reticent

18

• AMALIA •

"Wake up, angel."

I peel my eyes open to see Elijah sitting beside me on the bed. He smiles. "Wanna go see a movie?"

     "I'm tired." I mumble.

     "Not right now." He says. "Later, with Xander and I."

     "I have to go to dance." I reply. Then I sit up, a small bud of excitement running through me. "I'm supposed to meet with the magazine lady."

He grins. "How about after?"

"Maybe."

"I'll book the tickets anyway. There's a new movie Don't Worry Darling out. You wanna see that?"

     "Okay." I reply.

     "Alright." He kisses my cheek. "You can go back to sleep now."

I shrug. "I'm already up. I'm gonna shower."

He nods and stands, walking over to the door. He's about to leave when he turns back and says, "Lia."

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too." I say.

He smiles at me before leaving.

My phone starts to ring on my nightstand. I rub the tiredness out of my eyes before grabbing it.

Frankie's name flashes across the screen, and I sigh before answering, putting it on speaker because I'm too tired to hold it to my ear. "Hey."

     "Hey. I wanna talk to you about last night."

     I stay silent.

     "I'm sorry. I was just upset. I thought you liked him and," he sighs, "I got jealous. C'mon, Amalia, it's obvious he likes you. And I didn't mean anything I said. You know I didn't."

     "Okay."

     "Like, you forgive me?"

     "Yeah." I mumble. Whatever causes less arguments.

     I press a hand to my pillow, finding that it's no longer soaked in my tears from last night, after my father left.

     "Thank you, babe." He says.

I cringe at the nickname.

"Can we meet up today?" He asks.

"I'm busy."

"With what?" He asks.

"I've got dance. I have to meet up with someone for my cover, then—"

"Cover?"

"My magazine cover. I told you I was doing that." I say.

"Oh. I must've forgotten. Why don't I come watch you?" He suggests.

"I—"

"Where is it?"

I don't want him to come watch me. It's already stressful, and I'm afraid he'll make it worse. Nevertheless, I find myself croaking out: "All Stars."

"Okay. What time?"

I stroke Petals back as I say: "two."

"Alright, I'll see you there."

He ends the call.

I groan into my pillow.

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