Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
The next morning, Sierra felt weird as she went about her morning routine.
The events of the night before continuously raced through her mind, crowding the front of her consciousness so tightly that she could barely discern where one thought ended and the next began.
It wasn’t that she was still afraid of what happened—as she had been the night before—but she was having a difficult time coming to terms with the fact that she had both let Aodhan walk her home and that she had told him about her psoriasis.
Sierra normally didn’t like to tell anyone, and not even her friends in high school had known. Her family knew, of course, but she had always kept others at arm’s length, not wanting them to see her lesions for fear she would have to explain them, or face their ridicule, or worse.
She winced internally as she remembered the last guy she had dated for several months in Texas.
He had seen her skin when things had begun to get physical between them and had assumed it was a communicable disease.
Sierra had tried to explain that it wasn’t contagious and that he had nothing to worry about, but the relationship fell apart shortly after because he never seemed to believe her, always accusing her when he would get anything, even just a cold, as if there was some sort of connection to his sniffles and the red marks on her skin.
Sierra had really liked him, but in the end, she couldn’t deal with his toxic behavior, and she had ended it before it had really taken off. Sadly, this wasn’t the only story she had like this.
The residents of Texas were, unfortunately, some of the most vain in America when it came to appearances, making it really hard to fit in as a second-generation Mexican-American, and even more difficult when she didn’t meet the appearance standards others expected her to meet.
Sierra looked in the mirror as she pulled on her red sweater, ensuring it covered as much of her skin as possible.
One of the reasons she had been so glad to move to Dublin was because of the fact that it was quite chilly almost year-round.
Sure, there was a summer, but she wouldn’t be expected to wear the same skimpy shorts and tank tops that most female residents of Texas wore with pride from May until September.
With one last glance at her reflection in the all-too-honest mirror, Sierra grabbed her bag and headed down the stairs. She had a class at ten, followed by an afternoon shift at the library.
As she exited her apartment building into the blinding but chilly sun, she noticed a masculine figure leaning against the wall. She nearly panicked for a moment until the man looked up, and she recognized Aodhan’s green eyes.
“Aodhan,” Sierra gasped, looking around the street as if she was expecting someone else. “What are you doing here?”
He shrugged. “Thought you might want to walk to class together.” Aodhan was wearing a fitted long-sleeve blue t-shirt and tight black jeans.
While he was wearing his signature black beanie, Sierra was surprised to see he didn’t have any sort of coat with him despite the fact that it was a chilly fall Dublin morning.
Sierra raised an eyebrow, pausing to cross her arms over her chest. “How did you know I had class this morning?”
“I didn’t,” he replied, his nonchalant shrug irking Sierra. “I just came early and figured you would come down at some point.”
Sierra rolled her eyes as she began walking towards the University, and Aodhan fell into step easily beside her despite her brisk pace. “So, you were just going to wait there on the street until I came down? And what if I didn’t have class today?”
“Then I would’ve left at some point, I suppose.” Aodhan’s tone didn’t give Sierra any insight into his thoughts. She truly couldn’t tell if he was being serious or making a joke. “I just thought you would feel better having someone walk with you.”
“Hm.” Sierra was quiet for a minute, the only sound of their footfalls on the cement leading her to conclude he hadn’t been joking. He really would’ve waited outside her building for hours, maybe he already had. “And what about your own studies? Don’t you have classes or lectures today?”
“Not really.”
Sierra groaned internally at his continued non-answers.
They walked on for a few moments while Sierra ran his words under the microscope in her mind.
Realizing he had never given her a straight answer, well, ever, she planted her feet where she stood.
It took Aodhan a moment to notice she wasn’t beside him before he turned around to see what was going on.
The moment his eyes met hers, Sierra’s blood boiled, which had been building since she met Aodhan the week before, and she exploded.
“That’s it, THAT’S IT!” She took a deep breath.
“I am so tired of your non-committal answers and never telling me anything about yourself. This isn’t how friendships or relationships of any sort work, Aodhan, and frankly, I don’t even know which of those you want.
