Sarah obviously wasn't going to go to the basement so Lucy stepped up. She headed over to the door and she opened it as quietly as she could. The stairs creaked beneath her feet as she walked down them. Lucy saw that the sliding glass door was open.
Did dad accidentally leave it open?
Lucy continued searching for whatever had made that sound. She picked up a nearby broom and made little tapping sounds to scare out whatever was there. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a little bunny hop into sight.
"Awww. You're so cute!"
The bunny got scared and quickly hopped back outside. Lucy shut the sliding door and went back upstairs.
"W-well.. w-what was it," Sarah asked.
"Just a cute little bunny. You should've seen it, it was so cute."
"Awwww."
They stayed up a little after 1 am and then went to bed. Lucy's bed was big enough for the both of them to sleep in.
Lucy woke up to the sound of birds outside her window. She looked next to her and Sarah was still asleep. She walked over to her father's room and kissed his forehead. He had bags under his eyes.
He must've been up really late last night.
Lucy went downstairs and decided to make pancakes for breakfast. She pulled out a pan and made up the batter. She put on some music and turned the volume on low. While dancing around the kitchen, Lucy felt like she was being watched. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the shadowy figure from before.
"Please don't stop on my account," the figure said.
"W-who are you.."
"You'll find out in time my dear, but for now I must be going."
The shadowy figure dispersed just as Sarah was coming down the steps.
"What's the matter Lucy? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I-it's nothing."
"If you say so." Sarah paused for a second. "Anyways! What kind of pancakes are we making," she asked, leaning over Lucy's shoulder.
"Just the usual."
"Perfect."
Just as Lucy was finishing up the pancakes, she heard her father coming down the steps.
"Good morning dad."
"Good morning Mr. Roswell."
"Good morning girls. Is that pancakes I smell?"
"Yup."
"Excellent."
When Lucy finished, they all sat around the kitchen table and ate. They talked for a bit, discussing school and work.
After breakfast, Lucy's dad headed out for work. Sarah ended up leaving a couple minutes later. She had gotten a phone call from her mom saying she needed to watch her siblings. They all said their goodbyes and Lucy went to go sit in front of the TV. She turned on The Flintstones. Lucy always watched it as a child and it always seemed to put a smile on her face.
The next day at school, Lucy had to present a project. It went better than she expected. It felt like Owen was watching her the whole time. Kids don't normally care when someone presents. Lucy didn't like it.
At lunch, Lucy and Sarah sat down at their usual table. A couple minutes later, a boy in a black sweatshirt came up to them.
"Mind if I sit with you guys?"
"Of course not," Lucy smiled.
"Thanks."
His hood was up so they couldn't see his face but they decided not to ask him to take it off.
"So, I don't recognize you. Are you new," Sarah asked.
"Well.. not really.. I'm just not normally noticed by my classmates.."
"Oh.. well.. we've noticed you now." Sarah tried to save herself.
"Yeah! You can sit with us whenever. You're pretty chill," Lucy added.
"Really?"
"Of course."
They both gave him a kind smile. His face went a little red under his hood.
They all got to know each other a bit more but he seemed especially interested in Lucy.
"Oh! We forgot to ask. What's your name?"
"It's Aaron."
"Cool name. I'm Sarah and this is Lucy."
"You guys have cool names too."
"Thanks."
The bell rang signaling lunch was over. They each separated and went to their different classes. Owen was in Lucy's last period class and he didn't seem happy. He kept looking over at her and it made her very uncomfortable.
After class, Lucy waited until everyone had left the classroom before she did. As she was walking out, a hand grabbed her wrist. She whipped around to see Owen with an irritated expression.
"What's your problem," Lucy stated.
"I don't like it when you're around that Aaron kid."
"What's it to you? I don't even know you."
"You're going to stop hanging around him!"
His grip tightened on Lucy's wrist.
"Ow."
"You're going to listen to me."
"The hell I am!"
At that point a teacher came out and separated the two of them. Lucy grabbed her wrist and saw there was a giant bruise. She glared at Owen and he glared back.
On her way home, Lucy ran into Aaron.
"Hey Lucy," he smiled.
His hood was off and Lucy could see his face clearly. Aaron had short, raven-black hair and fair skin. His eyes were a beautiful shade of hazel. He was gorgeous.
Lucy didn't realize she was staring until Aaron's words brought her back.
"Lucy? Are you okay?"
"What? Oh. Yeah, I'm fine," she said embarrassed.
"If you say so. Want me to walk you home?"
"If you want."
"Of course."
On the way, Aaron caught a glimpse of Lucy's wrist.
"What happened?"
Lucy quickly covered it.
"I-it's nothing. Don't worry about it."
"Lucy. Are we friends?"
"Yes."
"Then of course I'm going to worry about it. Now let me see it."
They both stopped and Aaron took Lucy's hand and inspected it. His hands were gentle as they moved her hand around. Lucy's face went a little red.
"It looks pretty bad. Do you have any first aid at home?"
"I think so."
"Good, I'll help you bandage it up."
"Aaron, I'm fine, really."
"It'll help it heal faster Lucy."
"Ok.. but only a little."
They arrived at Lucy's house and she went to go grab the first aid kit. Aaron put some kind of liquid on it then bandaged it up.
"How's that?"
"It feels a lot better. Thanks Aaron," she smiled.
"Anytime."