Heart Me

Chapter 10

Kayla's POV

"I see you have a new buddy," Grace said mockingly. I nearly choked on my food. It was lunchtime.

"I'll excuse you two," Mia spoke timidly. She got up from her seat and walked away with her food.

"Grace... you know I..." I stammered.

"Why are you spending time with her? She's not who she seems to be. She attacked—"

"Why are you making such serious accusations? This is her third week, maybe the fourth week here. She has nothing on Lily. Why would she plan her attack?" I sighed.

"Please listen to me," Grace begged.

"Come sit with me," I breathed out loudly. Grace swiftly came and sat next to me.

"During Lily's party, there was a time I went to the washroom, and Mia came after me. She said we should wreck the party. She had so much bitterness. She wanted to do something that would make Lily never think of throwing a birthday party again. Then Lily gets attacked. Do you think it's a coincidence?" Grace explained.

"Maybe or maybe not. She barely interacts with anyone. How could she do that? The ones who attacked her were caught. Let's just forget all that. Mia isn't a bad girl," I defended Mia.

"You know you are defending her a lot. I also know you went out yesterday with her. Defend her all you want, just know I think she's a creep. I'm not accusing her; I'm just being cautious. Anyway, I don't like Lily. As much as the ones who attacked her wronged her, she deserved to be taught a little lesson," Grace said. We both laughed.

"Have you noticed how humble she was yesterday?" I added.

"I know. I hope that keeps up. Maybe I'll start liking her," Grace shrugged. It wasn't that hard to make her stop being angry at me for no reason.

***

My head lay on one side of Tristan's chest as my hand caressed the other side. Tristan stroked my hair with one hand while holding me close with the other. We were in my room, seeking privacy rather than risking an encounter with his roommate. I wasn't sure what I felt for Tristan. It just felt amazing having some time alone with him. But it also felt inappropriate. Whenever I tried to discuss what was happening between us, Tristan always shut me down.

"Tristan," I called out, pulling away from him.

"Talk to me," he said, straightening up and making eye contact.

"Why are we doing this? It doesn't make sense. We just hang around with whatever is going on, and I'm..."

"Kayla, don't start this again. I'm not ready for this conversation," he sighed.

"I'm not putting up with this anymore. Get out of my room." I got out of the bed.

"Kayla..."

"I said get out of my room." He got out of the bed and walked to where I was standing.

"Hey, I like you a lot. I love spending time with you. It's more than just liking you, Kayla. But it's too soon to give it a title. Can we wait and see how it turns out?" He reached for my hand, but I shrugged him off.

"Wait to see how it turns out? You mean you want to keep me around without committing. You're not sure what you want. If you did, we wouldn't just be hanging out in hiding. I'm done. Before I get more attached while you lose interest, I better dismiss that there was ever anything between us. I'm done." I explained.

"Kayla..."

"Get out of my room!" I raised my voice.

"Can you please—"