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Willow was walking down the halls of Pendletown high, her hand tightly clinging onto her backpack as she continued to move, slowly taking her steps as her eyes roamed.
Her dad was meant to be picking her up today but with an hour going by and no text or call from him, Willow's worrie has begun to eat away at her mind, the need to pick at the skin near her nails becoming worse and worse with each second that passed.
She looked down at her phone again, staring at the bright screen.
Still no message.
She sighed, putting her phone back into her pocket, planning to just walk, or most likely fly, back home alone until she felt something knock into her shoulder. She looked around, her eyes darting around until she finally found the source of the touch. Her lips curled into a gentle smile.
Gwen.
"Can I walk you home?" She asked and Willow's smile grew, her head slowly beginning to nod as she brought one of her hands away from her bag and interlocked her arm with Gwen.
"Yes please."
The fly to Willow's home was uneventful as the two of them landed on the flat roof of her apartment building, opening the roof's main door and slowly walking down the many stairs until they made it down to the middle level. Willow used her key, slowly twisting the door open as she held it open for Gwen, the shorter girl smiling as a silent thank you to her friend as she entered the main room of Willow's home and Willow joined her, closing the door after her.
"Nice place. Is your dad around?"
Willow shrugged.
"I don't know, he's probably working late."
An awkward silence fell between the two girls, Gwen gently tapping her fingers against her thigh to try and break the silence. Willow looked down at the floor before she could find her voice, her head slowly moving back up and her hand weakly moving towards the short hallway inside the apartment,
"Do you want to go to my room?" She asked, her voice soft and unsure of itself. Gwen's cheeks felt hot but she ignored it as she nodded, letting out a tiny exhale of breath that almost sounded like laughter to Willow's ears.
"Sure, why not?"
Willow nodded in response, turning away towards her bedroom as Gwen quickly followed, her mind swirling with what Willow's bedroom must look like. She imagined a pink explosion, with multicoloured books lining her shelves and so much glitter it looked like the living embodiment of confetti had a fight with a clown made of cupcakes.
Willow twisted the handle and opened the door and Gwen's eyes widened for a moment before she finally saw what was inside her room.
It was dark, hues of dark purple and deep blues and black. Her bedroom window was covered by a purple curtain and her wardrobe was closed, her outfits hidden by rich dark Oak. Her bed was a twin sized bed with purple bedding and a blanket covered with blue and white stars. The bed wasn't that tidy, but it was more tidy that Gwen's bed had ever been. But this wasn't the main thing that caught Gwen's eyes. No, what caught Gwen's eyes was a large enclosure that sat on the floor under her desk, large and taking up at least a quarter of the bedroom as Gwen turned to look at Willow and her mouth moved without thinking,
"You have a hamster?"
Willow nodded. "I got her last month, she's probably still asleep right now."
Gwen moved further into the room, gently falling down onto Willow's circular carpet as her eyes stared glued on the enclosure, staring at the large wheel and bedding. She pointed to a square area that held sand.
"What's that?" She asked.
"It's her sand bath," Willow answered, falling down gently next to Gwen as the two of them sat staring at the hamster's home. "It's for enrichment."
Gwen nodded. "Good to know." She let out a humorous laugh. "So why is her cage so big?" She questioned, a hint of laughter dancing around her words.
Willow shrugged.
"It's not that big, I'm actually saving up to get her a bigger one, she needs more space to burrow."
Gwen nodded. "Cool. So how come you never told us you have a hamster."
"It never came up." She answered, her eyes staying glued on the enclosure.
A deep silence fell between the two of them before Gwen sighed, clapping her hands onto her knees.
"Well, I should probably get back home, the residents will probably be wondering where I am by now." She was beginning to stand up, moving from her sitting position before she felt a gentle grip grab onto her wrist, her eyes slowly roaming down as she saw Willow's large eyes staring back up at her. Willow's mouth laid slightly agape before words began to flow easily from her mouth.
"Why don't you stay tonight?"
And as Gwen stared down at Willow, staring into her eyes and her own reflection inside them, she smiled, slowly moving to sit back down and meet Willow's gaze at an equal field. Willow watched her with slight confusion but still kept her gaze, watching her with her soft expression as Gwen let out a sigh and removed her gaze.
"Okay, I'll stay."
Willow smiled and nodded,standing up and stretching her back as she clapped her hands together,
"I'll get us more blankets for the night, will four be alright?"
Gwen gave Willow a thumbs up.
"Should be good."
Willow beamed.
"Great! I'll be back soon."
With that, Willow left her bedroom, closing the door after her as Gwen sat on her floor, her eyes moving from the door to the hamster enclosure. She stared deeply at the pet's home and sighed, her face flushed and feeling burning hot before she flopped onto the floor, letting out a soft sigh.
This was going to be a long night.