1 5| f l u t t e r s

H E R M I A

The silence in the jeep was almost comfortable.

Almost.

I leaned against the window, my fingers tracing invisible lines on the foggy glass. The sun had started to dip behind the hills, leaving everything dipped in that orange-pink glow. The kind of light that makes silence feel poetic, even when your mind’s full of noise.

Aaron hadn’t said much since we left his mom’s place. I didn’t blame him. I leaned my head against the window and tilted it to get a look at him.

"Your mom's not what I expected," I said, mostly to break the quiet.

He glanced at me. "Same—" he rolled his eyes afterwards.

"She didn’t seem cold." I quickly added.

"She didn’t used to be nice," he glanced at me. "You handled her well."

That made me chuckle. "I did?"