Operation: KYLE

29

Bebe Stevens has her fingers delicately entwined in my hair. Correction— Bebe Stevens has her fingers delicately entwined with the hair of my nape.

It hadn't dawned on me until she started stroking the strands of it. In a recoiling flinch, I slap my neck out of reflex with a spin of a head, the tingling sensation still quite lingering from where Bebe had just been caressing.

We both stayed still, her arm held out as if stroking the air and my neck behind my hand. Our eyes remained fixed on each other without blinking or directing them elsewhere.

At that moment, I broke the ice with my wavering tone. "What are you doing?" There wasn't any malice undertoning my voice, only a tinge of bewilderment.

Bebe stares to look at me puzzled, her eyes a bit wide from my retreat. Then, with a raise of a brow, she grins. "Well, that was quite a reaction."

She then closes the distance between me and her hand, and I, once again, cringe away like something disgusting was on her fingers while covering my nape.

Bebe allows a smirk accompanying her brief 'ha!' of mischief. "Kyle, calm down! I'm not gonna do anything bad,"

I blink in surprise, my hand instinctively clenching the scruff of my neck. "Then what are you doing right now?" I ask, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Like I said, it's not anything bad." She says, smiling, lifting her shoulders in a shrug.

"You're dodging the question." I squint my eyes in suspicion.

"Aw, come on, Kyle! Don't you trust me at least a little bit?"

"Quite frankly, at this moment, no, I don't."

Bebe pouts, her brows meeting in the middle with a slight glare. "You're such an ass. I just told you it's not something bad!"

I roll my eyes. "If it's not 'something bad', then why don't you just tell me what you're doing?" I question, eyeing her as if she were something to be cautious about.

"Because you'll say no." She mumbles.

"Then cased closed. If you think I'll say no, then it means no."

"Please, Kyle! If you let me do this one thing, you can do anything to me!"

"Ew, don't make it sound so weird!"

I exhale out a sigh as I heaved, watching Bebe and her desperate gestures. Just what could it be to make her so worked up? Is it something that has to do with my nape?

Without a conscious thought, I naturally rub my neck. Does she want to massage it or some shit? But I don't recall her doing anything like that to her friends.

After a minute of pondering, the curiosity within me has reached its peak and won. Tiredly, I hover my right hand over my eyes and questioned my next move. "... Fine, but whatever you're doing, make it quick." I grumble.

The absence of Bebe making any sounds of reaction makes me drop my hand. When my line of vision quickly returns from the darkness, a frozen posture overtakes Bebe as her eyebrow soar upwards. Then slowly, I stare as her eyes light up with glee, a smile slithering its way to her lips. "Wait, really?!" She asks with a high-pitched tone full of wonder.

I could feel warmth glowingly heating up my cheeks. I flit my eyes away from her gaze. "Just do it before I regret it."

She can't stop the grin from flooding her cheeks. She nods uncontrollably, then scrambles through her pin-covered backpack. "Right, right!"

She unzips the smallest pocket of her bag, and settles a hand inside. The first thing she whips out is a black hair-tie in between her fingers.

I stare at the hair-tie for a moment before looking up at Bebe with a raised eyebrow. She has this smile that I don't like.