•C h a p t e r E i g h t•

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Dedicated to GingerRoot47

Song for chapter eight: Delicate by Taylor Swift

|Skyler|

I leaned back against the elevator wall, my back making contact with it and wrapped my arms around my body. It was pitch black and I blinked repeatedly, trying to adjust to the darkness.

A small beam of light flickered on from Aden's phone, illuminating his face as he directed the light to the buttons on the elevator. He wasn't supposed to have his phone, it was supposed to be locked inside his locker during physical education class, but I was thankful that he'd broken the rules. I longed for my own phone that was trapped inside my locker.

He pressed the emergency call button and turned to look at me, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"We should have taken the stairs," he groaned.

I couldn't help but laugh, "It's okay. We're not that far from the ground anyway. We'll just have to wait for someone to come and get us." I sat down on the ground, ignoring the fact that the elevator probably hadn't been cleaned for months.

At least I'm missing gym class.

Aden eyed me for a short moment before nodding and plopping down next to me on the floor, close enough that shoulder brushed against mine. His signature scent of vanilla wafted up my nose and I felt my cheeks heat up. I was suddenly thankful that it was so dark in the elevator.

He looked over at me, the dim light on his phone casting shadows on his face, making him out to be ten times more attractive than usual.

"Why were you on the subway every single day over the summer?" he asked me bluntly, cutting through the silence.

"So you do remember me?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"How could I not?" he spoke in a soft tone as he turned his face away from me. "You ruined my favourite shoes." he added with a smirk.

I sucked in a breath, grimacing as I remembered the embarrassing moment, "I went for lunch with my aunt everyday. I had to subway to her law firm."

"It's nice that you're close with her," he commented, and I only nodded. I mean, yeah it was great that I had Aunt Claire, but I wish that I had my mom with me. "Why New York?"

I peered up at Aden with hard eyes, the dim lighting highlighted his sharp jawline. I involuntarily admired how his freckles complimented his nose perfectly, or how a couple rebellious strands of his hair fell over onto his forehead.

A large part of me wanted to tell him the real reason why I was here in New York, not the reason I fibbed for Josie, Paige and Esther.

I wanted to tell him everything and curl up into his arms.

But why?

I sighed, tearing my gaze away from him. I wanted to tell him, but I knew I wouldn't be able to bring myself to. I hadn't spoken about it since I talked with the police, and I wasn't about to now. The last thing I needed was to bawl my eyes out and seem weak in front of the one person I might like. I'd embarrassed myself enough.

"My dad was from New York," I put it shortly. My eyes began to burn again from unshed tears just from the thought of home, and what I had. The empty pit in my stomach returned. I kept my gaze down on my lap because I knew if I looked at him I could break down. I didn't need sympathy, or another 'I'm sorry for your loss'.

When I finally looked up at him, I was surprised to find his intense gaze trained on me, only he looked away when my eyes met his.

"My dad never left New York, my mom did though," Aden began. Subconsciously, I leaned closer towards him, hoping that he would tell me more about himself. I couldn't deny the fact that he intrigued me, and I knew little to nothing about him. "I don't know where she is right now actually." His voice void of any emotion.

"What— what do you mean?" I asked.

"She left me when I was seven," he turned his head to face me, his expression flat. "I'll never understand her, or forgive her."

"I..." I trailed off. Truly, I was baffled he'd even told me something so personal. But then, I felt a stab of guilt that he'd been honest with me, and here I was keeping the real reason why I came to New York from him. I would tell him, I just didn't know when, or if I'd be ready. "I won't say that I'm sorry because I know you've heard that millions of times. But, I am sorry that you had to grow up without a mom."

I shifted closer to him, until our shoulders touched permanently. Tingles raced up my arm from where we made contact. I couldn't imagine a life growing up without my mom, and I definitely knew how it felt to be without one.

"At least you have your dad," I tried to sound optimistic, though I was slightly out of breath from his touch.

He chuckled bitterly, "Yeah, sure."

We bathed in a short moment of silence and when I finally looked up, I was surprised to see his hard eyes burning into me again. I ignored the giddy feeling that shot through me.

"Take a picture, it lasts longer," I smirked.

"Shut up," his solemn expression immediately broke into a smile. "It's just, I don't know... no one has ever said what you've said before when I told them. Granted, I've only ever told Ryan and a couple old friends."

"I'm just that cool," I lightly bumped my shoulder against his. "Are... are you going to the masquerade ball?" The words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"I don't know yet. Are you?" he asked me. I felt a small sinking feeling of disappointment in my stomach at his answer.

I nodded, "It's not really my thing, but I think my friends will be making me."

"Dances and parties aren't your thing," he looked at me skeptically, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, I don't know if they are or not. I haven't had many dances in my life, except stupid middle school dances. But those don't count," I shrugged.

"Where did you say you were from?" he asked. "Wait, don't tell me. It's Canada isn't it?"

I shifted slightly away from him, an incredulous smile playing on my lips, "How did you know that?"

"Lucky guess," he ran a hand through his hair with a smile.

His smile was breathtaking and it sent a giddy feeling throughout my body. My stomach suddenly swarmed with butterflies from that simple expression. I never wanted to see him frown again.

"So you're not going to the ball?" I asked again, somehow wishing he'd change his mind.

He smiled a smile that reached his dark eyes as he stared at me, "I'll think about it."

Aden leaned in closer, tilting my chin up so that my face was level with his. His face was inches from mine and I could feel his breath on my cheek, sending a burst of shivers to race up my spine. I stared into his eyes, admiring the green specks in his irises.

His other hand cupped my cheek, his thumb grazing against the small bruise that was staring to form on my cheek, thanks to the soccer ball. The simple touch sent tingles throughout my body, lighting it afire.

