(FEATURED)
It's been months since the unceremonious fall of Kimie Sato's older sister. The whole of Ridgerock High knows it, and by now, the majority have moved on. But Kimie still watches those who had a hand in it continue to walk free, and the mo...
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Ten minutes later, I was sitting on the very edge of my bed with a glass of water cradled in my hands, and West was leaning against my closed door.
His arms were folded over his chest as he watched me in silence, and I avoided his eyes, my wounds raw and exposed.
I absolutely hated this—the weakness, the vulnerability—and I hated that he was looking at me like that. I hated that I was feeling these conflicting emotions, that when I looked away from him, my anger left.
"Stop looking at me like that," I eventually told him, meeting his stare. Even though he was standing on the other side of the room, his eyes still managed to penetrate mine with such intensity.
I hated it. Absolutely.
"How am I looking at you?" I felt a weird sensation after hearing him speak. Like being cold in a comfortable way, with your toes and fingers tingling.
"Like I'm a hopeless case," I responded after minutes of silence, and a corner of his lips quirked up.
"That's just the way you see it, Kim."
I traced a finger over the rim of the glass in my hand to distract myself when I saw him start to approach. His arm brushed against mine as he sat next to me, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him turn to look at me. I could feel myself sliding off the bed, so I sat properly, then took a sip of water.
There were a lot of things to say and, strangely, it felt like he knew that, too. The air was slightly tense, words hanging in the air.
"You're mad at me, aren't you?"
If I turned to him, our noses would only be an inch close to touching, so I took another sip of water, not responding to him.
"Why are you here?" I chose to ask after my lips parted with the glass.
"To talk to you."
"So you finally came out of the hole you've been hiding in," I commented with a humorless smile. "What makes you think I want to listen to whatever you have to say?"
"Well, you haven't asked me to leave yet."
He did have a point. And I hated it.
I finally turned to face him, only to have myself drawing in a sharp breath at how close our faces were. I hoped he didn't hear my sudden inhale, but with the way he was looking at me, I knew he was aware.
This was the closest I'd ever been to him. I could see the faint scar from his cut on his cheekbone, and when our eyes locked, I was confused. Because it was like I was staring into a dark abyss. His eyes had so much depth it was unbelievable. I wanted to get away from them, so I let my eyes drop, and, unintentionally, they landed on his lips.
Quicker than I could blink, I looked away, asking myself what I was doing over and over again. West cleared his throat next to me, and I moved away from him, a thought popping into my head as I hurried to distract myself.
