Day Sixty: Meet Aurora

So, I'm pretty shit at texting.

For all the game I have in person (ha!), and the ability I have to make girls fall for me after one conversation, the tradeoff is that I can't text to save my life. I come off as too passive-aggressive and bitchy, I use the wrong emojis to show how I'm feeling, and flirting? Absolute trainwreck. I swear I can feel them drying up every time I try.

Which makes the fact that Aurora still texts me after three days pretty surprising.

It's too soon to tell if she likes me or not, I mean she seems kinda flirty but that may just be her personality. After all, I've only known her for like three days. Like take this exchange from last night for example:

ANNA: It's not too bad, the bed's nice I guess.

AURORA: Well yeah, it's yours haha. Of course it's nice. ;)

ANNA: True.

AURORA: But we should probably get some sleep huh?

ANNA: ...it's only 10.

AURORA: Fine, *I* should get some sleep. Gotta work tomorrow.

ANNA: Oh, then yeah you probs should. Don't let me keep you up.

AURORA: Too late for that haha. Besides, it might take awhile for me to go to sleep anyways, bed feels kinda cold tonight. :(

ANNA: Oh. Well it shouldn't take long for you to warm it up. *finger gun emoji*

AURORA: Lol goodnight

ANNA: Night. Talk to you tomorrow.

AURORA: Can't wait ;)

It's confusing, I feel like there's something here but I'm not entirely sure. Besides, I don't even know if she's single. Hell, I don't even know if she's into girls. These are questions I should ask, but there's no way in hell I'm asking that through text. Besides, my track record when it comes to getting information hasn't been the best lately.

Me and Elsa still haven't talked and, me being me, I haven't breached the subject yet. But my defense, I still don't know what she is to me. I already said that saying we were just roommates didn't feel right. But if it's more than that, then I'm gonna have to do some serious reflecting. And I'm not up for that right now.

What I am up for is spending some time with Aurora, who hit me up like half an hour ago asking if I wanted to hang out. Obviously I said yes, and now I'm just laying on my bed waiting for her to pick me up. I don't know what we're gonna do, but I feel like it's gonna be good. Exciting, even. Which is something I haven't felt in a while, not since I moved in here anyway.

It's not like Elsa's some stick in the mud, but she's never been very adventurous and spontaneous. I guarantee that she stressed over asking me to go watch a movie a couple of weeks ago. I never asked her to be impulsive and all that, because I was impulsive enough for the both of us. But she rarely ever surprised me or did something just for the hell of it.

With Aurora, it's different. I've only known her for a few days, but I can already tell it's different with her.

It's a good different, I think. It's a different that I need right now.

My phone buzzes, and I know who it is before I even check the message.

AURORA: I'm out in the lobby. Get your butt down here already, gosh.

I can't help the smile on my face when I read it, and I sit up. I look over my outfit in the bathroom mirror- which I totally didn't agonize over for like thirty minutes. When I don't see any embarrassing stains and tears aside from the intentional tears in my jeans, I open the door to grab my shoes.

And then my soul leaves my body when I see Elsa on the other side.

"Holy shit, you scared me," I say as my soul comes back to me.

Elsa winces, "Sorry, I...the door was unlocked."

"Remember the last time you came into my room just cause the door was unlocked?"

"You told me that I could!"

"Yeah, well I...that's because I- ugh, whatever! Just…" I sigh, "Hi. What is it?"

Elsa's got her hands in her pockets, she put them there after I had my mini heart-attack, and she hasn't taken them out. I get the sense that if they were out, she'd be tapping them against the doorframe because I can already tell she's gonna ask me for something. This doesn't seem like she just wanted to know how I was doing.

"H-how are you doing?"

