The night air was crisp, cooling down the adrenaline of the evening as the last of the festivities wound down.
"Take Areia to your old room! It's been hollowed out, but I'm sure there are futons in there you two can use!" Lizzy called out over her shoulder, her hands busy gathering stray plates from the lawn.
"Sure," Dan sighed, pushing himself up from the grass with a grunt. "I'll go hunt down the futons first." He disappeared into the warm glow of the house, leaving the quiet of the yard behind.
Areia helped Croc haul the heavy grill into the garage, the metal wheels rattling against the pavement before the tall girl waved goodbye and headed back to her place next door. Now, the lawn felt massive and empty. Flynn and Bora were long gone, and the echo of the party was fading into the rustle of the trees. Areia took a deep breath, letting the cold wind whip through her white hair, her purple eyes scanning the yard until they locked onto Arthur. He was hunched over a wooden chair, his large frame making it look like a toy as he carefully tuned his guitar.
As she approached the balcony, Arthur offered her a can of beer without looking up.
"No thanks, I don't drink," she muttered, sliding down to sit on the smooth wooden floorboards.
"Wouldn't hurt to get a little in your system," Arthur shrugged, setting the can down on the wood with a soft thud.
An awkward silence settled between them. Unlike Lizzy, whom Areia found easy to talk to, Arthur was a bit of a mystery. He was undeniably cool, but his presence was so grounded and massive that it often left Areia feeling a bit overwhelmed, her usual sharp tongue suddenly going dry.
"So, you're both not dating, huh?" Arthur broke the silence, his voice low and steady. He pulled a cloth from his pocket and began to wipe down the neck of the guitar before giving the strings a melodic strum.
"No," Areia muttered, her gaze fixed intensely on the tips of her sneakers.
"I guess Dan is to blame for that, isn't he?" Arthur asked, a knowing smile tugging at his lips. In the dim light, his face was so striking he could have easily walked onto a movie set and started filming.
Areia nodded slowly, her eyes drifting toward the stars.
"Typical Dan," Arthur scoffed softly.
"Don't blame him," Areia said, her voice turning defensive before she could stop it. "I'm the one who isn't being upfront about it. Dan's... well, he's a bit of a dud when it comes to stuff like this." A small, bittersweet smile played on her lips.
"Look at you, defending the kid already!" Lizzy laughed, appearing from the shadows to join them. She leaned against a post, snorting in mild frustration. "Dan is an absolute fool. You're practically a catch, Areia, and he's out here being constantly aloof. It's exhausting just watching him!"
Yeah... sometimes I get frustrated too," Areia admitted with a soft, breathy laugh that got lost in the wind.
"Hey, Areia! The futons are ready!" Dan's voice cut through the air as he stepped out onto the porch, absentmindedly scratching the back of his head. He stopped dead when he realized all three of them were staring at him with varying levels of intensity.
"What?" he asked, looking back and forth between them. "Did I grow a second head?"
"Nothing," Areia smiled, pushing herself up and brushing the dust and grass clippings from her black jeans. "Goodnight, Mr. and Mrs. Shula!" She beamed at them before walking over to join Dan.
"I know we've already taken a million photos of you two in those matching outfits," Lizzy said, a sly, predatory grin spreading across her face as she reached for her phone. "But seeing you both standing there right now... I can't help it. I need more!"
"They're Areia's," Dan said, looking down at the Mystery Robot character on his chest. A sudden, gentle breeze caught his dark, crimson-streaked hair, and for a fleeting second, his expression softened into a genuine, rare smile. "She suggested we wear them."
Areia froze. She stared at him, her heart doing a strange little flip in her chest. Did he just smile? she thought, her purple eyes wide. Like, for real? I've never seen him look like that...
"Is there something on my face?" Dan asked, leaning in slightly to stare directly into her eyes, completely oblivious to the internal crisis he was causing.
"Incredible," Areia whispered, her voice dazed and distant.
"What? What's incredible?"
"Well, maybe there are some ulterior motives involved in this hoodie situation," Lizzy called out, clearly missing the silent, electric moment that had just sparked between the two teens.
"Let's go to bed! We have classes tomorrow!" Areia said hurriedly, her face heating up as she grabbed Dan by the arm and practically shoved him through the doorway to hide her blushing.
Back on the balcony, Arthur watched them disappear into the house, then looked at Lizzy and smiled. It was a deep, knowing look. Lizzy smiled back and moved toward him, settling onto his lap like it was the most natural place in the world for her to be.
"So, what's your song for tonight?" she asked sweetly, resting her chin on his shoulder.
Arthur looked at her—taking in her wild mane of red hair, those sharp, playful teeth, and the fierce beauty in her reddish eyes(he said them out loud for here to hear). He strummed a soft, melodic chord that seemed to resonate with the very air around them.
"I think I'll go with 'The Girl of My Dreams,'" Arthur said softly, his voice like velvet.
Lizzy's face flushed a deep, beautiful red as she threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. "I think... I'd like that very much," she whispered.
The moon hung high over the Shula bungalow, casting a pale, silver glow through the window of Dan's old room. It was sparse and hollowed out, but nestled in her futon, Areia felt a strange, grounding comfort. The air was cool, smelling of night dew and the faint, lingering scent of the barbecue.
She lay perfectly still, but she could feel it—that prickling sensation on the back of her neck. Her eyes darted to the side where Dan was supposed to be sleeping.
"Quit staring," she whispered into the quiet.
"You're making me uncomfortable."
Dan let out a soft, stifled laugh and rolled onto his other side, facing away from her. "I saw a post saying girls have a sixth sense for being watched, so I was testing the theory. Took you long enough to notice, though. Are you sure you're actually a girl?"
"No, I'm a man," Areia replied, her voice dropping into a hilariously gravelly baritone. "And I specialize in haunting vulnerable boys at night. Watch your back."
Dan chuckled, the sound vibrating softly through the floorboards. Areia's deep voice cracked, and she went back to her normal tone, a small blush creeping onto her cheeks as she stared at the silhouette of his back. Her white hair was spread across the pillow like a vast, silky spiderweb. Outside, the muffled, melodic chords of Arthur's guitar drifted through the walls, making the pull of sleep feel heavy and inevitable.
"Hey, Dan?" Areia asked, her voice small. "Do you have someone you like right now? And I mean... romantically."
The room went deathly silent. Areia could practically hear the gears grinding in Dan's head. He was either overthinking it into oblivion or he had drifted off mid-sentence.
"It'd be safe to say so," Dan finally responded, his voice low.
"Oh yeah?" Areia yawned loudly, her consciousness beginning to fray at the edges. "Is it someone I know?" she drifted, her words slurring as she slipped toward a dream.
"Yeah," Dan said after a long pause. He tucked his face deep under the edge of his futon, his skin feeling uncharacteristically hot. "You know her better than anyone."
He waited for a witty comeback or a shove, but only the steady, rhythmic sound of Areia's breathing answered him. She was out cold.
Dan stared at the dark wall, his mind suddenly a chaotic mess of realizations. If she hadn't asked that, I don't think I would have even noticed, he thought, his heart thudding against his ribs like a trapped bird. Since when? Or has it just always been like this?
He closed his eyes, the question echoing in his empty mind as sleep finally claimed him, leaving the two of them in a quiet, moonlit stalemate.