"You are real clumsy you know that right?" his lips stretched out into a crooked smile.

I smiled sheepishly, "I'm sorry that I am."

His eyes softened and as did his smile. "Don't be, its who you are."

The elevator doors creaked open, illuminating the dark elevator with a streak of bright light. I shielded my stinging eyes with my hands until they adjusted to the sudden brightness. Aden and I shuffled away from each other in an instant as the doors opened wider.

The other side of the door revealed two firemen. "You all good? Any injuries?" One of them asked, shining a flashlight over my face. Aden and I simultaneously shook our heads, "Alright, lets get you out."

I stood up, dusting off my pants as I approached the doors of the elevator. I peered down at the ground, not surprised to see we were barely a foot off the ground. But even then, one of the firemen helped me down, and same with Aden behind me, even though he refused at first.

A paramedic on sight immediately whisked me away from the elevator.

"We should get that bruise checked out," he offered —well, more like demanded since it wasn't a choice. But I shook my head.

"This wasn't from the elevator. I got this bruise from gym class," I explained with a sheepish smile, motioning to it with my finger. I heard Aden snicker behind me and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

The paramedics quickly looked over Aden and I to assess for any potential injuries, poking around my body. Right when they figured out we were both completely unharmed, they left quicker than when they arrived, leaving us standing in awkwardly with Principal Webber and the assistant principal.

"We've already contacted your guardians of this incident, you are free to go home if you wish. You're excused from the rest of your classes," Principal Webber said and immediately a smile lit up both on mine and Aden's face.

"Do you know why the elevator stopped working?" Aden asked just as Webber began turning away.

"There was a momentary power outage," Webber stated with a nonchalant shrug — not at all the reaction I expected. He left without another word, with the assistant principal—who's name I didn't know— trailing behind him.

"He's rather... emotionless," I commented to Aden.

"That's just Webber. He's always like that. I don't think he really likes any of us," he chuckled. "Come on, let's get you to the nurse's office, using the stairs."

I giggled and followed him up a staircase I'd also never been to before.

We arrived at the nurse's office within moments, a comfortable silence bathing over us as we walked. Aden knocked on the door with his knuckles and waited for a few moments before a woman's voice sounded from over the other side of the threshold, telling us to come in.

I walked in first as Aden opened the door for me, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a young nurse in her twenties. She had her blonde hair tied back into a bun and wore a white t-shirt paired with jeans. She was not at all what I expected the school nurse to look like. Back home, school nurses appeared once every month and no one ever went to see them.

She took one look at my face and huffed, "You should've come earlier, the swelling would have gone down significantly." She opened a freezer next to her and dug around for a bag of ice.

"Well, we sort of got held up," Aden explained behind me with a laugh. The nurse glanced at him and a bright smile lit up on her face as she laughed obnoxiously like it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. I rolled my eyes at her.  Clearly, she saw him as more than just a student.

She handed me a bag of ice and Aden— who seemed unfazed with the nurse suddenly acting flirtatious — left the room with me.

"Thanks for coming with me, I'm probably just gonna head home and skip last period," I told him as we walked back to the change rooms.

"No problem, Clumsy," he responded as my eyebrow shot up.

"Clumsy?"

"Suits you well doesn't it?" he smirked and I rolled my eyes again. "And no, you can't just go home, we have the chemistry lab to finish remember?" I groaned, though I was thankful that Aden had remembered since it had completely slipped my mind.

Damn chemistry. But on the other hand... I get to spend more time with Aden. On second thought, I love chemistry.

"We'll meet at the library at 4:00," he said. "Don't be late." He grinned before walking off.

I couldn't help the smile that spread over my face as I walked to the change rooms, but it faded away in a second when I saw the angry purple bruise forming over my cheek. I looked like I got punched in the face.

But on the other hand, that was a much better story to tell than running into a soccer ball.

I let out a frustrated groan.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hey guys! Hope you liked this chapter and please do vote, comment and share if you did, it would truly make my day!

I just wanted to say, thank you all so much for your support! I didn't expect it at all, and I'm just glad that people enjoy what I've written!

Everyone who has voted or commented will definitely get a dedication since I know who those people are. ❤️

~SweetnessInTheSalt

So I got tagged by CathrynneWolf  for this challenge: 13 interesting facts about me! And I'm sure those of you reading are also interested!

Rules:
1. Post the rules in your chapter
2. Write 13 things about yourself, no refusing
3. No reply? You get to choose the persons punishment (please reply cause I don't wanna punish anyone wtf 😂)
4. Has to be a chapter in a new story. NOT a comment
5. Your title has to be different and creative
6. You have to tag 10 people

So here we go... 13 interesting things about me!
1. I was born and raised in Canada

2. I just graduated high school: aka on Zoom at
6:51 pm when I handed in my last assignment.

3. I have a pet tortoise

4. I love Harry Potter (proud Slytherin)

5. I'm a Swiftie, don't judge me🙈

6. I am enrolled in a Nursing program at a university

7. I'm female (even though I think that's really obvious)

8. I like listening to music!

9. Favourite colour is blue and purple

10. I am really good at math (ended with a 96%) but I hate it lolol

11. I took high school physics and wanted to die every day of it 😂

12. I am the youngest of 3 siblings

13. I play the guitar

(Sorry if you guys don't wanna do this. Honestly I probably won't even punish you if you don't) So I tag...

florescencee The_Imagined_Voice ArushiUpmanyu GingerRoot47 someonesomewherenow TheSpadeAndAce FridayFeels fab123mia21 GirlWithSparkleEye Beautifulhoney101

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