if by chance | ✓

18 | you're partly cute

[ 18 ]

C O R A

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I was almost certain there were half moons etched on my palms because of the amount of pressure with which I had dug my nails; but that wasn't as important as the fact that I had just lost my temper on someone I was supposed to deal with patience.

Maybe I had inherited it from my mother, it's what Dad says ─ that we have a tendency to reach the extremes of being kind and persistent before we burst out. Guess that's what happened here.

"Really, now you're shouting at me?" Vivianne demands in a way that infuriates me even more.

"What am I supposed to do? Say sorry for no reason?"

She looks away, exhaling sharply. A part of me felt bad for just lashing out on her but I was tired and angry and couldn't afford to stay calm anymore.

"Look," I sigh, "You're just a sophomore. There are two whole years in front of you to get over this shit. And I have known Archer for a much longer period than you do, so when I'm saying you have to get over it, I actually know what I'm saying. There are reasons."

"What reasons? And don't say I am not allowed to know that" She scoffs.

"Because ─" I pause, considering the idea of breaking the truth but I certainly didn't want to cause a cousin rivalry over a boy, "He's in love with someone else."

Vivianne's face falls, her ocean eyes clouded with hurt. I couldn't tell her who the someone was. And what was worse was the fact that both the Morrison siblings had fallen for Noah. But sadly, only one of them gets reciprocated. It was complicated beyond my imaginations and I was too decaffienated at the moment to even think about it.

"Come here." I say softly before pulling her into a hug. That was the least I could do.

We don't talk about the topic anymore, neither at dinner or after it and even though Uncle Ian was highly suspicious of something shady going on underneath our fake smiles, I was able to manage it with one of my classic excuses ─ that we had been sneaking out for ice cream at midnight, which was indeed true and comparatively less harmful than to say we had a tiff over Archer Morrison.

And I should also thank God that Noah didn't bother to intervene.

✦

"All these mug shots have been taken from the same angle" I snort, scrolling to the next picture on Rhys's iPhone 11, something he had gifted himself with the money he had been saving over the years.

I wasn't supposed to be scrolling his gallery of course. I wasn't, in fact, supposed to be hanging out with him at his terrace either. But I figured he needed to talk to someone now that Eugene was unavailable. It didn't necessarily have to be me. He had plenty other people ─ Juniper Liu and Luna Flynn for example (both of whom appeared to me as the types who would rather bully guys like Rhys but whatever). There was even my own brother Noah.

Rhys didn't give me a reason when he asked me if I could come over for some time after dinner and I thought it was probably because I was most people's emotional outlet.

"Yeah I was just trying to test the camera quality" He shrugs, taking a long sip from the bottle of fruit beer he was holding.

It wasn't raining tonight and the sky was a clear black canvas ─ quite rare given that it was London in late August, which is the onset of proper monsoon.

Maybe it was the stars that brought back recent memories of something that we both were awkward about and Rhys blurts out, "We should get inside."

He most certainly doesn't wanna risk it again.

"Fine by me." I say in a small voice before handing him back his precious phone and walking towards the staircase.

My cheeks were burning and there was no available reason that I coulf find besides Rhys. It wasn't like anything happened at all and it was just me and mind but it sure felt like something.

In a minute or two, we are in Rhys Crawford's bedroom ─ smaller than I had expected but immaculate enough to impress a girl. There was a grey comforter resting on his bed and too many pillows stacked on the headboard. The nightstand looked lonely ─ with just a water bottle and a bookmarked hardcover edition of The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo.

"You're actually reading this?" I snort, turning around to face him.

"We are all supposed to, it's in the email Dr. Farley sent." He shrugs.

"I know. But nobody really pays attention to the suggested reads. Well, my bad ─ you're not nobody."

He chuckles, sitting down on the carpeted floor and leaning his head on the wall. His Adam's apple bobbed as he gulped. He looked hot for some moments ─ and cute, excessively cute when his messy brown hair fell to his forehead. I wanted to tell him that.

"That thing belonged to my dad" he says, pointing to the Anglo-Swiss Cavalry wall clock that he thought I was looking at. The model was simple but elegant ─ with a rose gold rim ─ and it was probably older than the both of us.

"It's beautiful." I say, sitting down beside him since flopping down on the bed would just add to the unspoken awkwardness.

He turns his head, a slight smirk playing on his lips and once again I found my heart doing that stupid flip kind of thing that makes me nervous.

I don't usually get nervous.

"What?" I blurt out.

"Nothing. Just that, I never thought you out of all people would be here right now."

"I couldn't think that either but you're the one who called me."

He nods, gulping once again and I just wanted to bury myself for not being able to think straight. He had features too good for a booknerd. But again, I wasn't one to stereotype.

"Why are you staring at me?"

Shit.

"Nothing. Just that, I never thought I'd say you're partly cute."

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a/n : sorry for the late update. please don't forget to leave a vote and comment. :)