As he gently cupped my face with his soft hands, I felt my breath start to leave my lungs. His deep brown eyes looked into my own. My cheeks became flushed to a dark shade of red, and I tried to look away but his warmth kept me longing for more. He...
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I was sitting on the countertop in the kitchen, contemplating if I was going to study the entire day or go shopping. I didn't have anyone who would want to hang out with me; curse my social awkwardness. But then the magical smell of oatmeal with cinnamon interrupted my thoughts. I saw Xavier standing there in front of me waving his plate in my face. I hated the way he smirked at me so much that I almost wanted to punch him.
"Want some? You look like you're about to throw that book at me, which normally means you either got a grade below a 90 or you're hungry." I took the plate from him and began to devour the oatmeal. Of course, I was hungry, I've mainly been having tea and coffee as substitutes to help keep me awake.
"I don't want to throw a book at you, at least not right now," I scoffed.
"Wow, you don't want to commit assault for once." And that's when I threw a book at my brother.
"Stop fighting you two." Suddenly, our father approached us and he was not in the best mood. His suit was in disarray, as well as his hair, and his briefcase looked as if it was about to burst. Working as a secretary is no easy task but I didn't feel any sort of sympathy toward my father. He's the reason Xavier and I wanted to run away from here.
"How was work yesterday?" Xavier spoke trying to ease the tension in the air.
"If I'm returning at eight in the morning you should know," he then glared at Xavier. Father set down his briefcase and proceeded to walk towards his room and slam his door. Xavier and I exchanged looks and we immediately went back to eating breakfast. Our interactions with him never had an atmosphere that felt safe enough so that we could express ourselves. Sometimes I truly wished that everyone could disappear so I wouldn't have to experience their bullshit.
"He seemed pretty angry, when was the last time he slept?" Xavier placed his bowl into the sink and reached out for mine, which I handed him.
"He has always been angry." I hopped off the counter and picked up my book from the floor. As Xavier began washing the dishes, I headed over to the couch where a fluffy black blob was laying. As I reached to pet the cat, he looked up at me longing for attention. Just then he jumped up into my arms and started to purr. "Hi Raspberry, how's my favorite kitty?" I asked as if he could answer me. I gently patted him on the head, he looked up at me and I noticed he seemed to be smiling.
Even though my father and I will never see eye to eye, he knows that if I had to leave Raspberry behind then I would burn down the entire world. I remember meeting Raspberry in my old backyard, he was just an injured kitten who needed help. Five years ago, on the night of Halloween, I sneaked out of a party into my backyard to get away from everyone, that's when I met Raspberry. He escaped from a group of teenagers who were beating him and ran into one of my mother's raspberry bushes. I nursed him back to health and made sure that my mother had a grand old time with the teenagers' parents.
I went back to my bedroom with Raspberry curled up in my arms. I placed him on my bed as softly as I could and headed over to my desk to check my emails. When my teachers feel like it, they respond to my emails within the first couple hours that they are sent, but that was at my old school. There was nothing in my inbox which meant that I would not have my questions about the art project answered in time. I leaned back in my chair and sighed, this is going to be a very slow and frustrating semester.
