"Mommy?" Dawn snapped her mom out of her trance, "Are you okay?"
Aurora's head instinctively snapped towards her daughter, she was still in a trance but this time, she was stuck in between an actual trance and being aware.
"Yes, I'm okay," Aurora sighed as she rubbed her eyes, "just remembered something, that's all."
Dawn nodded as she went back to playing with Natalie.
Meanwhile, Natalie was playing was playing with dawn while spontaneously glaring at Aurora's parents.
"Why are you two here?" Natalie said coldly.
"What." Aurora's mom replied with an aggressive and annoyed tone, "Want to corrupt our Aurora even more?"
Natalie's eyes grew sharper as her eyebrows furrowed and she clenched her fists.
"Ignore them, Natalie." Elliot reassured, "They are just looking for a reaction from you."
Natalie's eyes softened as she weakened her grip on her own palm, she then turned her gaze back to Dawn and went back to playing with him.
Aurora looked at her mother and crossed her arms on her chest.
"Mom, if you don't leave, then I will." Aurora groaned.
"Oh, come on, Aurora!" Her dad feigned offense, "We are just trying to change!"
Aurora knew it was a bluff, however, it still annoyed her. She slightly furrowed her eyebrows and sat down on the couch.
Elliot got up and walked towards Aurora and sat next to her. He put his hand over her knee, softly rubbing it with his thumb.
"It's only for today, then you can go back to ghosting them." Elliot reassured, a gentle smile on his face.
Aurora rested her face and smiled, removing her arms from her chest and putting her hand over his.
"You're right, sorry." Aurora agreed.
Aurora's parents sat down on the opposite couch. Her dad suddenly grabbed Dawn's hand while she was playing and pulled her to them.
"Hey, have we told you about that time your mom left home for a 'date' only to return the next day?" Aurora's mom asked.
Both of them were staring at Dawn. Their gazes caused Dawn to try and pull away from her grandfather's grip.
"Well, don't worry, I won't hurt you!" Her grandfather laughed, it was obvious how forced it was.
"Your mom left the house saying 'I'm going to go ruin my life with my-'" Her grandmother said, however, Aurora cut her off.
"Stop it, mom! That wasn't what happened."
——————
I was texting Elliot while sitting on my bed.
Elliot: "Hey, I wanna know."
"U free?"
Me: "Yeah, I'm mostly free."
"Just need to do the assignments real quick."
"Why?"
Elliot: "I was thinking"
"Maybe we can go out again."
"Probably to a cafe, or somewhere else."
Me: "I'm down, just don't really want to go out."
"I'm not in the mood"
I turned my phone off and put it in my pocket as I got up and walked to my desk. When I sat down on my desk chair, my phone vibrated.
So I opened my phone and checked the text that Elliot had sent me.
Elliot: "What about you come over again, this time for studying."
A study date? He's getting desperate. He wants to hang out badly.
Me: "Sure, when?"
Elliot: "Thought you'd say no"
"how about at 4 30."
Me: "Sure, lemme get ready."
I look at the time at the corner of the screen.
"it's 3:50. I got some time."
I then close all my books and take out a novel from my shelf, I read it as for 10 minutes or so.
I then check the clock on my phone again.
"4 o'clock, better start getting ready or I'll be late."
I spend the rest of my 30 minutes getting ready. I wear my usual clothes, I put on light makeup, I collect my books into a back bag. looks like I'm going to be late anyway.
When I'm ready, I sling the bag around my shoulder and begin heading out, my parents just glare at me as I walk towards the front door.
"I'm just going to Elliot's."
I hear a grumble as I walk out and close the door behind me, never really care to be honest so I didn't try to understand what it was about.
The walk towards Elliot's house was pretty uneventful, just empty streets and silence.
I wish everyday was like this, I'd be much more soothed every night.
After finally arriving to my destination, I knock on the door, waiting for someone to open the door.
After a few second wait, I knock again. I swear, this family only opens on the second knock, do they have an allergy towards the first knock?
After a few seconds, the door opens, it's Elliot! But he's much more tidy than usual.
"Hey! How are you?" He asked in an enthusiastic tone.
"You don't have to try this hard, you know." I giggled as I walked into the house.
He marched through the house towards his room, and I followed closely.
Its empty again. Either his parents are always busy or they always go out when I come over.
"My parents are out right now" He awkwardly chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Yeah, I can see that." I nodded.
We reached his room, a weird but nice smell permeated the room, it was so neat and tidy that I felt like I wanted to live here.
"New decors?" I asked sarcastically.
"No, just thought I'd tidy up a bit."
"a bit." I giggled as I rolled my eyes.
So I sat down at the edge of his bed, taking off the bag from my back and taking out a notebook from inside.
"Shall we start?"
