Broken Souls Don't Cry

Chapter 9

Kai

They had decided to meet up again after class since neither of them had any classes afterwards and Sara still had a couple hours until she had to go to work. Kai was working remote for the rest of the day. He and Angela had sat down this morning to go over his school schedule and work out a way for him to get enough hours and still make it to his classes and study. Things were looking pretty good for what they had worked out.

He had decided not to sit next to Sara during class and instead sat by Asher. Sara was a few rows over from him and he couldn't help but glance her way every so often. She didn't let on that she noticed his glances as her face was either hiding behind her laptop or looking at Professor Larsen. He chuckled to himself, was she trying to hide?

He had actually been quite surprised during their lunch meeting. She wasn't at all what he had thought she'd be like. He had expected flirtatious advances and a plea to get in his bed. That's how Kyle had always made her out to be. She seemed quiet and reserved. Smart as a whip when they were jotting down potential project ideas. He could tell she did well in school.

She was beautiful though and that bugged him. During one of his glances at her she was looking at the professor intently. A pen was in her hand, and she was tapping her chin lightly with it. Almost like a nervous habit. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and he could see the curve of her neck. I wonder what her neck tastes like? He thought and then immediately frowned. Kai couldn't think why he had thought that. He couldn't get involved with her. He needed to focus on graduating and holding up the end of the deal with his father.

After class they walked down to the library to continue working on their project before Sara needed to leave for work. Kai found an empty study room and started to walk in however Sara didn't follow. When he turned around he found her standing back from the door entrance with a nervous look. Her arms were crossed around her front, hugging herself and she kept glancing at the ground and around her.

"Come in, let's get started" and he pointed to a seat across the table.

"I..." her voice was quiet, "I- I would rather be out at the main tables than in here. I don't like these small rooms."

Ok? Kai didn't know what changed her demeaner. Their walk from the classroom had been fine with small talk. Now she seemed like she was terrified of being in a room with him.

"Are you scared? This room won't bite" He made a grunting noise as he sat down, "We'll have more privacy in here and it'll be easier to think than out in the main study area."

"I'm not scared..." She had said it a bit defensively and she took a step back from the door. "I just don't do well in enclosed spaces with members of the opposite gender"

"You mean men?" Kai gave her a cocky look. "Nothing's going to happen in here but studying. People don't usually whore themselves out in the study rooms. Besides, I'm not looking to have sex with you. I know you've been around a block or two and I'm not interested in being another name in your book." He hadn't meant to make it sound as bad as it came out.

He watched as her face shifted from panic to anger in her eyes as she took another step back. "I am not a whore!" She whisper-screamed at him so as not to grab anyone else's attention. Her refusal left him dumbfounded. He hadn't meant for his words to come out accusatory, more just matter of fact. However, Sara seemed very offended at his words, and she had every right to be.

"I never was a...a whore! That's an awful thing to say! Is that really what you think I am?"

Feeling frustrated at this turn of events Kai decided to add fuel to the fire, "It's what Kyle and half of the boys in high school said. I just wanted to let you know my intentions so you didn't think I would sleep with you, and we can start working on the project with boundaries in place." At the mention of Kyle's name her face turned from anger back to panic as the color drained from her face. Pure panic. He had never seen anyone look so terrified.

"I... I..." she took a few more steps back and then she ran towards the stairs.

Crap.

"Sara, wait!" He started after her feeling like an idiot. He hadn't meant to push that far. He made it to the top of the stairs before he saw her running out of the building towards the parking lot. With his hands on the railing, he pushed off hard before turning back to head to the study room to work on other homework. He decided to text her after he was done with his other work. Give her time to cool off.

**

An hour later Kai was still unable to focus on his schoolwork. He felt bad about what he had said. No woman deserved to be called a whore. He leaned back in his chair and tapped his pencil on the table. He had never really given Sara the time of day during high school. She was the quiet girl who was somewhat cute. He had only taken her out once and decided she was boring and then moved on. After she hooked up with Kyle he had definitely lost any interest in her as he had been annoyed that she had slept with Kyle while she was supposed to be on a date with Kai.

He considered sending Kyle a message yesterday but decided against it. He doubted Kyle even remembered who Sara was. What would he say anyways? Hey, remember that girl you had sex with while I was supposed to be on a date with her? Yeah, she's in my class, pretty messed up. No. He didn't feel comfortable talking about this to his old classmates.

Kai looked down at his phone and hesitated before picking it up. Might as well get this over with, he thought to himself.

Kai: Hey Sara, I'm sorry about earlier. I was a jerk. I shouldn't have insinuated that you were that way. I'm sorry. Can we talk?

Kai hit send and put his phone down. With the apology sent Kai again went to work on his schoolwork.