Page 116 of Stuck Behind Her

Val

Monday is probably the least busy day of the week. Even when school is out, it’s everyone’s back-to-work day. Which means everything else is less crowded. Which is why we are going out today, instead of yesterday. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I wasn’t able to go yesterday. Not physically or mentally.

However, when I wake up, I see Aurora is already up, drinking a cup of coffee on the couch. She’s wrapped in a blanket, and her face is slightly pale. “Good morning.” I greet, approaching her.

She twists her head to look at me behind her. “Val. Hey, how are you doing?” she asks. I walk around the couch and sit on the one adjacent to her.

“Good. You? You’re not normally awake at this time,” I point out. It’s not too early, but she’s normally never up until nine. It’s seven.

“I never do. But today, life has different plans for me,” she answers, holding up her tea. I laugh at her response. Her body then shakes for a moment, shivering.

“Are you okay? I can check the heater for you if you want,” I tell her.

She takes a sip of her tea before shaking her head. “No. I checked, it’s fine. I think I’m sick, though. Like, one of those daily sickness bugs,” she answers. I had a feeling. I mean, waking up early is normal. But tea and a blanket are serious.

“Do you need anything? I have some medicine packed.”

“No, I took some. I just wanted to ask if I can stay here today. I’ll keep Elaina with me, she won’t be a problem,” she asks.

I raise my legs and cross them on the couch. “Of course. We can cancel today, it’s fine.”

“No, I wouldn’t want you guys to cancel.”

“It’s fine, I did it yesterday. We have time for another day. Plus, it wouldn’t be good for you to stay alone while you’re sick,” I tell her. She smiles, before we hear footsteps. Ellie and Elaina both walk toward the living room.

They need to time to wake up. They obviously don’t get that. “What about us?” Ellie blurts out.

“I thought you guys were asleep,” Aurora points out, almost frowning.

“Highlight thewere,” Elaina comments. I let out a small laugh under my breath. They’re going to hate that we’ve canceled our plans again. Two days in a row. They’ll probably complain the entire day.

But Aurora’s sick and we aren’t going without her. She’s practically the only one overly hyped about this trip.

“We’re not going out today. Aurora’s tired,” I tell them.

They both look shocked, even offended. Ellie opens her mouth, as if I just threw a bomb at her. She likes to overreact.

“What! Why? We didn’t go anywhere yesterday,” Ellie complains.

“Yeah, you said we would go today instead. Why not?” Elaina follows her by saying.

Aurora takes a sip of the tea, then places it on the table. “Because your sister isn’t in the mood, Elaina,” Aurora addresses, stretching her body out on the couch to lie down.

“And we can’t leave her alone,” I follow up. They both give me big frowns, as expected. After approximately one second, Ellie’s face lights up again.

“What if Elias and Lorenzo take us?” she suggests.

“Ha, you’re funny,” I reply bluntly. That’s worse than all other ideas combined. They would kill each other. They’re on the edge of killing each other when they’re with us, I can only imagine what would happen if we aren’t there.

Elaina’s face lights up as well, as if they have hope. Useless hope, because it’s not happening.

“Come on, I won’t hate Lorenzo, and he’ll take care of me. Elias will take care of Elaina,” Ellie continues.

“And who takes care of them?” Aurora jokes, mumbling the words. She’s not wrong. I think they need taking care of more than Ellie and Elaina.

Ellie narrows her eyes at me. “You want them to solve their problems, they aren’t going to do that if they don’t interact. Plus, I’m there. I’ll turn back to Ellie Hart if they decide to fight.” She has a good point. If they keep death staring each other, they won’t get anywhere. But I don’t know. What if they do fight? I don’t want this to get worse.

I sigh. “If they agree, you can go. Although, it’s going to be hard convincing them to go.” They won’t accept. I know they won’t. But they need to talk, it’ll help clear things up. Ellie and Elaina light up again, jumping.

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