Perfect Places

A Place To Get Away

   "Well ... is he giving you like ... Connor or Kyle vibes?" Zane asked me over the phone.

   "That's the thing," I explained, "I can't read him. It was weird ..."

   "It sounds like it." I could tell that Zane was eating something.

   "But I don't know if this is normal for siblings to do or what." I told him, staring at the ceiling.

   "Do you want me to add Tyler to the list of psychopaths along with Connor and Kyle?" Zane laughed.

   I laughed with him, "I'm not sure yet, I'll have to see how it goes over the next couple of days."

   "Alright." Zane was chewing obnoxiously loud.

   "Zane, I'm not a fan of your chewing sounds." I laughed.

   "Oh yeah?" He started chewing way louder.

   "ZANE!" I explained, laughing.

   "Okay, okay."  He chuckled, "In my opinion Tyler sounds like a complete dirt bag."

   "And why is that?" I asked, obviously knowing the answer.

   "Well for starters, he pushed you." He explained, quieting his chewing noises, "No one does that. Especially on the first day of meeting you ..."

   "Alright, alright." I looked out the window.

   Ah yes, the gigantic window in my room. The room was large, that's for sure. And the massive window just made it seem larger. The hardwood floors were beautiful, and the bed. The bed. It was also huge. Giant pillows covered it, which was great.

   The walls were painted white, which was perfect. It was a good change of pace. The dresser had a large mirror hanging above it, which I knew would get a lot of use.

   A big, colorful rug covered the floor. It was really soft and comfortable. I could definitely sleep on it and not have a single complaint. The high ceilings in the room were absolutely gorgeous. The room was a room I would only picture in my dreams.

   "Second of all," Zane interrupted my thoughts, "He said you weren't hot. Which was a total lie."

   "Pfff," I laughed, "I wouldn't say it's a complete lie."

   There was a silence.

   "Are you kidding?" Zane asked.

   "No, not really to be honest." I responded truthfully.

   Average. That's what I had told myself I was all my life. I wasn't necessarily ugly by any means. I mean, in my opinion no one is ugly. But on the other hand, I knew I was not a super pretty girl. I had always just thought I was ... average.

   "Rae," Zane declared, "You are definitely beautiful."

   I blushed, but didn't say anything.

   "For him to say that ... makes him sound like a complete idiot. I mean, is he blind? Come on, your gorgeous."

   Wow. Did he really just say that? The best part was that he sounded ... completely serious.

   "Really ...?" I practically whispered.

No one had ever said anything like that to me. Ever. I didn't even know how to respond.

"Of course! Rae ... you know your beautiful, right?" Zane asked me.

I was at a loss of words.

"Zane-" I started to answer.

Before I could finish, there was a knock in my door.

"Oh, uh, Zane. I gotta go ..." My eyes darted to the door.