Page 55 of Teach Me How To Fly

“So we do have a bathroom,” I said as Anna tried to turn on the lights.

“This is not working!” she yelled as she hit the switch.

“Let me see.”

She moved away from it and looked at me as I was analyzing it. It was old and it wouldn’t have been a surprise if it didn’t work. I narrowed my eyes and pressed the switch, but when the light bulb tried to ignite, a deafening, short-circuiting sound filled the room, and bright sparks jumped out of it. Annalise let out a light scream and came closer to me.

“I guess we have to find some candles,” I said, letting out a giggle.

“Lucky us that I’ve found some when I was searching for something to clean the dust with,” she quickly replied.

I looked down at her and now that she was standing in front of me, with the vague light from outside caressing her body, I realized that I wanted to take advantage of the situation.

I wantedto kiss her so hard that she might forget everything that happened. The darkness was molding into our souls, and our hearts were beating together, being the only sound we could hear.

“But do you think we have water here?”

And with that she took me out of the trance I fell into.

I narrowed my eyes as I tried to distinguish what I was feeling in the bathroom, and the moment I walked towards what seemed like a bathtub, I saw beside it a copper boiler with a little metallic door opened under it.

I turned on the water and smiled as I saw that it was working, but it was as cold as a glacier. We had to make a fire in the boiler so we could have hot water to wash ourselves with.

“We have water, but I have to make a fire in this boiler so we don’t freeze to death in here,” I said, turning off the water.

“Great.”

She sounded upset, but didn’t say anything more than that. We left the bathroom and checked the other two rooms that were also bedrooms.

It was a cabin for a big family, or maybe for parties with lots of people considering it had three bedrooms and a big living room downstairs.

As we went back to the living room, I put a few more pieces of wood into the fire, and smiled satisfied as the entire room started to get warmer.

The temperature outside was colder now that we were in the middle of October. Considering the way Annalise was scratching her arms and trying to hide in the hoodie she wore, she was cold.

I watched the fire while she wiped the sofa and disappeared for a few moments somewhere in the hallway. When she came back, she was holding two big blankets and some pillows that looked like they might fall at any moment from her hands.

I rushed to take them for her, then we walked together to the sofa to make the bedding together. Once we finished, I threw myself on its surface and raised my gaze towards Anna.

“Come here,” I told her, patting the spot beside me.

She glanced at me, then at the spot I was patting, and she finally made the decision to sit there and snuggle into the comfy blanket.

The sound of wood under the power of the flames created a cozy atmosphere I actually loved. We kept the silence, but the moment I tried to let my eyelids fall, I opened my eyes quickly as I felt Annalise’s hands moving around my body and her head resting on my chest. She inhaled deeply and sighed, then she started playing with the material of my blouse.

“Are you disgusted with me?”

Fuck it, this girl was literally playing with my patience and my anger.

“Annalise, you should reconsider the question you just asked me, and then I will think about whether I’ll give you an answer or not.”

“No, Maksen, I’m serious,” she briefly replied. “Because I wouldn’t blame you if you were. I am too.”

Fuck it.

Twice.

I put my hands on her and made her sit up on her elbows to look at me. She pinned me with her eyes, yet this time I didn’t see any fear in them. She seemed worried.

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