Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 105242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
That’s why he wanted the remote. Elle realized she wasn’t going to be able to watch one of her favorite reruns; as a result, she picked up a sandwich herself and turned toward Nero.
“Yeah, didn’t you know I worked there?” Elle said in her own sarcastic tone.
“Yeah, that uniform hanging on the back of your door is almost identical to the pink t-shirts and jeans they wear.” Nero took another bite of his sandwich. It was almost gone by the huge bites he was taking. “Is there fucking anything you haven’t lied to your parents about?”
“Uh, yes.” Yes!
“Like the fact you have a friend other than Chloe, and that you love school so much?”
“I’m telling her what she likes to hear. What she wants to hear, Nero.” Elle wanted her mom to be happy, and making up stories kept her mom happy.
Nero got out of bed, finishing his sandwich, and started looking around her room, snooping. He clearly found exactly what he was looking for and grabbed the big book off a shelf filled with movies, books, stuffed animals, and everything else you could think of. He came back and sat down on the bed, flipping it open carefully and studying each picture.
She had started filling the book up when she was a young girl, putting in pictures of her at various places and doing different things.
She’d had a good childhood. Her parents had been great, school had been great, and everything had, indeed, been great. Right until her father had gotten a big promotion at the factory and wanted the best for Elle. They had pulled her from public school and enrolled her in Prep School for her freshman year.
Her parents had wanted this for her badly, and Elle had always been able to make friends, therefore she hadn’t wanted to let her parents down. It was just unfortunate that her father’s accident had occurred right after her freshman year had begun.
Elle swallowed when the next page Nero turned to would end up being far different than the ones he had seen before. He turned the page and Elle noticed his face change. There was about a year difference between this page and the last. The first thing you would notice was her hair was short. Then you’d see she had lost some weight.
The thing Elle noticed the most was Chloe in the picture. She hadn’t looked at the photo album in a while, just realizing exactly how brutal Chloe’s scars looked in the beginning. Her mother would constantly snap pictures of her and Chloe, whether they were watching a movie or doing a school project.
“Funny how your hair was one length your whole life, but the first picture I see with Chloe was one where your hair is chopped off.”
Elle could only stare at Nero. There was nothing she could say. Nero wasn’t dumb, and she wasn’t going to lie to him, so it was better not to say a word.
She watched him keep flipping the pages right after he stared at the picture for an eternity. She knew he was studying it, looking at every inch of the photo before he would move on. She was just thankful that some injuries over the years were hidden under her clothes.
Elle was glad to see Nero finally close the book in his hands. He then stared at the closed book for a while before he finally lifted his head to look at her.
This time, when Nero looked at her, Elle knew it was different. It was almost as if he was looking at her in a whole new light. She stared back into his green eyes, waiting for what he was going to do next.
“Is there even a fucking point in asking you?” She knew Nero was trying to stay calm.
Elle said nothing; instead, she slowly took the book out of his hands and got up to return it to the bookshelf where it belonged. After she had, she took her place again on her bed. She watched the TV screen, letting the show unfold.
After Nero hadn’t moved for a while, she knew he was trying to calm himself down, being in her parents’ house. However, there was nothing Elle could tell him to make him feel better; not the truth, anyway.
Elle felt Nero’s hand reach out for her arm and turned to look at him. He started pulling her toward him, so she scooted over. She could at least give him that. He wrapped his arm around her and Elle laid her head on him.
“You do know I’m going to find out,” Nero said with confidence, certain it was a sure thing.
“I know you will.” Elle did know, too. When a guy like Nero wanted something, he wasn’t going to stop until he had it.
They watched shows until it was time for Elle to get up and get ready for work. She had felt Nero slowly start to calm down and ease into the bed and her as the time passed. Elle would laugh at the funny parts and she saw Nero even smile at one. A little smile counts.
“I gotta go get ready.” Elle was waiting for Nero to move his arm to let her go. He didn’t of course, making Elle laugh. “Nero, I need to get dressed.”
After she said that, he quickly moved his arm. Elle looked at him weird. Okay, now you move your arm?
Elle got up out of bed, grabbed her uniform off the door then went out to the bathroom to get changed, dressing quickly and throwing her hair up in a messy bun.
She returned to her room and saw Nero sitting at the end of her bed. When she came in, she stopped at the look on his face. His eyes went over every inch of her body before a smile touched his lips. His hand came up and waved her to come closer.
Elle didn’t want to walk toward him, yet her feet started walking anyway. She didn’t know how Nero did that to her. She stopped in front of him.