Dangerous Charm [2]

02

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Her tattered boots kicked up dust as she walked through the crowded market square. A bag containing a single loaf of bread and three potatoes hung securely on her shoulder as she weaved her way through the crowds of rowdy people.

She felt a soft hand wrap around her wrist and Knox found herself face-to-face with Linara Fields.

"Linara? What-?" Her words were cut short when Linara placed her other hand over her mouth making her frown and reach up to pull it away, "what are you doing?" She mumbled.

Linara glanced around, presumably searching for someone that might recognise her before tugging on Knox's wrist, "Not here, come on,"

Although she needed to get home, Knox allowed Linara to pull her into an empty alley between two buildings.

The hot sun seeped through the gap between the buildings from the end of the alley. Releasing herself from Linara's loose grip, Knox wandered over to the wall and leaned her back against it feeling the sun fan over the soft skin of her face and neck, casting shadows that made her jaw look more defined than in the shade.

"So..?" Knox gave the girl before her an expectant look, waiting for an explanation of sorts.

Linara's chocolate eyes drifted over Knox's features, taking in how she looked with the sun shining on her.

"I didn't get the chance to talk to you at school today," she said, "then I saw you walk by and..." she completed her sentence with a shrug.

Knox mimicked her shrug teasingly,  "You wanted to talk to me?"

Linara nodded, "amongst other things,"

Knox's brows raised in unhidden surprise. "Really?" She questioned, sounding a lot more enthusiastic than she had wanted but also sceptical.

Linara took a step forward, "Yeah," at the look on Knox's face she chuckled, "What? I can't randomly drag my girlfriend into alleyways?"

Regaining her composure, Knox exaggeratedly glanced back towards the marketplace, "Did you need company while you waited for her or something?" She joked, "Because if you're talking about me, I'm not your girlfriend."

"Take this as me asking then," Linara stepped closer into Knox's personal space who not so discreetly glanced down either end of the alleyway, "This isn't a joke is it? your friends aren't about to jump out and laugh at me for thinking you could like—"

Her voice quickly became muffled by Linara's soft lips colliding roughly with her own. The kiss only lasted a few seconds but her breath was still caught in her throat when Linara pulled away, letting her face hover in front of hers.

"My friends don't know," Linara said assuredly.

Knox could tell she meant to reassure her it wasn't a joke but Linara's statement felt a little like a slap across the face.

She nodded nonetheless, pushing the thought to the back of her head for the time being, "Okay." She swallowed and stood up straight off of the wall, placing her hands on Linara's arms to move her back slightly, "I should probably get home and so should you,"

Linara frowned, "come on, don't run away so quickly," she pleaded, "is something wrong?"

Knox shook her head with a lighthearted chuckle to ease the atmosphere she'd accidentally created, "No. I just gotta get home," she lifted the bag from her shoulder slightly, adjusting the handle, "My dad needs help with...like everything so,"

"Doesn't Leon live with you guys? Surely they can survive without you for like an hour," by her tone Knox could tell she wasn't trying to be rude, but Linara's words weren't always best chosen. It probably didn't help that she had no idea what she was talking about.

"You mean Lenox?" Knox corrected, Linara winced slightly from getting his name wrong, "And yeah, they could survive but I still need to get home. I'm already late." She itched her eyebrow with her knuckle and immediately regretted the action when Linara noticed something on her finger.

"Your finger is bleeding," she pointed out.

Knox glanced at her pointer finger before wiping her hand on the side of her jeans, "must've nicked it or something," she lied.

Linara reached down and grabbed Knox's hand, turning it over to see the pads of her fingers. The tip of Knox's pointer finger was littered with small scars no bigger than dots of a pin prick that wouldn't have scarred had her finger not been pricked so many times over the years.

The scars weren't what Linara found concerning as of current, she was concerned about the new tiny wound which had a small amount of blood smeared around it from where Knox had tried to wipe it away.

"Don't say anything," Knox pleaded as she snatched her hand back.

"How many times is your name in now?" Linara questioned.

Knox bit the inside of her cheek slightly as she answered, "Uh, like sixty-seven, I think,"

"Knox—"

"It's fine," she dismissed, "Katrina Vakowski's name is in the bowl over a hundred times. Her odds are way worse than mine. I'll be fine,"

"You can't be sure," Linara shook her head, "kids get reaped with their name in once. You shouldn't worsen your odds just because someone else's is worse than yours."

Knox sighed deeply, "You don't get it."

"What's not to get?" Linara inquired, "It's not worth it. Doesn't matter how you slice it."

She didn't get it. Of course, she didn't. Linara had grown up more well off than most in the district as her family owned the dairy mills. She didn't have to work because her parents and older brothers did and it wasn't necessary for another set of hands in the family business. So she didn't understand that Knox couldn't stay away from home too long because there was work to be done on the farm.

"Desperate times. Desperate measures." Knox said shortly, "I've got to go," she pecked Linara's lips, "Please don't say anything about the tesseracts. If my dad finds out he will have heart palpitations,"

"Fine. I won't,"

"Thank you," Knox called over her shoulder as she jogged off towards the exit of the alley.