Feeling of Home

I'm flying. I'm flying through the clouds as effortlessly as a golden bird and as I fly, a cloud fills my vision. On the clouds, there's a cute little cottage. As I knock on the door of the baby lilac cottage, the door opens and a guy answers the door. My jaw drops as I realize who it is.

"Lena." He says.

"Liam." I answer. My heart swells with joy as we...

"Get up." A voice tickles my ear. I'm mad at my parents for waking me up when I was having a great dream!. Wait... My parents are usually never home. I rip open my lids to the piercing light and right above me are beautiful pine green eyes. I scream and push Pine off of the lilac comforter. He lands on the flowery carpet with a huff. I completely forgot I was at Pine's house.

"Dude. Don't do that, I know Tae Kwon Do. Don't mess with me. Besides, you said you were gonna let me sleep in because I just got here last night! And you said you were sleeping in the sleeping bag last night." I rolled my eyes.

"I got cold and climbed in here." He shrugged. My mouth dropped. I slept next to him the whole night? I covered my nightdress with the sheets, suddenly feeling embarrassed. He got up and I immediately covered my eyes with the sheets.

"Bruh! Where's your shirt?" I screamed again.

"I don't sleep with a shirt." He shrugs again.

"Ok, we need to get to school. I heard that there's a guy transferring today. Hopefully, we'll get some options!!" I grin, knowing that'll hit Pine's spot. He rolls his eyes and starts to put on his shirt. "Thank gosh." I mutter. He glares at me and I shrug, running into the bathroom to change. I've just finished changing when Pine barges into the bathroom.

"Woah! Close call dude." I put my hand up and his face is confused. "I just finished changing." He shrugs AGAIN and walks into the shower, stripping as he goes. I ran out of the bathroom, gagging. I stomp downstairs and a steaming bowl of ramen and an egg is waiting for me. I smile and think of how thoughtful Pine can sometimes be. There's a cinnamon roll next to it and I gratefully, dutifully inhale the entire thing. I stuff myself with the ramen and slurp down the egg, loving the taste, he even remembered that I like my ramen with 3/4 regular packets and a quarter spicy packet. He tromps down the stairs just as I'm washing my dishes and he grabs a breakfast bar that's the size of a peanut.

"You're not eating anything?" I ask him.

"I'm gonna buy breakfast at Lilac." He says, referencing our middle school.

"C'mon, Claire'll be here any second," I say, talking about the girl who gives us a ride on Mondays. Claire and I used to be friends because I met her at BOBArn when she worked there. We don't really talk anymore but we're still kinda tight. He stuffs the peanut breakfast bar in his mouth and grabs his bag, also grabbing mine in the process. I roll my eyes at him and throw him his math notebook that he left on the table. "You almost forgot this!" He was probably leaving it on purpose. We both hate math.

"Thanks." He mumbled, his breakfast bar still being chewed. I lightly smack him.

"Don't speak while you're chewing." He rolls his eyes, impersonating me and I smack him again.

"Ok, mom."He says, clearly annoyed by all the smacking. Claire honks twice from the street to let us know she's here. I snatch my bag from Pine's hands and run outside, the crisp clear air against my skin. Pine comes out less fairy tale-like, finishing up the last of his "breakfast bar" and heads toward Claire's silver Tesla. I take shotgun seat and she looks at the both of us in quiet confusion.

"So, why am I picking up the both of you here at Pine's house? I stopped at Lena's house and you weren't there, Lena. " Claire looks at me accusingly. Claire's nice but sometimes, she can be super gossipy. Clearly she thinks me and Pine were doing something. My face flushes and Pine turns away from Claire. Neither of us say anything and Claire shrugs and drives us to our middle school.

"Don't burn down the school. Learn stuff!" She yells as she speeds away to her high school. We walk into the school for our first period and we don't wanna separate. Thankfully, our first periods are right next to each other, I have Algebra 1 and Pine has FACs. He comes out smelling like cinnamon and I come out, totally tired from the 9th grade math. I run into his arms as our classes end and he embraces me. I melt to the ground and land face down on the floor. I can't make it through the rest of the day. I run to my second period before the late bell rings. As I enter my second period like I've got all the time in the world, my heart stops. Because there, sitting there in the seat next to me, is Liam Arrow. A small shriek escapes my mouth and everyone's head turns towards me. I put my head down and walk fast to my desk. Liam gives me a smile but I can't comprehend the world around me. Liam's in high school, right? So, why is he here. In my school. Sitting in the seat next to me. A small tap on my shoulder makes me jump a little, especially when I see that it's Liam tapping me, his soulful green eyes crinkled and his braces glinting as his smile widens. My face is frozen as his eyes lock onto me and the world freezes.

"My name is Liam. Um, do I know you?" He asks, tilting his head.

"Uh-uh-um, y-y-yeah!" I stammer. My gosh, I could slap myself right now. WHY AM I ACTING LIKE THIS?? This is so embarrassing. I gather myself and act bored.

"Yeah, my name's Lena Marlowe. I'm Hunter's adoptive sister." His face widens with recognition. I shrug and the bell rings. Oh my God. I literally just missed the entire class. I make it through the rest of the day successfully avoiding Liam. Now I just need to ride home to Pine's house.

I almost fall asleep on Pine's shoulder on the bus ride home and he sits perfectly still, his hand on my shoulder. I sit up, our stop is approaching and I turn to ask him something and his face is inches away from mine. My heart stops and I can smell the cinnamon from FACs on his breath. Our lips are 2 inches away and we're both breathing heavily, our eyes wide open. I'm the one who closes the distance and we sit like that, his hand sliding down to my waist and our lips connected. The bus stops and we head outside.

"Does this mean I can sleep in the bed tonight? And not be shoved off in the morning?" He asks hopefully. I playfully shove him and we head inside, hands connected, my head on his shoulder. The feeling of home is back, never have I felt more at home, than with him.