Under the Shadow of the Moon

Chapter 20

Luna was sitting on Trae's shoulders in the deeper end of the water away from the crowd. She was looking out at everyone who had come to celebrate her birthday. The rest basketball team was there, hitting on the cheerleaders that had shown up. Most of the people there were less friends and more acquaintances, Luna realized. And most of those who weren't were Lloyd's friends. Lloyd was the social one of the two, she knew, and she was the quiet one. Eve was there too, sitting with the group of cheerleaders at the edge of the water, her cheer bow still in her hair. Harper was there too, something Luna still couldn't believe, catching up with Colin and Razaia and trying to get to know Lily at the same time. And Trae, with his dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes, holding her up.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked, snapping her out of her reverie.

You, she wanted to say, but bit it back. "How lucky I am," she said instead.

He hummed, tossing her over his shoulder. She squealed as she hit the water, wrapping her arms around his neck as he lifted her before she could go under. She giggled as he held her against his chest, poking her in the ribs before dropping her. She laughed as he stopped her from going under again, steadying her on her feet. The top of her head just barely reached his chin, and he had to bend his knees to look her in the eyes.

She looked up at his face, his smile as wide as that of the Cheshire cat, quirking up more on the left side than the right. His freckles glowed against his skin under the grey moonlight and his eyes were big and green. The ring of brown blended with his pupil and the flecks of gold stood out against the green. She could stare at his eyes forever and never get tired of them. After a while she had stopped seeing the difference the modification had made to them, making them glossy and dulling the color. The pupil was much larger than it used to be, but she focused on the color rather than the change.

He touched her nose with the tip of his finger, snapping her back to reality. "Sorry," she turned away from him, her cheeks glowing.

"Hey," he gently curled his fingers around her hand, tugging her back in his direction. "What's wrong?" His smile dropped slightly, his eyebrows scrunching into a concerned expression.

"It's nothing," she said with a strained smile. "I'm just imagining how much better this would be under actual sunlight, not this bipolar moon."

Trae hummed in acknowledgment. "True..." he paused. "You look beautiful in any lighting."

Luna blushed, looked away from him. "Th-thanks."

His smile widened.

For a moment it seemed that no one moved. That time had stopped around everyone, everyone except for the girl that had shown up late. No one gave her more than a fleeting look, but Lloyd's eyes darkened and his smile dropped entirely.

Trae put an arm around Luna as if to shield her, keeping her behind him.

Lloyd hopped out of the water, walking up to Sylvia. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I uh," Sylvia was fidgeting with her hands trying not to meet his eyes.

Luna pushed past Trae, scampering up the stone and over to them. "Lloyd! Lloyd, relax, you know I invited her, relax." She pushed him back, sighing at his perplexed and angry expression.

"I was hoping that was a joke."

"Why would it be? She apologized and I thought this would be a good way for us to reconcile."

"Oh, she apologized. That's great!" His tone dripped sarcasm. "Now we can just forget everything else that happened and be friends!" His fake smile dropped into a glare. "I'm glad we talked about this before you invited her to our party."