“was he hot?”
“That’s the important part to you?”
“Of course! It helps me focus,” she replied matter-of-factly.
Also, that favorite line is fire, lol.“What if I get itchy again?”
She stood still for a moment, her arms still covering my wrist. Then, she went to the bathroom and grabbed something from the cabinet. It was a rubber band.
“Here, every time you feel itchy, you can pull this back like this,” she said, demonstrating with a snap. “It will still pain me to see you use this every time. However, you using this will let me put my mind at ease. I know this is a lot for me to ask of you, but can you promise me? Promise that you won’t scratch that itch on your arm so easily. Promise that you’ll yell out to me when you’re drowning in negative thoughts. I’m not sure how much use I’ll be, but I’ll always be here for you. Always.” That night was when I first properly looked at my aunt’s eyes. They were two hazel dots filled with enough compassion to melt any winter away.
It was a night of silence, a night of unfinished math questions, and a night of promises. One of those things would come to bite me in the morning.
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