Did I mention everything screamed money? Because it did.
He lived in a modern brick house. Two or three stories but it looked huge. And I was in too much awe to even say anything as I walked into the house after him.
I noticed he was taking his shoes off and did the same, but kept my eyes on everything else. Unlike the outside, the walls were a smooth cream color, but you hardly saw them under the countless amount of art and decor. The wooden floors were a shiny honey gold, a beautiful contrast to the light decor.
"My mom's an interior designer," I heard and my eyes snapped over to Chris.
He was watching me as I let out a breathless laugh, looking around, "She's good at it."
"Thank you," a feminine voice replied.
I did a double take for a second because I dead thought that was Chris. I even looked over at him before my attention drew to movement coming from my left.
She walked through the open space that I think probably leads to a living room of some sorts.
I swallowed hardly at her, my hands getting clammy and my heart started pounding. My hand tightened around the bouquet of flowers I forgot I was holding.
"You're home," Chris said, walking over to her. He'd told me that she was away on some project, so none of us were expecting her to be here.
I wasn't ready.
I wanna go home.
A loving smile lifted onto her face and they embraced each other. They pulled back and she held his face in her hands, "Finished early."
"How was it?" He asked.
Then she started talking designer and all I could do was look at her. She looked harmless but I knew better than to judge someone by how they looked. What intimidated me was her dark pantsuit and heals. Her strawberry blond hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail and her cheeks were rosy pink.
She was the same height as her son with her shoes on and despite a wrinkle here and there, she didn't look like she was aging.
"Well," she breathed suddenly and moved her attention to me. I stopped breathing and she eyed me thoroughly. She tilted her head a tiny bit, "You're not planning on staying the night are you?"
"Mom." Chris said firmly. He looked over at me and shook his head, saying sorry with his expression.
I smiled a little at him before averting my eyes back to her and shaking my head, "Uh- no, we're just-" I gestured to Chris and he bit down on his lip, smiling, "He's helping me," I gave him a look that told him to help me.
"Yeah, mom," he finally cut in, an amused smile on his face, "I'm helping her with her assignments. She hasn't been to school in a while."
She hummed, still eyeing me, "Do I get a name?"
I nodded, "Yeah, uh- Ariana," I waved shortly, "Hi." She hummed again and I looked away awkwardly when she just kept looking at me.
Okay then...
Chris cleared his throat loudly and I saw him nudge his mom gently in the arm.
She looked at him out of the side of her eye before clasping her hands together then letting them go, "Well get to it then," she said, turning toward her son, "Be ready for dinner." She started walking away.
"I will." Chris replies as she disappeared through another open hall.
We stood there for a moment after she left, standing in the awkward silence. He smiled sheepishly, his lips thinning and his eyebrows raised.
"Ready?" He asked.
"Yeah," I replied immediately, wanting to get out of the open in case she comes back. When I got next to him and we started walking farther into the house, I started lowly, "She's umm..."
He nodded, "That's exactly how I feel when I'm around your mom."
"Really?" I asked, looking up at him.
He laughed breathlessly and nodded, "Yeah."
I clutched his arm, letting out a breath, "Oh thank God, you can relate then." That cause him to laugh loudly.
Five hours later
"How far is your room?" I panted, halfway up the stairs, "What's this, like our fifth staircase?"
Chris rolled his eyes, turning to look back at me, four steps down, "Second, Ari. You're so dramatic." He shook his head.
"My body's hurting," I wheezed, reaching out a hand. He stared at me blankly before taking it, "Carry me."
He shook his head, "I'm not carrying you."
"Please," I panted, letting him pull me after him.
"No. How are you tired after two flights of stairs?" He retorted as we finally got to the top of the flight of stairs, "It's not even two because this flight is like, not even half of the main one."
I let out a breath, looking around the small hall. It didn't go far and there was just one door.
"I've been sitting on my couch for weeks. I think it's obvious I'm not at my peak performance," I told him, wiping my forehead with the sleeve of my shirt.
"Okay," he retorted, reaching for the doorknob and pushing the door open.
