Sweetest Pain || Hawk Moskowitz

04 Whispers

The halls were busy as students changed classes, but they parted and made room when they saw KT walking through. If it wasn't the clicking of her heels or her laughter echoing down the hall, it was the recognizable head of strawberry blonde tresses that perfectly framed her soft face and ran down her back. No matter if she was walking with her friends or on her own, everyone moved out of her way to allow her greater passage through the sea of West Valley High.

KT smiled as she walked up to her locker, seeing her neighbor at his. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she got there, focusing on her opening her locker. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye as he moved, seemingly giving her more space despite her not needing it. She smiled gently at the gesture, swinging open the little metal door and grabbing her biology textbook. How have I never noticed him before?

While she did a transfer of items, she glanced over at Eli and smiled. "Hey."

He brought his head up quickly, eyes looking her over in a second before he looked into his locker. He mumbled something that might have been a "hi" but KT couldn't be one hundred percent sure. His posture looked much the same, hunched over himself as if trying to make himself small, but she also noticed how he seemed to want to make himself one with the wall, as if he were in the way.

Not knowing what else to say, KT took in his appearance. He wore jeans and a striped shirt. It was simple, but she liked it. It fit him. Her smile persisted. "I like your shirt."

His eyes widened and he leaned into his locker, hiding his face behind the door between them. She giggled, turning to him and peered around his locker door, looking at him.

"The polite thing to do is usually to say thank you or give a compliment back," she said softly, a very light teasing tone in her voice. Her face was a little warm, central in her cheeks which were dusting pink.

Eli's eyes remained wide, showing off his blue irises that much more. They traveled her body, taking in her baby blue crop top with the cinched sides and silver star embellishment in the center of her chest. Its spaghetti straps were tied into cute bows on her shoulders, the same kind of bows at the end of the cinched seams, which lead his eye to her navel. Her shorts sat on her hips, just under her bellybutton, and led down her long, smooth legs to her simple ankle boots that just finished off the whole look.

She watched the color take over his cheeks, turning him red as a tomato. His eyes quickly snapped back to her face, but he wouldn't meet her eye. He had to look up to her, just a few inches made all the difference it seemed. "I-I'm sorry! I... like your shirt, too."

His voice was a low rasp that managed to be so soft and sweet. He barely spoke above a whisper, making it a little hard to hear him in the packed, loud hallway. She was glad they were standing side by side at their lockers, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to hear him at all.

Her smile grew bigger and she giggled again. The bell rang, causing her to pull her backpack onto her shoulder. "I'll see you around, Eli."

She closed her locker and walked past him, beginning her strut to biology to meet Moon. She felt his eyes follow her down the hall, which made her giggle to herself. She started playing with her hair, denying to herself that she had a little crush on Eli. I won't deny that he's cute, though.

~

By the time lunch had rolled around, KT had been complimented on her outfit many times; the usual "that shirt looks good on you" or "I wish I could pull off something like that." With the influx of nice things people had to say, though some bordered on the inappropriate side from the guys, she almost forgot Eli among them. Almost. Because his blushing cheeks were a compliment all in itself, she thought so at least. As far as she knew, no one had ever looked at her like that and it kept popping back up in her mind, making her smile.