I know we had a little moment last night, but you don’t owe me anything, okay?
You can just walk away, and we can go back to our regular routine of hating each other. ”
She paused for a moment, but before he could answer, she continued her verbal rampage.
“I have a ton of fake friends at home, Aodhan. I don’t need any more.
I am also perfectly happy on my own, and don’t need a relationship to complete me.
So, if you want to be my friend, or more, or whatever your end game is, you’ve got to start talking to me.
Otherwise, I don’t want to see you waiting at my doorstep, or coming to my rescue at work, or within a few meters of me at a bar. Is that clear?”
The silence stretched between them as Aodhan’s eyes searched her face, confusion clouding his features. “I understand,” he said after a few moments.
Sierra was so busy preparing for him to argue with her, it took a second for the fact that he agreed to sink in. When it did, she wasn’t sure exactly what to say. “Soo...” she started.
“What do you want to know?” he asked, his face impassive.
“Just tell me about yourself. You know, be a regular, friendly human.”
Apparently, her words didn’t register because he said nothing.
Sierra internally groaned, wishing they were already at school so she could avoid finishing this conversation, which apparently wasn’t going to change anything that was going on between them.
“You could start by telling me where you are from,” she tried again.
“I’m from the north,” Aodhan answered as they began walking again, him shortening his large strides to match hers. “My father works in politics, and I have a younger sister.”
Well, that explained the protective instincts. “And your mother?” Sierra asked, afraid that if she were to pose the wrong question, he would clam back up again.
“She doesn’t do anything.”
“Hm.” Sierra knew that having one parent as a stay-at-home parent was not financially feasible in Dublin. “So, you must be from a smaller town, then?”
“You could say that. My parents own a lot of land, so there isn’t much else around anyway.”
“And what’s the closest city to your parent’s place?” Trinity College came into view, and Sierra was almost sad that her first real conversation with Aodhan was about to end so soon; now that he was finally talking to her.
“You wouldn’t know it. But the closest city you know would probably be Culkeeny.”
Sierra wracked her brain, but her Ireland geography wasn’t very good, so she just nodded, letting him think that she knew the town. “And what are you studying here?”
“Uh, history.”
Sierra raised an eyebrow. This was the first answer he stumbled on, which made her think he wasn’t being fully honest. “What kind of history?”
“Of the Gaelic language, it’s why I speak it.”
Sierra still had a feeling he wasn’t telling the entire truth, but she brushed it off.
She’d already confronted him once today, and the anger rushing through her blood had just finally settled.
The last thing she wanted to do was get herself riled up again right before class. “And how long is your study?”
“Just a few more months. It was one year total, but I started in January. I’m almost finished.”
“Well, that’s exciting.” Sierra came to a stop outside of the building where her lecture was. “This is me. I’ll see you later?” It was more of a rhetorical question, but Aodhan didn’t seem to notice.
“Yes.” His reply was succinct, making it clear he would be seeing Sierra later.
As Sierra turned to enter the room, she swore she saw the corner of his mouth twitch into the hint of a smile, but as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, and he was once again the stoic Aodhan.
Sierra exited the classroom after her lecture on theories to delay aging had finished, only to nearly collide with Aodhan’s muscular chest.
“Okay, this is getting a little weird. You must seriously be following me,” she snapped as he began walking next to her again.
“No, I just happened to decide to study in the hall and figured I would walk with you to the library since I was just studying anyway.”
Sierra bit her lip. It didn’t sound like a lie, but it didn’t sound honest either, and she was reminded of how he hesitated when she asked what he was studying earlier.
For the second time today, she brushed off his comment.
“Since you decided we are walking together apparently, I guess you can answer some other questions I have about you.”
Aodhan looked at her apprehensively out of the corner of his eye. “Sure.”
Sierra smirked, proud that she had won this round. “What’s your sister’s name?”
“Aislin,” he answered, without missing a beat.
“That’s a pretty name.”
Aodhan nodded.
“I just realized I don’t know your last name either.” Tinder was well known for the fact that it only showed the individual's first name, age, and usually a less than stellar picture.