STARGIRL

55. Weakened

    Arabella wish she hadn't woken up, but she lay there with the reality of her life once again weighing down on her chest. It was crushing her lungs as the days went by, and it was making it difficult for her to continue breathing.

Yet when she realized that she was safely enveloped in her sad boy's tight embrace, she could feel her body becoming numb with warmth, and the feel of flowers beginning to bloom from the cracked openings of her fragile rib cage.

She smiled as she examined the smallest imperfections on his otherwise, in her own opinion, flawless face. It was the little things that made him unique and interesting to look at. Such as the small mole he had over the right side of his upper lip or the faint scar that stretched from the center of his left cheek down to his jaw. Maddox had almost non-existent pores but still had a few reddish blemishes scattered on the border of his jaw.

Arabella averted her gaze and nuzzled her head into his chest and breathed in the smell of his amber-drenched woodsy cologne.

The rays from the sun were filtering in through the crevices of the window blinds and the shadows were stretching themselves on the two of them.

She didn't want him to wake up, at least not yet. Arabella wanted to stay in that moment with him just a little bit longer. She wanted to cling to him for security, even if it was all just a façade that in a matter of time would no longer exist.

One day he would forget her, grow up and live the successful life his parents planned out for him since he was a child. She stared up at him again and envisioned his future.

She barely smiled at the thought, but it did make her happy. She concluded that one day, Maddox Reign would get married to a beautiful woman and have a total of three charming kids. They'd be fair and blonde with freckles or maybe they'd have brown skin with beautiful dark eyes and thick curly hair.

He would be in charge of his father's packaging company, but still make the time to teach his sons and daughters about basketball on the weekends. He would also help them with their multiplication homework and other projects no matter how tired he was after work. Then he'd read them a children's book and tuck them in and kiss them on their foreheads.

His wife and him would be madly in love. She would never hurt him and he would never hurt her. They'd make love every other night, and talk about their day without getting bored. Maddox would dedicate Pale Blue Eyes by The Velvet Underground to her, but she wouldn't have blue eyes. She'd be practical, but elegant all together. Maybe a homemaker, a career woman, but maybe a proud housewife.

But in between that perfect life of his, Arabella hoped he would remember her. Positive or negative, she wanted to engrave herself into his mind for his entire life.

The corner of her eyes crinkled and she was beaming as she further nuzzled her face into his bare chest. Arabella was making sure to keep the distance from his body and her own. Only her face would touch his chest, and that was it.

Laying with him for what seemed to be only a few minutes, Maddox finally shifted in his sleep and subconsciously pulled the girl closer to him until she was pressed up against his body.

"...I don't... the bunny...please..." The sleeping boy muttered as he unintentionally placed his chin on the top of Arabella's head, and then proceeded to smack his lips a few times.

Arabella wasn't aware that he was such a heavy sleeper, but he was a cute one at that.

This time, she made sure her body was up against his own, then she slowly closed her eyes just to sleep for a little while longer.

She sighed in contempt, but that was when Arabella was suddenly given an opportunity to humiliate him.

It had brushed itself on and against her thighs.