"Yes, let me just get my notes." He said as he walked to his desk.
He pulled out his bag from under the desk and rummaged through it, the sound of papers rustling and rubbing against each other was heard from the bag.
"Your room is tidy but your bag is messy?" I commented playfully.
"I just forgot to tidy it." He responded before lifting a notebook from inside the bag.
"Oh, look at that! You found it!" I let out a fake gasp.
Elliot just giggled and rolled his eyes before sitting next to me. We spent the next half an hour studying on his bed before his mom knocked on the door.
"Can I come in?" She yelled from behind the door, waiting for a response.
"Yeah, you can." I answered.
She came in, holding a tray that had two cups of orange juice and a plate full of chocolate chip cookies.
"How's the studying going?" She asked, there was a glint in here eye that I couldn't tell.
I didn't see that glint ever since I started avoiding those girls that wanted me to date people close to them.
Oh boy…
"It's good, everything's fine actually."
"Yeah! We'll get an A+² for this!" Elliot laughed excitedly. Why is he so excited?
I thought about it for a second and I was able to put 2 and 2 together. They set me up, and as soon as I eat the cookies or drink the juice, something is gonna happen.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone now." His mom said as she put down the tray on Elliot's desk. "Feel free to take some cookies!"
Elliot's mom retreated back to the door and closed the door slowly, while also peaking in.
"What are you two planning?" I asked in a half-curious half-tired tone.
"What plan? There isn't any plan!" He awkwardly chuckled as he looked to the left and avoided eye contact.
I sighed and took a cookie then broke it in half, one half in my right hand, the other in my left hand.
"Hey." I called.
"Yeah?" He responded.
As soon as he responded, I forced the halved cookie into his mouth. I then took a bite of the other half of the cookie.
"If I'm going down, you're going with me." I said.
He looked at me, while chewing on the cookie, his eyebrows were furrowed, expressing pure confusion and shock.
"What the heck!" He exclaimed while chewing.
"You were planning to poison me!" I yelled.
After swallowing the cookie, he smiled, then laughed. He almost fell off the bed from laughing.
"Why the hell would I do that?" He sighed as he calmed down from laughing.
"'If I'm going down, you're going with me.' Where do you think we are? An action movie?!" And so he went back to laughing.
"Fine, I get it! No need to run it in." I huffed, but I did let a smile slip.
We went back to studying soon after, we ate cookies while doing so too. Not going to lie, these are actually better than even the bakery that became viral nearby.
The more we spent studying, the more I started to become conscious of Elliot and me being on a bed, so I tried my best to ignore it.
"Hey, I was thinking…" He said.
My head snapped towards him, pretty sure I heard a crack coming from my spine, I gotta calm down.
"… We never really had our first kiss." He whispered in embarrassment.
His cheeks were red, his eyes were desperately trying not to break eye contact and look away.
I leaned in, close to him, so close that I felt his breath on my lips, and I…
Adjusted his glasses with my fingers, so that it doesn't fall off, and I pulled away, smirking as he tried to get a word out but failed multiple times.
"I swear, it's like you have SPS," I smirk, "You acted like some kind of knight in white armor when you confessed to me, but look at you now."
I put a hand on my chin and lean head onto it, staring into his blushing face. I patiently wait for a coherent word to form.
Elliot stops and takes a deep breath, regulating his thoughts.
"I'm serious, Aurora. I want us to get our first kiss." He said, his voice became more Stern but it still had that hint of awkwardness.
I feel my face heat up as my eyes widen, I put both my hands on my face, trying to hide the obvious blush.
Elliot shifted closer to me, he stopped when we were a few centimeters apart.
I peeked from behind my hands and made eye contact with him. I see his cheeks blushing profusely, yet he is still pushing his limit.
I slowly remove my hands from my face, then I let out a hesitant giggle, and move my hand towards his and hold it.
"So…" I clear my throat, "We're going to kiss?"
Elliot nodded. I stare at him, barely able to process that I'm finally going to kiss someone. Not someone… Elliot!
I lean my head towards him, letting my lips part slightly.
I hear a shuffle, then I feel breath on my lips. I then lean closer and press my lips against Elliot's.
I feel something inside my soul explode as I kiss Elliot. The serotonin rushing through me, and consequently almost making my heart jump out of its place.
We spend the next 30 seconds stuck to each other. I even shifted closer and pressed my body against his body, taking him into a hug.
After a minute, I finally push off him, putting some distance between us. I felt my whole body heat up, my heart pumping so much that I actively feel it.
Both of us were panting and kind of out of it at first before we looked at each other again and…
We went straight back to it. This time, we both dropped onto the bed and laid together, kissing and hugging…
I ended up sleeping at him home and we…
I don't want to continue, but this day was the best I ever lived.