Her smile grows a bit wider, like I’ve uncovered some secret. She drops one leg to the floor and leans an elbow on it, blue eyes twinkling like the night and day sky have converged. “Then what am I?”
Extremely fucking dangerous and forbidden.
“Not an idiot, or I wouldn’t have done all this.”
She hums. “Whydidyou? Considering my stay here is temporary.”
That’s where she’s wrong. Vanilla and peach will linger far too long after she goes. She’s never been temporary. She’s a permanent mark on my control and sanity.
“Consider me invested in the stupid things.” Better to tell her half a lie rather than the truth: that seeing her smile is worth it, no matter how long or short her stay will be. “Upstairs on your laptop means not being regaled with the drama these shows love to invent.”
She giggles before getting comfortable again. “I’ll accept that. Thank you.”
Once the show resumes and her attention has shifted, I allow myself to smile, masked by the screen’s glow.
Acouple hours later, she switches off the TV and stands to leave, which I’m thankful for.
It’s worse than her dorm room. That washerspace, easier to ignore her. Here, she’s everywhere, and it’s impossible to focus on anything, to the point I nearly destroyed my own infrastructure because I wasn’t paying enough attention.
Every joke made on the show resulted in a breathy chuckle my fixation has recorded to replay later, when trying to sleep.
Every movement was a reminder she’s actually down here and not in my head.
Every murmured comment was taken in, just in case I wanted to reply.
After counting to five and inhaling sharply, doing my best to hold my breath, I face her. “Heading up?”
“I’m hungry. Plus, I’d like to shower and rest for tomorrow. Finished with my phone?”
“Hours ago. But you were distracted, and I didn’t want to interrupt.” Hers has been since shut off and put away until a time I can have it destroyed. I hand her the new one. “All your apps and pictures were transferred, plus most of your contacts—minus Vitale. I noticed Vanessa’s number in there, but I added Ana’s too. I’d rather you be able to reach any one of us.”
She takes it, unlocks and scans through the identical looking set up. “Thanks for this. Good idea. I wouldn’t have thoughtabout him using my phone to find me. Makes sense you would have.”
“Most people wouldn’t have.” I shrug. “I noticed your friend’s number…” I’d read her texts to Amara, curious when noticing none of them seemed to go through, so I’d taken her friend’s number down to look further into but maybe Serafina already knows something.
“She’s pretty good at responding, but ever since starting school, she’s been weird. Different.” She rolls the phone between her palms before shrugging, except her expression isn’t something to shrug off. “I don’t really want to talk about it, though.”
With the number, I’ll do my own digging. “When do you want to leave tomorrow?”
“My first class is at ten, so however long it takes to get there?”
I quickly calculate the trip and propose a time, to which she agrees to before waving goodnight.
“Thank you again. What you did was really nice. You didn’t have to.”
“TV’s yours. Movies, shows, anything. Feel free to come down whenever you want.”
If Vanessa learns of this offer, I’ll have questions to answer for. Questions I don’t have answers to.
Serafina turns on the bottom step, her beam so gorgeous and genuine, it’d knock me on my ass if I wasn’t already there. “I’ll remember that. Have a good night.”
I haven’t had a good night since you’ve come into my life.
“You too, Fina.”
30
SERAFINA
