The Best Mistakes

4. Nolan

Getting up on a monday is a different kind of torture, and I was going through it.

My head had been spinning from the moment I woke up, and my surroundings didn't helped either. Empty cans of beer were scattered on the table and a wasted Asher on the couch. The house was a mess. I had to clean up before leaving.

In other conditions, cleaning was therapeutic but working while you're hungover was a disaster. And not to mention the minor heart attack I got after looking in the mirror this morning.

As I was walking down the hallway, I noticed someone. Kayra. And seeing her, made my hangover disappear. My humiliation from yesterday came flooding back. My left cheek had a red rash. A rash on my handsome face? Unacceptable. Even though the swelling went down, the redness was still there. Fortunately, it won't leave a mark, I knew but the rash will stay at least for a couple of days. I had to get back at her. So, I followed her in the library.

But why was she here? The exams were over then she must be having something on her mind, because she reads to escape her thoughts. I remembered.

I still remember when she was a freshman, she often came here and stayed in for hours reading almost anything. She was probably homesick back then and seeing her like that raised many questions in me. I was curious to know her, understand her but not anymore.

She went in the third aisle and I went in the fourth. A half empty shelf was parting us. I gazed at her from the scattered books and it felt like she was too focused to see me. Something within me craved for her attention, my eyes screamed, notice me. But she was so engrossed in finding a book, she didn't notice me at all.

"Hey, Kay!" I chirped, my eyes still glued to her face, scanning her every expression. She frowned looking up at me as I gave her my wide smile. She was definitely not pleased to see me. And watching her frown, it made me want to annoy her more.

She ignored me as if I was never there. "Looking for a book?” I walked with her until we reached the end of the aisle. “Perhaps this one," I said, showing her the book. 'Fancy coffins to make yourself by Dale Power'

If gazes could kill, I would've been six feet under the ground by now. She was glaring so hard at me and her nostrils flared with each breath. Cute. That little detail about her when she's enraged was really worth the work.

She scoffed. "It looks like you also need one, maybe this-" she flashed a book in front of my face, 'Goodbye, Testicles! By Barbara Binland'

Now, she was smiling at me and I was dumbstruck. The satisfaction of messing with me was visible on her face. But her proud expressions were short-lived because soon, she again engrossed herself in a book she found.

She stood in the back aisle and I followed her every step, definitely not like a puppy. I was doing it just to annoy her and it seemed to work. She grumbled when I stood beside her, staring blankly at her face. "Piss off, I am busy."

But I was still there and it looked like she couldn't care less. It was as if she wasn't interested in me or interested in anything other than those damned books today. She wasn't even putting up a fight nor getting actually angry at anything I did.

She must be in deep thoughts and it showed. Her lack of annoyance and engagement with me was proof enough. She scanned the book like a computer and began reading it like it was the only thing present in the world.

She read the book and I, her face. Thick black lashes shielding her chocolate orbs, the little twitch of her eyebrow at an amusing phrase and steady breaths. That was all on her face. Boring?

Her raven hair was braided nicely, aside from some stray strands covering her face. She looked so peaceful. Maybe, she came here to find just that. Her peace.

She tucked one of the stray strands behind her ear, the strand that fell on her cheek.  A sudden urge to let them free came over me. And unconsciously, before I realized,  I had already pulled out her hair. My hand moved on its own. But as soon as I came to my senses, she had her eyes wide and was staring into my soul. Shit! In an instant reflex, I messed up her hair.

I cleared my throat. "You should cover your face, it's hideous." Disaster avoided. This could've been bad but thanks to my quick thinking, she didn't get any wrong idea.

But I might've pushed her wrong button because she was glaring at me through her tousled bangs, which was honestly very creepy.  Soon I felt a throbbing pain in my toe with a thud sound. She knocked a thick book on my leg. "Ugly ass," she muttered, fuming.

Kayra

Our thoughts tend to eat us from the inside. They leave us in a void by hollowing out our mind, leaving nothing but infinite trails of thoughts that take us nowhere but to just suffering. I read to fill up that void, so that the trails are covered with other stuff and I don't see it. But now it was already full of Nolan's bullshit.

He groaned while clutching his toe. It must've hurt a lot. Good thing. But my satisfaction and his suffering were short-lived, because he regained his cocky attitude. By the look on his face, I guess he realized what I called him.

"For someone, who's never seen my ass, you don't have any right to call it ugly and I can assure you it is not," he retorted, still wincing in pain.

"Well, if it takes after your face, then it must surely be awful," I said without even bothering to look up. He can shove his awfully annoying ass somewhere else and leave me to myself. By judging the silence, my words must've hurt his ego.

"You never looked at me properly, did you?" He said and in a swift moment he snatched the book from my hand. My head jerked up and my breath hitched. When did he get on this side and this close. I could smell him. Vanilla and Peaches. Soothing, quite opposite from what his presence was doing to me. I strongly rejected the urge to sniff to avoid looking like a creep.

"Take a good look. I am sure you'll agree that I am attractive," he said with a smug smirk dancing on his lips, while leaning on the bookshelf.

At this point, I could hear his breathing due to the silence in the library. Loud and frantic, disgustingly similar to mine. Good thing, I wasn't the only one affected here.

My eyes wandered on his face. Sharp cuts. Soft waves. Honey eyes. And a mole on the most perfect spot. Under the corner of his right eye. His effort in skin care was also obvious. That skin was more clear than my future.

His playful eyes met my absent ones. I came back to reality as our gazes intervened. He was right. He was handsome. In fact, he was gorgeous. He could easily pass off as a Greek god. But I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of my agreement. So, I scoffed.

"You. are. delusional." I poked my middle finger on his forehead with each word, intentionally emphasizing each word as if to convince myself and not him. I took back my book and shoved him aside to leave.

I really can't stand him. On my way to the front desk, Nolan followed me. He stood beside me, in front of the front desk and whispered coming closer to my neck sending shivers down my spine. "Say that to every girl on this campus."

He snatched the book from my hands again and winked at me before issuing the same book to himself.

My fists clenched and I was so ready to punch Nolan to death. But he ran off before I could even get to him. He always does.