Oh, guess I was wrong. Either way, I can't have this conversation right now because Aurora's waiting for me. I gotta make this quick, but I don't want it to seem like I don't want to talk to her...even though I kinda don't (Woah, triple-negative there. Good job, Anna). I put on a smile and try not to make it too obvious that I'm looking past her, "I'm good, yeah I'm doing good today. Sorry I'm just in a hurry, need to meet somebody in the lobby."

"Oh! Uh, I'm sorry I didn't know...who-who are you meeting?"

Seriously? Now she cares? Okay that's kinda mean, I shouldn't doubt that Elsa cares. I have every right to because we're not dating anymore, and there are some days she doesn't seem like she wants to talk to me, and...where was I going with this? Oh right, she's finally talking to me after almost a week. "A friend," I reply, "We're gonna go out and do something, I'm not sure yet."

"Oh. Okay, well don't let me keep you." She says that, but she also hasn't moved from her spot in front of the fucking door, the only exit from this bathroom that I'm trapped in. I see her feet shuffle a little bit, she probably knows that she's in my way, but she doesn't unblock the doorway. One of her hands has magically found its way out of her jean pockets and is now resting on her elbow. "I…"

"What is it?" The faster I get her to spill, the faster I can get out of here. "There's obviously something on your mind, Elsa."

She looks at me and then looks at the floor, and I can already sense she's going to say something guilty or self-deprecating. "I-I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for cornering you on your birthday. And for not talking to you until now. Could...could I make it up to you somehow? Maybe we could go shopping for a late birthday present? Not right now obviously since apparently you have plans, but maybe tomorrow?"

Well, it was sort of self-deprecating, but more surprising if anything. But then, Elsa's been full of surprises this past couple of months. "Are you sure you want to?"

She shrugs, "It's not about what I want. Well, actually what I want is to make it up to you by doing whatever you want. Does that make sense?"

"Yes and no? Elsa, there's really nothing that you have to make up for."

"But I feel like there is. So could I please make it up to you? I care about you Anna, and I want to…" She immediately stops talking, and I immediately know why.

The fact that she can barely look at me now confirms my suspicions.

What else can you really say after telling your ex-girlfriend/roommate/whatever that you care about them?

She shakes her head, "Actually, could we just forget that I said anything? Please?"

I don't know what possesses me to ask this. Maybe it's because I'm a fan of cruel irony and karmic justice, or maybe it's because my curiosity gets the best of me: "What am I to you, Elsa?"

Elsa doesn't look surprised, it's like she saw it coming, but she does wince again. It's definitely an unfair question, and I regret it right after asking. If I can't explain what she means to me, then there's no way Elsa can. I shake my head, deciding to put her out of her misery, "You know what? That was unfair for me to ask, so you don't have to answer. Besides, I gotta go anyway."

There's no graceful way to do this, so I just pat her arm and ease my way past her. When I finally get to my door, that's when she finds her voice again. At least for the moment. "Anna, wait…"

But I can't do this right now. Literally can't. Aurora's waiting for me. "Elsa, it's fine. We can talk about this after I get back. Or maybe we don't. But right now I have to go. I'll see you later, okay?"

I don't wait for a response, I just leave her there. Standing in my room. Looking guiltier than I feel.

"Put this on and let's go."

That's all Aurora has to tell me before we're cruising along the Arendelle coastline on her motorcycle. The city's got a different feel to it under the amber-brown tint of her spare helmet, and I'm not gonna lie when I say that it feels nice wrapping my arms around her leather-clad waist. She hasn't told me where we're going, what we're doing, and how long the drive's gonna take; I'm literally and figuratively just along for the ride. And it's so thrilling, it almost makes me forget that I left Elsa alone to feel guilty about not answering a question I couldn't answer either.

Almost.

I'd ask Aurora where she's taking me, but I doubt she'd hear me from the roar of her bike and the wind rushing around us. Kinda wish I wore my leather jacket so that we'd at least be matching. When I got to the lobby and I saw her in her skinny jeans, high-tops, and tight leather jacket, I almost forgot how to be human for a second. My mouth and brain stopped working, and I swear my legs and arms were going to be next before she tossed me the helmet and I snapped back to reality.

