His Sunflower

12

'The strongest people are the ones who are still kind after the world tore them apart.'

'Lily?', she signed, with a shocked and confused face, which probably resembled mine.

It was the girl who helped me at school, Sofia.

'What are you doing here?', her hands skilfully moved whilst mouthing the words along with her hands.

My mind went blank. How was I supposed to explain my situation? This man who I have literally known for a couple of days told me to get into his car, got me food, took me to his house, bandaged up my wounds, stopped me from escaping in the middle of the night, cooked me breakfast and washed the dishes.

And who was she? His girlfriend? She was really beautiful and she had already proven how nice she was. A feeling of jealousy ran through me and I felt confused. I pushed down all the foreign feelings and focused on answering her question.

Thankfully saving me from explaining this weird situation, he stepped in and sighed her a response which was a lot better than the one I was thinking of in my head.

'I met her a couple of days ago. She lost her house keys and no one was at home so I offered her a place here for the night and she agreed', he signed, trying to convince her that it wasn't what it looked like. It definitely wasn't what it looked like.

He looked at me, silently asking if I could back up his story so I turned towards her and tried to convince her that what he was saying was in fact the truth.

'He's telling the truth', I signed shyly, not wanting him to get in trouble.

The shock on his face was photographable.

'I didn't know that you could sign', he signed as well as said, looking at me in curiosity. I gave him a shy nod and looked at the floor, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear.

'Wait, how do you two know each other?', he signed, looking back and forth between us.

'College', we both signed simultaneously. Sofia let out a laugh and gave her a small smile back.

I was getting too comfortable here. I needed to get back as soon as possible before he finds me here, with him. I'll be able to handle any beating he would give me but I couldn't handle another persons life to put at risk on my expense.

Too busy in my own thoughts, I must have missed the conversation in the room, because the next thing I see is Sofia signalling to me to follow her upstairs.

She heads upstairs thinking Im following but I stay rooted to the spot. I look at him for permission and he looks back at me, confused as to why I was waiting.

"She'll give you some clothes to wear if you want. Or if you prefer, we can stop off at the mall and I can buy you some new clothes?", he says.

I immediately shake my head to tell him its ok. I can't have him spending anymore of his money on me.

"Are you sure you're ok with wearing some of her clothes?", he confirms, looking deep into my eyes to see if I'm telling the truth and I not my head to say yes.

I quickly follow her up the stairs and catch up with her in the hallway.

She gave me a smile and slowed down slightly so I could catch up with her, before leading me down the corridor.

'Even though I don't live here, my brother gave me a room for when I do stay over. Lucianos the best!', she signed to me, grinning.

Two things stick out to me:

1. Brother!

I don't know why that made me feel better. It was as if some weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I had no idea why I was feeling this way.

2. Luciano?

She must have sensed my confusion as she asked me if I was ok.

'Luciano?', I questioned.

'Yeah, he's my brother. What did he tell you his name was?', she signed, looking confused.

'Luca', I signed as well as whispered to myself.

Using his name made me feel all nervous and jittery. As if there was a volcano erupting in my tummy.

As soon as she read my sign, her eyes widened. I gave a quick 'why?' sign and she was quick to respond.

'He never goes by that name. You must be someone very special to him', she signs, with a teasing smirk plastered on her face.

My cheeks were burning and I was quick to shake my head no in denial. He must not have thought I was deserving enough to know his real name.

Shocked would be an understatement to what I felt when I saw Sofias room. I should have expected it to be this grand looking, knowing how the rest of the house looked but this was something else.

There was a huge queen sized four poster bed in the middle of the room with baby pink silk bedding. The bed was adorned with different sized decorative pillows and a comfy looking throw was placed on top. There was a golden glow in the room coming from the huge window facing the side of the bed which had champagne-coloured drapes hung to the side. The marble flooring was a reoccurring theme throughout the whole house which gave the room a homely feel. There were two doors on either side of the room; one which she opened to reveal a marble-themed ensuite, with a huge bathtub, shower, and toilet.

She then led me through the other door which turned out to be a massive walk-in closet with rows of closets containing various clothes such as dresses, tops, swimwear, nightwear, jeans, skirts and more. There were rows dedicated to shoes and jewellery too and I was starstruck. In the middle of the dressing room was a massive dressing table with draws around it and golden framed mirrors hung up against the walls.

'My brother went over the top, I know', she signed, shyly hiding her face behind her hands in embarrassment.

'You can take anything you want. Anything, I mean it', she signed whilst looking at me to show me she wasn't lying. We've still got time till first period starts so take your time and meet me downstairs when youre done. Luciano said he's left a towel and some toiletries on your bed, she signed, giving me a reassuring smile before heading out of the room to find her brother.

I didn't want to overstep any boundaries, so I simply took a pair of leggings, which would allow the cuts on my legs to hopefully feel less itchy than if I was in a pair of jeans, and a thick dark grey jumper. I found a pair of black socks and neatly folded the items up into a pile.

I left her room, closing the door behind me, and walked down the hallway into the room I stayed in yesterday. True to her words, a towel and a toothbrush with toothpaste was left out on the bed for me and I quickly grabbed them and headed into the ensuite bathroom.  

I locked the door and stripped out of the clothes I was wearing, folding them neatly and keeping them in a pile on the side. I placed my towel on the shower hook and stepping into the shower, waiting until the water was warm before going under the water.

I didn't want to take advantage of them letting me use the shower, so I quickly lathered on some bodywash and rinsed it off. Grabbing the fluffy towel, I dried myself off and put on the clothes I had picked out.

I sat down on the stool in front of the dressing table and looked at my reflection. I took my hair out of the messy bun it was thrown into earlier and tried to rearrange it to make my face look a bit more presentable.

I didn't feel right using anything else that wasn't absolutely necessary for me to use, so I quickly tidied up the bathroom and made my way downstairs.

The sight I was met with knocked the air out of my lungs.