Steal my Heart.

22

On Sunday morning, I woke up late. I washed my hands and face and went down for breakfast. Before that, I checked my face for acne. It was slowly settling down but I could see the growth of a new pimple near my cheek. So annoying.

I skipped towards the dining room where my mum and Vanessa were already there.
"Oh look who's here." Vanessa mutters sarcastically and I roll my eyes as I pour out a glass of juice and hum under my breathe.
"Someone is extremely cheerful today." My mum pipes up and I keep the glass down on the table.
"Can you guys not talk like I'm not here?" I ask and they smile with amusement.

"How was your evening yesterday?" Mom asks and I try not to smile.
"Fun. Quite nice." I say as I stuff my mouth with some toast.
"Don't prod her for details mum. She wants to keep Alastair all to herself." Vanessa winks and even though I want to glare at her, I find myself thanking her for the diversion.

The thing is, there's no problem in telling mom. No one apart from Vanessa and Mel know that I like Alastair. But the more people I tell, the more I'll find myself falling for him. I don't want to. I just want to dismiss this as a high school crush and move on with my life after that. And I have to succeed, there's no other option.

After breakfast, I go to my room to change. I lie down on my bed and my eyes skim over the bookshelf. All the books have been read, all the homework has been completed and there's nothing to do. I open my social networking sites. I'm on Facebook and Instagram, but I'm not active on either of them. I have around seventy friends on Facebook who aren't active either and some thirty followers on Instagram. I type in Alastair Kerr on Facebook but I don't find him. When I do it on Instagram, his picture shows up and I open his profile. He has close to two thousand followers and I just gape. His profile is private and no matter how badly I want to see his pictures, I don't click the 'Follow' button. I don't want him to know I was stalking him. Instagram doesn't even have a zoom-in option for the display. Yikes, when did I become so creepy?

Feeling bored, I change into track pants and a tank top, and slip on a jacket on top of it. Tying my hair into a high pony tail, I leave for the nearby park. I'm not very fond of sports, but I do feel that having a jog once in a while will help me clear my mind.

I put in my earphones and leave the house. I reach the park and start running on the muddy track.

I'm so engrossed that I don't notice when I approach a wet puddle right in the middle of the track and slip. Shit. I hold my phone over my head and the earphones fall out. I feel pain travel through my body and my knees burn.

I wince in pain as a pair of muscular hands pull me up. I adjust my clothes which are now muddy and some of the mud is even on my hair. Jeez. I hate this. I look up to see who helped me when my eyes meet a familiar pair of hazel eyes.

Alastair.

He's looking at me, his gaze raking over my haggard appearance. He doesn't seem to grimace or make fun of me, it almost looks like he's checking me out. Haa! As if that'll ever happen. I definitely check him out though. He's wearing a half sleeved t-shirt which enhances his biceps and he has shaved. The stubble from yesterday is gone to be replaced with a more sophisticated look. Handsome as always.

"Fuck Grace. Take this. Wipe your face." He hands me his napkin and I refuse.
"No, I don't want to dirty it."
He scoffs. "Take it, will you? If you care so much about dirtying it, then wash it and give it to me later."

I smile hard and take the hanky from him. I try not to take in the scent as I wipe my face.
"Better." He murmurs and I grin.
"Come I'll drop you home." He says casually and I hesitate.

"You don't have to Alastair, I don't want to ruin your park time. I'll reach home by myself." I say and he looks at me.
"Gracie, will you please let me? Also, you don't really look like you should be left alone. I'm done with my jogging anyways." He says and I look down at myself. Sure enough, my wet clothes stick to my body and my jacket isn't enough to hide my legs as well.

"Okay." I say and he grins.
As we walk out, he clears his throat. "You don't have to be so formal around me Grace. If I offer help to you, just take it." He says and I look up at him.

"Thank you."
"Anything for you."
He realizes what he has just said and an awkward silence settles between us as we avoid each other's eyes.

"You know, when I saw you running from a distance, you were looking like a straw." He says and tries to stifle his laugh.
I gasp jokingly. "Whoa, wasn't that a nice simile?"

"Figures of speech and all, smart girl. You remind me of Mrs. Alexis back in Junior year. She was a sucker for Literature."

"God no. That woman was crazy. She insisted on calling me Gracia because she believed that 'Gracie' is a very flowery and not fit for a lady, but only for a girl. What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

"She was ridiculous that way. She insisted on calling me Tom Sullivan because of some similarities she found between us while reading that book."

We laugh and I notice that my house has already come. Why are all the good moments so short-lived? Time seems to stop when I'm with him and I become unable to understand my surroundings.

As I stand near the door, I ask him, "Want to come inside?"
He nods and gives me a beautiful smile followed by a wink.

Before I can process anything, a motorbike appears out of nowhere and hits him, the impact of it pushing him on the floor. I scream.

My world goes black.