Scarred

Chapter 9.

Eliza

I scrape my key through the keyhole of the maroon door, feeling a sense of anxiety as I step in. A mental conversation ensues in my head at what kind of mood he will be in.

The sound of my phone ringing from my bag pursues my ear, my mom's voice booming down the line as I answer it.

"Hey honey, how was college?" She asks.

"It was fine, mom. How's work?"

"Yeah, just the same old. Listen, Lize, something's come up at work so I'm going to be staying till very late tonight."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, there's just been a complication that needs to be sorted. But um, I won't be able to make dinner so you can either cook something for yourself, and... That boy, or you can order something for yourself."

"And Theo?"

"What?" Her voice suddenly becomes background noise to a bunch of other voices that surround her.

"Can I order something for Theo as well?"

"Well, I guess you're going to have to. But honey, I have to go now. I'll see you later okay? Or maybe tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, mom. Take your time. See you later."

"Bye, Lize." She cuts off the phone, and I turn around to make my way upstairs, startled by the unexpected figure that stands before me. "Oh my gosh. How long have you been standing there?" I timidly ask, hoping a simple question doesn't turn into me feeling like I'm the reason for every speck of annoyance in his body.

"I just got down here now. I just came to bring this plate down. Your mom made me a sandwich."

"Oh. That was nice of her."

"Yeah." He looks beside me, as I stiffly come to the realization that I am standing in the way of the sink. Which he obviously needs. Great job, Eliza. "Oh, sorry," I quickly mutter, before I walk past him, hell bent on getting upstairs as soon as possible.

"Um..." His mildly deep voice makes me stop in my tracks, but I find myself stuck with my back turned to him. "I'm sorry," I finally hear, after a long pause. "About before."

My feet manage to break free from their spell, and I turn around, noticing the apprehensive look on his face. Like fear mixed with anxiety. "I just um, thought of something that annoyed me," he continues. "Really annoyed me."

"It's fine," I finally speak. "You don't have to explain yourself to me." I mentally roll my eyes to myself. I do want him to explain himself to me. Why did I say that?

"Yeah, but-"

"It's fine, don't worry." I repeat, although I don't know why. He didn't apologise again, so why am I accepting it again?" So um... My mom... She's not um... She's got something going on with her eyes-"

"What?"

"What?" I repeat after him.

"Your mom has something going on with her eyes?"