﹙ HURTS ME TOO ★ ﹚

ESTRELLA NARROWED HER EYES AS SHE FOLLOWED VIVIAN DOWN THE HALLWAY!

Dylan looked up from his open suitcase and his gaze immediately hardened at the sight of Estrella behind the door.

"Why is she here?" He questioned, trying to keep his tone light.

"The hotel made a mistake. They're overbooked and there are no more open rooms available." Vivian explained, wincing in his direction. "It's not exactly appropriate to have an adult rooming with a minor, so I decided to put her with you."

Dylan racked his brain for any excuse to not share a room with her. "You're not worried that I'm a boy?"

Vivian glanced between the two teenagers. Dylan's stance was stand-offish and Estrella insisted on sleeping in the lobby all the way down the hall. "Yeah, no."

With that, she smiled and shut the door behind herself.

"One bed." Estrella stated, her eyes lingering over the pillows.

"Yeah, because it's my room." Dylan reminded, storing his suitcase beside the nightstand.

"Be a man and sleep on the floor."

"Be a good guest and sleep on the couch. I'll get better rest knowing you're miserable."

Estrella tore her suitcase open, shoving the snacks aside and grabbing a pair of sweatpants and the first T-shirt she saw.

"I'm showering first." She told him, shoving the door open.

"Be quick. I don't want you hogging the bathroom all night." He called after her.

"An hour? Got it."

"What could you possibly be doing in there for that long?"

She didn't answer him. He sighed and dropped himself onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. This had to be torture. He'd just barely gotten away from her and now he'd be spending the rest of the night with her.

Could he throw himself out the window and escape? No, he'd probably die.

He would've argued with her insistence on entering first if he knew how long she'd really take. Two hours later, she returned, holding her bunched-up used clothing. She stored it away to wash later.

Her hair had shrunk up to her mid-back after washing it. He wanted to wrap one of the curls around his finger. Then, he wanted to smother himself into a pillow for feeling that urge.

He practically threw himself into the bathroom. She narrowed her eyes at his actions but settled onto the couch. She distracted herself with a movie, but her mind kept straying back to the way he'd hidden himself behind the door.

She rolled her eyes as he stepped back out. He flicked the lights off, encasing the room in darkness. The only sound in the room was their breathing and the light traffic outside.

Dylan could make conversation anywhere he went, with anyone. He glanced at her form, spread on the couch, a blanket draped over herself. She wasn't sleeping, was the couch really that bad?

He couldn't sleep either, even though the mattress was incredibly soft beneath him. He was tired, but he just kept looking in her direction.

Estrella glanced at the clock. 12:30 in the morning and she still couldn't fall asleep. She tossed and turned but nothing worked.

Suddenly, she stood up, tossing the blanket aside. She slipped on the Crocs placed beside the couch and grabbed her phone off the desk.

"Where are you going?" Dylan questioned, lifting himself as she approached the door.

"To get a burrito." She answered plainly, unlocking the door with her keycard.

"A burrito at midnight? From where?"

"There's a food truck open down the street."

"I'm coming with you."

"You're not invited."

"If you get killed, that's on me."

Estrella rolled her eyes as he pulled a crew neck sweater over himself and grabbed his phone. He slipped on his black Birkenstocks and followed her out the door cautiously.

At least if she got caught, he'd get in trouble, too.

They snuck out of the hotel and walked all the way down the street, the air cool and crisp. Estrella walked a foot in front of him, despite the street being empty.

Estrella looked back once when she approached the food truck to make sure he was still following. "Hola." She greeted the man standing behind the counter. "Un burrito de pollo. Gracias."

She turned back to face Dylan, her face falling into its usual neutral gaze. "What do you want?"

"Whatever you got." He shrugged.

Estrella finished the order and they both slid their money over the counter. They stood off to the side to wait.

"You speak Spanish?" He broke the awkward silence. She looked at him like he was stupid and he cleared his throat. "I just didn't know that."

"You don't know anything about me." Estrella reminded, the words leaving her lips before she could stop them. "Let's keep it that way."

"What's your problem with me? This all started because of you."

"Because of me? You said I was gross!"

He was about to deny it, but he knew what she was talking about. It was like the memory had hit him over the head. He felt as small as he'd been in 6th grade, shoving away claims of a crush with cruelty.

"You heard that?" His tone sunk into one of almost softness. "I didn't mean it, I just wanted—"

"To fit in." She nodded. "And you did, at my expense. I liked you. You don't know how bad that feels."

She never felt bad when other kids called her gross, weird, or odd. It was different when he did it. She hadn't thought he saw her in that way, but he did.

Dylan rambled on an explanation that sounded a lot more like an excuse. His words fell on deaf ears.

She'd always known he wasn't who he wanted her to be, but seeing who he'd become was stomach-churning.

He'd made fun of her for what she existed as. A half-empty backpack, clothes too big for her frame, secondhand property.

It'd once been a symbol of her poverty and he was now buying her experience. It was draped over Dylan's shoulders as if it brought him down to earth.

He was interrupted by the man behind the counter who called out their order, holding a plastic bag out. Estrella smiled and left a tip, taking the bag.

Dylan walked behind her in uncomfortable silence. She shoved the door open and he had to slip through to avoid it slamming him in the face.

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