Tʀᴜʟʏ? - ᴀ ᴛɪᴍᴏᴛʜᴇ̀ᴇ ᴄʜᴀʟᴀᴍᴇᴛ ғᴀɴғɪᴄᴛᴏɴ

15

"I'm sorry - I think," I paused to take in a quick breath. "I'm going to go get some air," I said. Melanie shrugged and went back to her friends. I fished my phone out of my pocket as I hurried away, quickly reaching the elevator. My numb fingers were already at Timothee's contact as the elevator started its descent. Should I call him? I bet he already knew, considering he had a publicist. I bit the inside of my lip as the elevator hit the floor.

"Lobby," the automated voice said. I stepped out and walked briskly to the entrance, hair flowing behind me. As I opened the door, the wind blew on my cheeks turning them a rosy red.

Bzz Bzzz

I gently fished my phone out of my jacket pocket, careful not to drop it with my numb hands. It was an incoming phone call, I could tell by the repetitive buzzing. I picked it up without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Guess we got caught," I heard someone chuckle from the other line. I instantly recognized the voice, and my body tensed. I bit my lip.

"I guess they did. Is this bad?" I asked. I heard a bit of shuffling on the speaker, but soon his voice came in again.

"Nah, we're good. Plus, I've seen the pictures, and you can barely tell it's me. My publicist will just make some calls. We're fine." He said. I felt relief wash over me. Thank god. I wasn't ready for all the unwanted attention that would result if it had been obviously him.

"Great. That's great." I responded, a bit unsure about what to say.

"Well this sure is a great Christmas present. How's your christmas eve going?" he asked. I was brought back into reality. The holiday had completely flew out of my mind.

"Its okay. Not really up to much. You?" I asked. He laughed lightly.

"I'm at my parents. Holidays are great with family," He said. He didn't mean to of course, but it hit a soft spot in my soul. I felt a pang of hurt, wishing I could do the same as him.

"Wheres your family?" He asked, bringing me back from my mind.

"Oh um. I live on my own right now. My family lives kinda far, so I can't travel." I said.

"I thought your family lived in Connecticut?" He asked. I felt oddly flustered that he remembered, my heart fluttering at the idea. But then the guilt fled in.

"Oh yeah, I just mean like.." My sentence didn't even come to a finish. I couldn't really figure out the correct response. "Yeah, it's complicated," I semi-mumbled, embarrassed and unsure if I should really share this much with him though we've barely met. Thankfully, he didn't press it further.

"It's cool. Hey, what are you up to on New Years? This may seem kind of random, but my friend Scott is throwing a huge party and told me to invite anyone," He said. I was a bit taken aback, but quickly obliged.

"Yeah definitely! Text me the details, I'll be there." I heard a quiet sound of relief the other end.

"Cool, cool. I can pick you up. He's throwing it at some club downtown so that's easy. See you then," He said. I bit back a smile as my cheeks felt warm.

"Yeah, cool. Have a good night," I said.

"Good night, Cleo," I heard him say slightly quieter from the other line. I thought I felt my heart seriously skip a beat. I realized he was still on the line and quickly pulled my phone away from my ear, slamming a finger down on the end call button. My lips curled together in a shy smile and I couldn't help but let out a girly squeak as I replayed him saying my name over and over in my head. I wondered if he was thinking of me, too.

+++++++

I yawned as light spilled into my room like honey as someone opened the door.

"Think fast!" Someone yelled and before I knew it there was a bag being thrown at my head. I let out a sharp yelp as I quickly sat up, pushing the hair out of my face and rubbing my eyes. It was Lilia, and she was in an unusually peppy mood.

"Since we got the week off from the internship, I thought we should party," She said, hopping onto the bed next to me. I chuckled.

"Party? The day after Christmas?" I asked. She nodded.

"Yeah, it'll be fun! Promise!" She said. I thought about it for a moment but gave in. I needed a distractor.

Timothee hadn't talked to me since we called, but that wasn't that long ago and I assumed we were still set to see each other on New Years. The date creeped closer but still seemed to be eternities away. Lilia brought me back to my senses once again as I heard her shuffling through my closet.

"Hey Lils."

"Hm?"

"What're you doing?" I asked her. She kept rummaging.

"Nothing," She replied. I smiled and rolled my eyes, falling onto my stomach and watching as she pulled a zebra print top out, squinting her eyes and observing it carefully. I scoffed at her choice.

"Please don't tell me you seriously want to wear that," I said. She spun around with a glimmer in her eyes.

"No, silly. I want you to wear it!" She said. I laughed.

"No way Jose,"

"C'mon Cleo, just for the night?" She begged. I rolled my eyes and got up, coming next to her and shuffling through the drawer.

"What about this?" I asked, pulling out a simple white tank top. She gave me a look.

"That won't go with our skirts," She said. I raised a brow.

"Our skirts?" I asked. She had a mischievous smile painted across her lips. I watched as she grabbed the bag from the bed and opened it, indeed revealing two nearly identical different colored glittery skirts. I pretended to vomit.

"Seriously?" I asked after I finished my show. She just rolled her eyes and laid them on the bed, pairing the pink skirt with the white tank and the white skirt with the zebra top.

"We'll fit right in with all the other new york youth," she said.

"I can't believe you just said that. I'll take the pink one."