Always

eleven

KYLER

Slamming the textbook shut with enough force to rattle my lamp, I dropped my head into my hands, breathing deeply. With each passing second, the words jumbled up further until nothing made sense. My eyes burned after a restless night and my head throbbed with an ever-growing ache.

I needed a goddamn break.

Just as I was about to lay down and just try to sleep for the rest of the afternoon, the loud blaring of my cellphone echoed throughout the room. I blew out a break, massaging my temples as I waited for it to stop. After a few rings, it went silent and I thankfully basked in that moment.

It rang again.

"What?" With my tired rasp, it sounded more or less like a bark.

"Um..." A familiar voice spoke on the other side. My eyes widened and I pulled the phone away from my ear, silently cursing myself as I glanced at the name on the screen.

"Sorry, Luna. Piss mood." I murmured, leaning back in my desk chair.

I heard her laugh. "It's okay." She paused for a beat. "You good?"

I couldn't help but feel warmth spread in my chest at that. "Yeah. Just trying to get some studying done for a test."

"I can help." She hurriedly added. "If you want."

The grin that split my face was absolutely ridiculous. "Yeah?" She hummed in response. "I think I'd like that." I glanced over at the clock. It was just four in the evening. "Do you want to hang out?"

"Yeah, actually. That's why I called you." My grin widened and I straightened.

"We have this report for Geography class where I'm going to have to pick out a spot in the city to write about and I don't want to run around New York alone. Do you want to, maybe, come along?" Her voice was soft and almost hesitant. "We could get food afterwards

I was already getting up and heading to my closet. "Just you and me?"

"Just you and me."

Something squeezed at my chest. "I'll see you in fifteen."

***

By the time I was ready and out of the house, I found Luna already standing on her porch, her head bowed as she stared at her front screen. I halted, my eyes zeroing on the black cropped sweater she had on over one of those lacy white corset tops I had seen Sam gush over just the other day. Her hair curtained her face. My hands itched to touch them.

"Hey you." I breathed as soon as I was close enough. She looked up, recognition flooding her face as her eyes found me. Her lips quirked up.

"Hey." She pocketed her phone, walking closer. "Thanks for coming along."

I smiled. She had no idea how desperately I had been finding chances to hang out with her. "Anytime." And before I could overthink it, I reached out and pulled a strand from behind her ear. Her eyes widened for a millisecond but she was quick to compose herself. "So, where are we heading first?"

She shrugged, grabbing my arm and pulling me along as she began walking away from our neighbourhood and into the busier areas of the city. "You know the city better than I do. So," She tipped her head up to look at me, "lead the way."

With her free hand that wasn't wrapped around my arm, she tried to open her purse, pulling out a thin notebook. Her eyes were trained on it as she flipped through the pages and I had to make sure to steer her left and right to avoid bumping into random pedestrians.