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He sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes at her. “Whatever. Biggest fear?”

Blaire shook her head. He was trying to get to know her in a weird sort of way. She smiled to herself. “Spiders. And um… thunderstorms.”

Lukas shifted again. “Yeah, I gathered that one.”

“Your turn.”

“No.”

“Oh, that’s not fair.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Blaire laughed and poked his chest with her finger. “That’s not cool, not even a little bit. Why do I have to be vulnerable and not you?”

He tensed and grabbed her hand where her finger remained pressed against his chest. He held her hand for what felt like forever as he stared down into her eyes, until she turned her gaze away in embarrassment, her heart racing.

“Being alone forever.”

Blaire snapped her eyes back to meet his as he released her hand, the unnatural green of his eyes glowing in the dim lamplight. Did he really say that? He feared being alone. She didn’t know what to say, so she looked down at her hands in her lap.

Lukas cleared his throat and took a breath through his nose. “Alright, that’s enough. I’m tired. You okay now?”

“Um, yeah… I’m okay,” she whispered.

He finally released her from his arms and got up with a serious look on his face.

She shouldn’t have tried to force him to answer that. They barely knew each other. She expected something silly like clowns, or spiders, or anything other than that heavy-weight answer. His retreat after sharing something that deep with her implied he wasn’t being manipulative by saying it; it was a genuine fear. Her heart followed as he climbed under the covers of his bed with his back to her.

She crawled back up to the top of her bed, turned out the lamp, and pulled the covers over her body, hoping she didn’t dream of Caleb again.

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Blaire had gained ground with Lukas, and she wanted to know more. This moment, wrapped in a bubble all their own, left her warm and happy—secure. She hadn’t felt that in a very long time. Maybe things would be different going forward.

15

CONFUSION

The next afternoon after classes, Blaire was sitting on her bed going through her guidebook when a knock sounded on the dorm door. She got up and walked across the floor as quietly as possible to not disturb Lukas, who lay fast asleep on his bed.

Opening the door, she found Riley waiting. “Hey! You almost ready?”

“Shh.”

Blaire put a finger over her lips and motioned to where Lukas lay on his stomach, his face half buried in the pillow, his hair fanned out and covering part of his face.

Riley stepped inside, whispering, “What’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing. I don’t think, at least. He doesn’t exactly tell me things, you know.” Blaire shrugged. “He’s just been doing a lot of sleeping lately during the day.”

“Huh. Well, he didn’t have a roommate before, so he might have napped like this before, and we never knew. Who knows?” Riley said with a half-shrug.

“After last night, I’m not surprised he’s tired.” Blaire sighed.

Riley perked up and looked at her. “Why? What happened? Oh, please tell me it’s good.”

“Oh, well, I just… had a nightmare… he helped me. That’s all.”