Paper Cuts | Luke Hemmings ✔

05. suspicions

word count; 1794
edited ✔

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Corrine was quiet through most of her lunch period, keeping to herself, instead of conversing with her brother and his friends. Every now and then when she looked up, she would find Amelia staring at her with a hard glare. She picked up her book. Lauren glanced over at her, frowning. She looked over at her brother's table. "Amelia!" Lauren called. Corrine shot her a look, but the young teen ignored her. "Is there something wrong? You keep looking over here." Amelia flipped her hair and looked away. "Ignore her, Corrine." Lauren said, facing her.

"Yeah," Mali added. "We can handle them." Corrine gave a weak smile, and opened her book to her last marked page.

Chapter Twelve

Kennedy stood on the beach one evening, watching the waves roll onto the sand. She closed her eyes, and breathed in the warm, salty air. She let the low, rays of sun warm up her face. She felt peaceful, content even. "You seem to be just about everywhere I go now, huh?" Kennedy looked up. She scowled.

"Maybe you're just stalking me Aaron." she retorted. "Why are you here?" She kicked some sand into the water. A wave washed up, tickling her bare feet.

"I decided to go for a walk, and well, what do you know? I ended up here." he grinned.

"Whatever." Kennedy kept her eyes closed, it was easier for her to talk to him that way. She wasn't in the mood to deal with his cocky attitude and cheeky smile tonight. Suddenly, she felt her hand being lifted, and she jumped, turning to face him. She pulled her arm away. "What do you want Aaron!" she snapped as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Aaron's expression soften when he saw this.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked softly, furrowing his brows. Kennedy shook her head, and began to cry. Aaron stood there shocked, not knowing what to do about this. In seventeen years, he'd never seen Kennedy Walsh cry. She turned her back to him.

"NO!" she yelled. "She bitched to me all her life, and now what? She expects me too care about her?" she asked. "She's been nothing but rude, and now that she's dying, she expects me to care!? All my life, I've wanted her too accept me, to treat me like she cared about me, but all she does is pick on me!" Aaron let her continue her rant. "The only person who ever loved me was my father, and now, he treats me differently, like a disease. No one loves me. I'm a bitch who expects people to love me, but I can't even love myself." she continued to cry.

"That's not true." Aaron finally said.

"What?" Kennedy wiped away her tears, and stared at the boy.

"I said, that's not true. Your father wasn't the only one who's ever loved you."

"Oh yeah, and how do you know that?" Kennedy sniffed, getting defensive.

"Because I, Aaron Kingsley, have been in love with you ever since you threw that apple at my head in sixth grade, and ever since then, I fall in love with you a little more every day." Kennedy's breath hitched in her throat, and wasn't able to find the right words. Aaron laughed. "Maybe this will help." He wrapped one arm around her waist, and one behind her leg, hoisting her up. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, afraid she might be dropped. Aaron just smiled at her, and leaned in to kiss her. Kennedy gasped as their lips connected, but soon found herself kissing him back, knotting her fingers in his hair. When she pulled out to catch her breath, she smiled at him.