Stole My Heart

Chapter 7

It had been a week since Kimberley had told me about her life. We hadn't spoken about it because Kimberley had made it clear that she didn't want to. Part of me wanted to talk to her about it, I cared for her and I wanted to show her some support, but if she didn't want to talk to her about it because I didn't want to push her into something she didn't want to do. 

After failing my maths test last week, Kimberley offered to tutor me. We had tried studying in our dormitory, but there were too many distractions so we decided to meet up in the library after out last class of the day. I was sitting in the library waiting for her, I had never been in the library before and I was getting a lot of stares from people, but I tried to ignore them.

“Oh so you actually decided to show up?” I joked as Kimberley finally showed up.

“Oi cheeky! I'm surprised you even found the library.”

“Who's the cheeky one now?” I gasped. “Now shut up and teach me please.”

“Excuse me?” She raised a questioning eyebrow at me. “Maybe I should teach you how to respect people instead.”

“Maybe I should teach you how to respect people instead.” I mimicked, sticking my tongue out at her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We had been studying for an hour, but I had lost interest a long time ago. Kimberley was doing her best though, but it wasn't good enough I just didn't like school. I had done everything I could think of to distract her, but she just kept shouting at me and telling me off.

I watched her as she was explaining something to me. I had zoned out and wasn't paying attention to anything she was saying though, instead I watched the way her lips moved when she was talking and how she drew her eyebrows closer together when she was explaining something.

“What's the answer then Chezza?”

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at her again properly. “What?”

“I just explained it to you.” She sighed. “So what's the answer?”

“I don't know!” I grumbled. “Let's not do this any more.” I closed the textbook before she could turn the page.

“Okay, what do you want help with now then?”

“Nothing. We can study tomorrow, let's just talk.”

“Or we could study now and talk tomorrow?”

“Nooooo!” I groaned as I rested my head on the desk. “Talk now, study later.”

Kimberley let out a loud sigh, and I knew I had won this argument. I heard her slide the books off the table and put them back into her bag. Smiling, I sat back up and rested my legs on top of the table and rested my hands on the back of my head as I listened to Kimberley talk to me.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As Kimberley and I sat and talked, I noticed that there was a guy staring at her from across the room. He was in our year, I had seen him in my history class before, I think his name was Greg. He was with two of his friends, and every so often I'd catch them looking at Kimberley. The way they looked at her made me feel sick, there eyes were like hawks, locking on their prey.

“Chezza, what's wrong? You've been zoned out for ages!”

“It's nothing Kimba, I'm just thinking about stuff.” I mumbled, turning most of my attention back to her. “Do you think maybe we should go back to our dorm now?”

We packed up our stuff and began walking out of the library. As we got closer to the exit, I realised we were going to have to walk passed the boys that were staring at Kimberley. I don't even know why this made me angry, it just did.

“Hey beautiful, you new here?” I kept walking, but stopped when I didn't hear Kimberley's footsteps following me. I turned around and saw that the Greg had grabbed Kimberley's arm so that he could talk to her. After what she had told me, I knew that she was probably scared.

“Do you not speak?” Greg asked when Kimberley didn't say anything. 

“Y-Yeah, I do speak.” She muttered.

“Good, because I think you're gorgeous. I'd like to get to know you.” I thought that it was time for me to jump in, I didn't want Kimberley being upset because of Greg. He was an okay guy, but I didn't want him anywhere near her.

“Greg, just f*ck off and leave her alone.” I ordered as I walked in front of him. “Let go of her.”

“Cheryl, just p*ss off will you? I'm trying to chat someone up here!”

“Aye, that's my best friend though and she's not interested. So let go, now!” I glared at him until he finally let go of Kimberley. “Don't even think about going near her again.” I growled before linking my arm with Kimberley's and walking away. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When we got back to the dormitory, I walked straight into the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I wasn't annoyed at Kimberley, I was annoyed at myself. I didn't understand why I had got so annoyed at Greg for talking to Kimberley. He wasn't doing anything to hurt her, he was just talking to her but it made my blood boil.

Sighing, I splashed my face with water to cool off. I kept telling myself that I was only looking out for my best friend. After what she had told me, she had made it clear that she didn't want a boyfriend. I was only looking out for her, I wasn't jealous.

There was a small knock on the door, making me jump. “Can I come in?”

“Sure.”

Kimberley poked her head around the door, and then walked in. She sat on the edge of the bath as I leaned against the sink. We were both staring at each other, I was waiting for her to say something.

“I just wanted to say thank you for earlier.”

“No problem, from what you told me, I didn't think you'd want the guys talking to you.” I shrugged, acting as if it was no big deal.

“Well thanks, I was scared.” She admitted, looking away from me in embarrassment. “I don't think anyone else would do that for me..”

“Don't worry about it, I'll always look out for you. No matter what.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Chezza?” Kimberley looked back to me again. She was playing with her hair, something she always does when she's nervous. “Can I, erm, give you a hug?”

“Erm, sure.” I cleared my throat before opening my arms, enveloping her into a hug. “I'll always be here to look after you Kimba. Don't ever forget that.” I whispered.

“Oh look, Chezza Tweedster is turning into a softy.” She giggled in my ear.

“Shut it you.”