Into Aurora

Chapter 4

He tapped on the table again. First with his index, two taps, then his ring finger once, then his pinky once, back to the index, one tap again, then his middle finger twice and finally with his thumb once.

He did that. All the time, like a bad habit of biting your nails when you get nervous.

I nodded and smiled, as I chewed up these tiny white cubes, unable to swallow. It was hard to breathe, my pulse so loud it felt like my chest was about to be torn open. A wrecking ball swinging back and forth inside me, attempting to break open the bone cage that trapped it.

We're not friends.

Not friends.

Not friends.

My hands were clenched together, though I don't remember doing it.

"Hey," I started. No quiver. That's good. Maybe he won't notice my hands. "You've been cooking all these things for me, why don't I cook something for you for once?"

Peter laughed. "Will it be edible?" His teeth were very white, a blinding white, if teeth could ever be considered blinding.

I counted my way over to the kitchen door.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

It slid open gently. Shelves upon shelves of exotic ingredients and deluxe cooking machines ran along the sides of the room.

"Step on the button by the foot of the door, I don't think I could stand to watch such horrendous cooking!" he joked before disappearing, replaced with a screen of cloudy mirror. I could hear his smile.

My cooking was terrible.

But what I was about to do...

Was even worse.