We drive past the business district, past the pretentious beach houses, past the coast, and into the mountains where rich people live to get away from us poor folk (except for Mr. Arendelle, who lives on the top floor of Arendelle Towers). We drive till it seems like it's just us on the road, and right before I start thinking that she's decided to kidnap me and take me to an entirely different state, we stop right at the entrance to this massive mountainside home. It's quiet up here, and even more so when Aurora shuts off her engine.

I take off my helmet and walk up right next to her. "This your place?" I ask jokingly, although it wouldn't surprise me if it actually was.

She scoffs, "I couldn't afford a house like this in a million years. Saw that they were doing renovations when I was up here a couple weeks ago. Got to talking with one of the workers and he said they can't move forward with any other plans until the owners cough up more money. Which means…"

Aurora steps toward the large metal gate that keeps this house from the evils of the outside world, and feels around the curves and edges of the design. Next thing I know, she's climbing the gate with an ease that tells me she's done this before, maybe even recently. My suspicions are confirmed when she disappears for a second behind the brick wall, and the gate slides open.

"Which means we've got the place to ourselves," she continues with a proud smile. "Come on, Red."

I knew this would be an interesting day, and now my mind is spinning with so many different questions. As I catch up to her, I start with the most important one: "Did you just call me Red?"

"Yeah, cause of your hair," she draws a circle around my head with her finger for emphasis. "Like redhead, you know? But shorter and cooler."

"Um, I'm not really a redhead. My hair's more of a fiery orange," I argue. "Been like that since I was a baby."

"Would you rather I call you Orange, then?" She jokes.

I'd rather she call me hers.

...alright, dial it back Anna.

"You could just call me Anna. I mean that is my name."

"Hmm...nah, I like Red better." She gives me a wink before getting ahead of me and almost skipping up the steps that lead to the front door. Once again, I'm left taken by surprise and struggling to find more words to say. In what's becoming a running theme, unfortunately, she's the first girl that's left me this tongue-tied since Elsa.

Aurora's peering through the circular glass window at the top of the door when I get up the steps. "I doubt anyone's in here, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Speaking of which… "Are you sure it's okay for us to be here? A cop could drive around that bend and see your bike chilling by the gate."

"Trust me, the cops never come up here. And if they do, I'll just sweet-talk our way out of trouble." She tugs on the handle, and the door opens without any hesitation. It was probably already unlocked- which is still surprising- but I pretend it opened for her because she's so damn charming. "Now…let's have some fun."

I follow her as she walks in with a confidence that we're not gonna get arrested or mugged by a hobo. The interior looks like an unfinished sketch. The furnished rooms like the library and living room are draped in plastic wrapping to keep debris from getting on it from the unfurnished rooms. Which, by the way, are pretty empty and depressing. The walls are a bunch of plaster and wood frame, and the floors are concrete or scattered wood planking. I expect Aurora to uncover the plastic on one of the couches, but instead she walks through the doorway of what I think is supposed to be a kitchen. She wipes off the dust on the granite island countertop and hops on to it, and then she stretches her arms out wide.

"Make yourself at home!" She exclaims, and so I do.

I hop up next to her, getting a different and better view of this...well it would be my dream house if I was honest. Multiple rooms, a staircase that leads to the second floor that I can slide down, and I'm sitting in the kitchen with someone I don't have to pretend to like. Someone that, from the afternoon sun peeking through the window, has a glow that makes her smile almost as bright as her hair. I can't help the sigh of relief that comes out of my lips.

"What's up?" Aurora asks.

I shake my head, "It's nothing, just...never done something like this before."

"You mean breaking into a stranger's house?" She giggles, "Yeah, it's not exactly a typical life experience. It's good to know that you're easily pleased, though, it'll make this next part more exciting for you."

"What do you mean?"

