“Not everything. Not yet. But, I’m working on it.”
His reply sounds so cryptic that I can’t help but to notice. I feel his lips on my forehead as sleep overwhelms me.
“Go to sleep, Luciernaga. I got this,” he says.
The alarm clock rings relentlessly as I open my eyes again. He’s gone. Of course. And except for the aches and the scent of his body in my sheet, there is no evidence that he was here. The meticulous way he covers his tracks is disconcerting. I guess you don’t get a reputation as the boy who gets away with murder by being sloppy. But still, to my chagrin, I wish he was here when I woke up. I wish there was something in this room that said that he would be back.
I kick that psychotic thought away as I shrug on my bathrobe and make my way into the bathroom.
“Rough night?” Shannon meets me in the hall and hands me a cup of coffee.
“It was alright.”
“It sounded like a whole lot better than alright from where I was laying.” She smacks me on the rear and smiles wickedly.
“Don’t you have homework?”
“Nice try Aunt Kim. But youaregoing to have to dish at some point. Since my good name is being dragged through the mud so you can have this love affair, you better dish,” she insists.
“I’m sorry,” I say solemnly. Meaning it. I never wanted her to cover my behind. I knew people would assume that she was the one dating Zayne, but I never wanted it to hurt her reputation. Girls can be so mean. And jealous girls are the absolute worst.
“Oh, I’ve got it under control. But I do want details. So how big is it? Is he as good as they say he is?”
“You’re so gross,” I say, disappearing into the bathroom.
I look at myself in the mirror and try to get a grip on what is happening. I have a boyfriend. I have a lover? I am in an inappropriate relationship with a student. A hot student. A hot SENIOR. Although all the features staring back at me are mine, none of them look the way I remember.
“You can’t hide from me Aunt Kim. You’re glowing!” Shannon shouts from outside the door.
I can’t help but smile. I am glowing. It only took a quarter of a century, but I finally have that glow. I take extra time in the shower this morning, using some of Shannon’s expensive shampoo and body wash. I even blow dry my hair and do one of those Charlie’s Angels hair flips in the mirror.
“You’re so pretty when you’re in love,” Shannon says as we leave the house. The words “in love” bring me up short. I don’t know if we’ve gone that far. And if by some miracle, I have taken the plunge and fallen in love with him without even knowing it, that doesn’t mean he feels the same way.
“Don’t read too much into it. I used your body wash and moisturizer thing,” I say, dismissing the charges.
“Nope, that’s post-coital glow right there. And that smile you can’t seem to shake. That means you’re in love.” Shannon teases me the entire ride to school, recounting the story of our romance and filling in the blanks with her imagination. I almost like the way she tells it better.
“And now, here you are at school, trying to pretend that he isn’t the one who lit you up like a…like…”
“A firefly,” I interject.
“Yeah, like a firefly. I like that,” she says, hopping out of the car as soon as I turn the engine off. “Do you have pet names for each other yet?”
“No, I usually just call him Zayne,” I admit.
“And what does he call you?”
I pause for a moment before giving in. If I can’t trust Shannon, who in the world can I trust.
“Luciernaga,” I say. Firefly.