Curiosity Book 1 ✔️

Chapter 3

I need to leave. I haven't been here that long, but Farris is breaking my shield. I can't have that. