𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨 | 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟒 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚

𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧

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| 0 8 |

June 9th, 2019
3:15am

Rose was abruptly awoken from her sleep by the sudden cackle of a thunder strike nearby. She sat up in a confused daze and looked around the unfamiliar room in the darkness. There was music blasting from another room, a female voice was talking and laughing. Furrowing her eyebrows, she removed the nightgown and changed into some shorts and a cropped hoodie. Grabbing her phone, and a pack of nearby cigarettes she began making her way to the door. At the end of the hall, she stuffed her feet into her chucks. "Where are you going?" Richard called out, peaking his head out of the bedroom with a pair of unfamiliar arms wrapped around his shirtless torso. The female looked at her, a pretty blonde with a sly smirk sitting on her lips. Rose tensed up, but offered a pained smiled and small awkward wave, gesturing to the box of cigarettes, "going out for a walk."

Grabbing a pair of keys from a bowl, she turned and grabbed the door handle. Turning it open, she lightly paced out and was met by an empty hallway corridor. Shutting the door behind herself, she breathed out heavily and rubbed the side of her neck as she walked. She felt confused: even annoyed. Her feelings weren't necessarily hurt, because there was no remote emotional attachment— but she did feel played. Her chest felt heavy, and her head was aching. Before she knew it, she was outside. Pulling her hood on, she tugged a cigarette between her lips and inhaled lightly as the flame of her lighter kissed the tip of the carcinogenic surface of the cigarette.

Glancing back at the condo building with a scoff, she looked away and then toward the empty street and started to make her way down the wet stairs. Without paying attention where she was stepping, her foot slipped. Rose managed to catch herself with her hands, but landed with a hard slam on the ground— on her knees. The girl couldn't help but to laugh out of embarrassment and prayed no one saw that. It took a few seconds for the pain to settle in, and for her to realize her knees were scraped and bleeding. The fall didn't make her upset, but the sad sight of her cigarette ruined was enough to make her pout her lips.

"You look like you could use a hand." A hand extended toward her, it was a disheveled blonde boy with the prettiest blue eyes, they were swollen: as if he had been crying. His face bruised, he was gorgeous, "You could say the same for yourself." Rose smiled, earning a small one from the male. Lightly, she extended her scraped hand up and took his warm one, their fingers laced together for a momentary second. Swiftly, he picked her up. "Are you okay?" She asked while examining his face and his overall well-being. His clothes were torn up, he was carrying a backpack— probably a run away. "Not really, just trying to find myself." He visibly offered an awkward smile that was hiding tears, he looked a mess.

"You and me both," she paused, "Do you want to grab a coffee? Go somewhere warm?" He nodded eagerly with a big smile, Rose couldn't help but to smile back as she lit up another cigarette. The pair made small talk while walking, what he liked: hated. What she felt, what she despised. They exchanged a long conversation filled with smiles and laughter at a shitty diner, with decent coffee and warm waffles. It had gotten late so quick, it felt like hours had passed.

"Goodness gracious." Rose rubbed her side, "The sun is about to come up." She looked at her phone and checked the time, 5:56am.  "I should probably get going." The male across from her dropped his smile, "Go?" His tone had changed, "Yeah..do you have somewhere to go? I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you." He leaned back, shaking his head. "My parents hate me, my very existence makes them irk with regret." For a second, Rose stared. What would Richard think if she brought this boy back with her? He wouldn't mind— he had brought a strange woman over. They'd be equal, no? 

"Well, you're too young to even be out here in the city on your own," She paused while sliding out the booth and putting down the cash to pay for what they had, and a tip. "Spend some time over at where I'm staying." She extended her arm out to him, offering her small hand. Without hesitance, he reached out and took it. "I really appreciate it." His eyes teared up, he was so soft. In the back of her mind, she wondered what he had possibly been through to suffer so much in silence. Especially at his age, He looked around seventeen, she was twenty one. In a way, he reminded her of how she was during that age. She was so lost, and still felt so lost. Everyone in the world always managed to find their place, like a piece of a puzzle. Thinking about her upbringing, and her family made her upset. Years worth of trauma and pain, stuffed in the back of her throat. It was hard for her to talk about herself on a personal scale, she always felt annoying. Snapping out of her thoughts, she gestured to the boy and they made their way out.

The pair quietly began to walk back in the direction of the condo apartments with their arms linked, the space was shared with a comfortable silence as their feet sloshed through a few puddles on the wet pavement. They even got to watch the sun rise and meet with the blood moon for a few seconds. As they approached the steps to the building, they entered. Rose led the way while thinking to herself, I know mostly everything about this boy. Yet I don't even have his name, and he doesn't have mine.

Standing outside the door while she unlocked it, she stared at the blonde boy. "By the way, my name is Rose." She paused, turning the knob, "I don't think I ever got your name—" the girl smiled sheepishly while pushing the door open, "Oh— it's Michael," he adjusted his backpack strap, "Michael Langdon."

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