I was about to call him out on his attitude but then he stepped in and I got a glimpse of the inside.
My mouth dropped open and I felt a tingling in my legs as they threatened to give out.
"Woah," I muttered.
I'm sure I look like a fish out of water.
When he told me that his room was in the attic, I knew it was gonna be huge, but that was only one factor that made me fall in love with it.
His room was everything I've ever wanted in my life. Not really, but now it was.
It was different from the rest of the house. It looked like a cabin. I swear I was standing in a cabin. Literally, I looked back at the door to make sure we were still in the same house.
The only thing that was the same as the rest of the house were the honey gold wooden floors. Everything else was wooden. The walls, the ceiling and it just made the place feel warm even though it was cool in here.
I looked up at the ceiling, taking in all that was going on up there. His lights were hanging from several horizontal wood columns that were used to support the ceiling and in addition to that, smaller lights were tangled along them and I think the small rectangle things were pictures, hanging down from them.
The number one attraction I think was the large rectangle glass that replaced the wooden wall, smack in the middle and right in front of his bed.
"Hey," he called and I blinked, looking over at him, "Get your jaw off the floor and come here." He said.
Usually I'd respond to that, but right now, I didn't have words. So I started walking over stiffly, my eyes wandering all over.
A polished desk was pushed against the right wall with a chair pushed in and there were books and supplies strewn across the surface and a shirt was on the back of the chair.
In the far corner of the room, a flat screen TV was sitting on a high stand, facing this direction and not far away from that was a dresser, the same polished wood as his desk. Which was a dark brown color.
His low bed was probably a king size and this was the first time I've ever seen one so don't quote me. The sheets were all over the place and the bed was on a huge golden brown carpet and when I stepped on it I felt like I was in heaven.
"Did your mom do your room too?" I asked him, still looking around.
"Are you saying that I couldn't have done this by myself?" He said.
I looked down at him, telling him with my expression that that's exactly what I was saying.
He chuckled, pushing himself back on the bed and leaning back on his hands, "I told her what I was going for, next thing I knew, I came home from school and had a bunch of stuff sitting around," he shrugged, "She helped me put the room together though."
I nodded, "Is it recent?" I asked, looking up and doing a double take when I saw a huge mirror on the wall across the room.
"Uhhh..." He looked around, "You can say that. Move in here freshman year, that's not that long ago."
I nodded again, "Why is that mirror so long?" I pointed.
He looked over his shoulder, "Oh! That's actually my closet," he said, getting up and walking around the bed, toward it.
He held one side of the mirror and pulled and it slid open, showing a long rack of clothes and small encased drawers.
My jaw was yet again on the floor.
"What the fuck, Christy," I said, turning in a slow circle.
This was too much. And the sun was casting a magnificent glow through the glass and onto the bed. It looked too inviting.
I heard him let out a breath, "It's Christy this time," he muttered to himself.
"This is so- I'm so shook- I wanna go home." I turn back at him.
He stares at me blankly.
I shook my head, "I'm serious. Take me home," I reached for my bag on the edge of the bed.
"Ariana put the bag down and sit down," he said, making his way back over.
He made his way around the bed and took the bag from my hand easily as I kept looking around. I was a big fan of aesthetics if you haven't noticed and this was too much in one day for me.
"Is it really that big of a deal?" He asked, watching my face.
I fanned my face, feeling my eyes sting, "It's just so pretty- I can't-"
"Are you kidding?" He lets out a disbelieving laugh, "Ari." He said firmly.
I reached up to wipe away a stray tear, I couldn't help it. I've never seen anything like this in real life and it was so beautiful.
"Hey," he flicked my ear and I jerked, turning and smacking his hand away, "Snap out of it."
"Shut up," I glare at him, walking over to stand in front of the glass. It was slanted because of the shape of the attic and was angled toward the sky, "You don't get it. This... is... God." I took a couple steps back until the back of my knees hit the bed, then I dropped down on the edge of the bed, staring out at the tops of houses and trees.
I didn't even care that the sun was shining in my eyes. I was in love with... everything.