She doesn't say anything, she just leans in closer. And I feel the rest of the air leave my lungs.

I didn't expect this to be happening so soon, I didn't expect this to be happening at all. But it is, and I'm finally getting my answer as to how Aurora feels about me. It's exhilarating, a rush I haven't felt in so long that comes from knowing that the attraction is mutual. One-off dates and one night stands can never fit the shoes of this feeling, and I couldn't have picked a better spot for this to be happening. Hell, I didn't even have to pick that spot.

Aurora's face is inches away, and I see her hand reaching up to hold my cheek. I smile like a goddamn idiot and close my eyes, waiting for that kiss that seals the deal.

...and then I feel her hand brush the top of my head.

I open my eyes, coming back down to the harsh reality that is my shit-filled, unsatisfying life when I don't feel her do anything else. Aurora's pulled back and is patting the hand that was on my head across her jeans. "Sorry, you had some dust in your hair." She shrugs and slides off the countertop, and I'm left sitting dumbfounded as she walks to another room. "Now get your ass over here, Red! Let's have some fun!"

I agree to everything she wants to do both out of curiosity, and to distance myself from the mortifying embarrassment I was feeling.

We've been in this house for who knows how long now. All I know is that the sun has set a little bit more and is barely visible from the windows we opened to air out the overwhelming paint smell. Which we caused after knocking down a scaffold full of paint cans.

...we were trying to grab the paint to decorate one of the walls.

Which we still ended up doing after scraping as much of it as possible back into the cans. Turns out she's a bit of an artist, because of course. Using a bunch of half-empty cans of paint, and a few brushes, she made this gorgeous mural that looked like a neon sunset. It was beautiful enough to almost keep me from asking about the consequences of putting something this permanent on a house that wasn't ours.

"Don't think the owners will be too happy with this being up in their dining room," I tell her as I continue to look at it in awe.

Aurora pats her hands on her jeans and places them on her hips, also admiring her handiwork, "Nonsense, I think it adds some much needed color to a place so boring and lifeless. And if they don't like it, then they can just paint over it. No harm done."

I look behind us at the wreckage that we caused and giggle, "Tell that to the scaffolding."

"Bah, they can put it back together. And we'll be long gone before they do." I should be more worried about getting in trouble, but this doesn't even crack my top five dumbest/most illegal things I've ever done. I know we're gonna be fine, I feel confident of that- or at least, I feel confident that I'll be okay with Aurora.

Having her around makes me feel like I can take on the world again, it's like I'm that carefree, rebellious teenager but with the body and money of an adult. I have the best of both worlds now. She looks at me with a playful grin that starts up those damn butterflies in my stomach, and points at my nose, "You still got a little bit of paint there."

I swipe a couple fingers on my nose, but no paint comes off. "Where?" I ask her.

Aurora shakes her head and steps toward me. "I got it," she says as she licks the tip of her finger and swipes it across the bridge of my nose. Why that turns me on, I'm not entirely sure. She pulls her paint-stained finger away and holds it up with pride, "There we go!"

"Thanks," I try to say like a functioning human being.

"My pleasure," she says with another wink. Maybe that's just who she is, maybe it means something more. I'm not sure, and I'm too chickenshit to ask right now, fearing that it might ruin the day if I do. Or make it better…

Regardless, I don't get the chance to ask right then and there because she's grabbing my hand and leading me to another room. "Come on," she says excitedly, "I wanna do one more thing before we go."

I don't complain when her hand is holding mine, I just follow her lead as she takes me to another unrefurbished part of the house, possibly a laundry room by the looks of the weird pipes and stuff sticking out of the floor. It's darker than the other rooms too since the windows are taped up and covered in newspaper. "Wait here a second," she says as she lets go of my hand and disappears down the hallway, "This is one of my favorite things to do when I'm here."

