Adrian slept in my room. In my bed.
I slept on a shitty air mattress in Rose’s room, because Luke’s was too small. The tiny clock on her bedside table lit up the ceiling with a revolving ring of stars. Rose, sleeping peacefully in her bed with her favorite sock monkey, didn’t seem to find it distracting. I, on the other hand, found that it stressed with hell out of me.
Eventually I just stopped trying to block out the glow and welcomed it in. I lay on my shitty air mattress and watched each star revolve around and around and around in its ring, infinitive. Then I started thinking about what would happen if I’d been diagnosed with a brain tumor instead of Rosie. I thought that I’d like having this infinite ring of stars circling around my ceiling, because every night I’d make a wish. I’d wish for just one more day, for just a few more breaths, for just one chance to experience things that a normal kid would without having to throw up every hour.
Honestly, I hated being her brother. I hated having to live in her shadow, or having her live in mine.
Fifty-six minutes later, Rose started to cry for Mom, and she got some of her ‘special medicine’ and fifteen minutes of Narnia whispered to her by Dad. The whole process took close to twenty-five minutes, in which I slowly fell asleep in the glow of the stars.
But it didn’t last. After those twenty-five minutes were up, the door opened and Dad carried Rose back into bed.
I listened to Rose breathe. ‘‘Goodnight, Adrian.’’
‘‘Goodnight, Rosie. Sweet dreams,’’ he replied in a crooked whisper.
Adrian hesitated before he closed the door. He’d seen my open eyes as he’d left Rosie’s side.
YOU ARE READING
Hiding From Us
Teen Fiction❝We can't win. We're fighting a spherical war. We're hiding from us. And we're losing.❞ This is the sequel to Looking At Us, where a new generation of teens come into Shain and Erick’s lives, and love becomes a force of power and weakness.
