A Quest To The Known

chapter fifteen

Lucas

"This is all your fault."

A slender finger points at me but it could also be pointing at the house behind me because of how much it was shaking. Lyra tried to hide it once she noticed it was a sign of her anxiety. The white door we had faced less than twenty four hours ago stood in front of us, yet again, and despite being the second time around, her anxiety just skyrocketed. So much that I was ready for the possibility of her falling to the ground right there. Ready, not eager.

"Please."

"It is. If you just let me sleep, we'd be here on time."

"It's twelve fifteen, we're hardly late," She was just nervous, understandable, of course. She thought she was about to meet her mother. "And I recall you were the one who didn't let me go to sleep."

"We must recall things a little differently," Her words denied me but the smile on her face proved me right. She remembered exactly what happened the night before.

14 hours earlier

My socks were wet.

I guess that's what I got for taking off my shoes near to a swimming pool. And despite being an actual disaster, my wet socks weren't, by far, my worst problem. What was it then? Well, somewhere between being in love with a girl who saw me as a friend and witnessing said girl kiss someone else.

My consolation was the happiness spreading inside my chest upon knowing she had found someone to share her happiness with. I would take someone playing the exact moment they kissed a thousand times over in my head if that meant I knew for sure she was happy. And that bothered me.

I'm supposed to be mad. Not at her. At the situation. She's into someone else. So why is there no fucking trace of resentment inside of me?

I continued drawing random patterns on the floor, leaning down to reach it, close enough to the pool to smell the chlorine but not to risk getting wet. The classic music from the beginning of the party was replaced by EDM, complemented by the happy screams of dancing people. I guess there was only so far a ball could go these days.

The sound from inside blocked nearly every thought so the only thing I could think about what that my socks were wet. Which was ok because they were the only part of my outfit that was actually mine.

"I looked for you everywhere."

My whole body trembled at her voice and I mistakenly dipped my sleeve into the mini-pool of water. Fuck. I straightened myself while she dragged another chair from one of the tables to sit next to me on the empty lounge.

"You left without a warning," Her dress bunched around her sides as she wiggled to find a good position, sighing once she did. Her hair was now falling out of her hairstyle, frizzing with the weather and she rearranged her strapless dress every few steps.

"I needed some fresh air."

"Yea, it was kinda suffocating in there." She started taking off her shoes, massaging her ankles in a circular motion.

"You sure it was the place and not something else?" Her panicked expression came to view just as she finished taking off her shoes, "Meeting your mom is a pretty big deal."

Her reliefed sigh proved we were thinking of very different things. She continued hunched over and proceeded to massage her feet, "I hadn't thought about that all night."

"Sorry. I can rub your feet to make it up?" She smiled and raised one of her feet, placing it on my lap and then wiggled again to fit in the chair sideways so she could lift both of them. I didn't know how to massage feet, or any other part of the human body, for that natter. I could give mean belly rubs, our family dog could attest to that. But her closed eyes and approval sounds made me believe I was doing something right.