere. I inhaled the cool morning air, trying to calm the discomfort in my chest. I'd been through quite a bit. Even if I meet his girlfriend, or his friends hate me, I'd been through worse. I'd live.

I left my room wearing jeans and a T-shirt, my hair up in a loose ponytail. I tried. Kind of.

We dropped off Aaron at the neighbor's house to play and walked down to the pancake place.

"It's a pancake day," he shrugged.

The walk there was mostly filled with silence, punctuated with random small talk.

"Hey look at that."

He turned. "What?"
"That pretty red leaf." I snorted. "Oh wait, you can't see it."

He laughed. "Jerk."

I smiled lazily. No matter how long it had been, he easily fit back into the little space in my heart. Just his presence was soothing, and I pushed away the nagging feeling that this wouldn't last long. He wasn't mine to keep. But maybe for a few minutes, I could pretend he was.

When we arrived at the diner, we met up with Drew, Antoine, Anna and... and Shannon. Lyon's eyes lit up and he moved over to give her a peck on the cheek. I looked away, nodding at Anna and giving her a terse smile. She gave me a bright smile and a wink.

"Hey!"

"Hi."

My eyes connected with Drew's and he watched me carefully, his eyes flicking over to Lyon and then me. Lightning McQueen. I smiled. He didn't.