I notice the plaster on these walls is more worn-down and cracked than anywhere else in the house and there's chunks missing out of it. "How many times have you been up here?" I ask as I pull back a corner of the newspaper to look outside. The view of the mountain slope we drove up is breathtaking, it's trees and sky as far as my eye can see. And best of all, there's no one even remotely close to this house.

Just us, only us.

"Like five or six times?" She says, her voice sounding closer than before. "I go up here if I'm bored, or if I wanna relieve some stress."

"How do you do that? More painting?"

"Nope, something a little more fun than that." She sounds like she's back in this room with me, and I turn around to see her with a big smile on her face. And a sledgehammer in her hands.

"Holy shit, where did you…"

She shrugs, a comical and slightly sexy look as the hammer moves up with her. It's like she belongs on every page of a construction worker calendar. "It was in the garage, along with some other fun tools that I've played with. But this right here is my favorite, it's got a real satisfying swing to it. And the thump it makes when it hits the wall...mmph!" What I'd give to hear her make that sound again. "Here, let me show you."

"Wait, are you sure you-" I don't even get to finish my sentence before I see her swing the hammer onto a heavily damaged part of the wall next to me. That must explain the missing chunks. True to her word, it makes a satisfying, echoing thump as metal connects with plaster and another hole is made in the wall.

"Whoo!" She exclaims as she pulls her hair out of her eyes and rolls her shoulders. "Holy fuck, that's therapeutic." I laugh from a mixture of disbelief, nervousness, and being more than slightly turned on. More than I already was. I can see the outlines of her muscles as she raises her arms to tie her hair back into a ponytail. "You wanna try?"

I don't even hesitate, "Hell yeah."

"Haha, well then go for it." She moves the handle towards me and I pick it up with both hands. It's lighter than I think it's going to be, but there's still a definite weight to it that tells me I'm going to have some serious fun. I line myself up a little off-center from her mark and square my shoulders. After one deep breath, I raise the sledgehammer over my head and bring it down on to the wall. It makes another satisfying thud that I can feel in my hands this time, the recoil almost makes me drop the damn thing on my foot but I'm able to hold on.

I laugh again, "Fuck, that felt amazing."

"Right?!" Aurora smiles and gestures to the wall, "Try it again."

She doesn't need to tell me twice, I'm already lifting the hammer up to put another hole in the wall. And another. And another. And another. Between the both of us, we must have taken out almost a quarter of the plaster, being careful of course to not hit any of the supporting beams. We only stop when we're both too sweaty and exhausted to lift the hammer up anymore. Aurora puts it back in the garage, and next thing I know we're out of the house and back on the road. Aside from the amusing amounts of destruction we caused, it's like we were never even up here.

The sun is barely visible on the horizon, nestling safely on the city below us. The drive back is calm save for the roar of her bike, but it sucks knowing that the day's almost over. Spending time with Aurora and not knowing what to expect out of today made things that much more thrilling. Today was exciting, dangerous, spontaneous, and exactly what I needed just to get away from my Elsa problems for a day.

For once, I'm spending time with a girl that's giving me zero complications and has managed to take my breath away more than once.

Maybe there's nothing here and the feelings are one-sided, or maybe she feels the same way. There definitely felt like there were some...moments today, heated ones. Either way, I don't have to know anything right now. All I have to do is hold her just a little bit tighter as she drives me back to Arendelle Towers, and I'm pulled back into my reality once again.

A/N: Hello hello, I hope you appreciated the Christmas one-shot that I uploaded yesterday. It's been a while since I've written one, and I wanted to make sure I posted it before Christmas Eve, which meant it took more of my attention this week. But that didn't mean I was going to leave you without an update. How are you liking this turn of events so far? Because it's about to get really, really fun?

But it's time for a little bit of sad news. This will be the last chapter that I post in 2019. I wanna actually enjoy the holidays this year, and I don't want a deadline looming over my head while I try and do that. I'll be back again on January 1st, don't worry. Hope you guys have a great rest of the year too.