Starting Off Wrong [𝐠𝐱𝐠]

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟖: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞

I walk out of the forest-themed room, surprised with how I feel about it. I thought I would like it, but then again, I assumed there would be fewer bug ornaments. Scratch that. I thought here would be no bug ornaments.

I gently scratch my arm, feeling itchy now. Aurelia has spoken to me since the ocean room, but she can't hide that she's upset from me. I know it's because she wants to show me her place. I'll make sure it happens, and it will be tonight.

"Last room," Everest says, smiling at me. I manage to smile back, even though my hearts starts beating. Somehow, I'll have to force Aurelia to sneak away from the group with me. It sounds challenging.

"Can I close my eyes for this one?" I ask. Everest says, "Good idea," nodding. He holds onto the curtain as I place my hands on my eyes. I suddenly feel nervous and I'm not sure why.

"Okay, walk forward." I walk a few steps forward, almost thinking I'm walking straight into a wall. "You can look now." I take my hands off and look in awe.

It's a night-theme room. The constellations practically speak to me. There are beautiful lights hanging down from the ceiling, all in the different phases of the moon.

I stand on the tips of my toes and lift my hand up. I gently touch one and let it gently swing from side to side. This room is definitely my absolute favorite.

"Do you like this room?" Everest asks. I look at him and say, "I love it the best out of all the others." "Aurelia does too." That throws me off guard a little bit.

I know Everest and Aurelia are pretty good friends. That's not what I'm surprised about. I'm surprised because her favorite room is the same as mine.

The entire time I was talking about astronomy and stars, she had the same interest as me. So, why didn't she ever mention that?

"What's your favorite?" I slowly ask.

"Oh, definitely the ocean one," he grins. Of course. That's what I thought.

"That was a beautiful room too," I say, now distracted. I look around, trying to find Aurelia within the group. Everyone is here except for Aurelia. Where is she?

Just as I'm about to ask Everest if he knows, Aurelia walks in through the curtain, looking flustered. Suri walk in after her, seemingly normal, but I notice Suri puts her hand on Aurelia's back in comfort. What's going on? Is she okay?

"I'll be right back," I say to Everest without even looking at him. I don't get to hear his response because I'm already walking away.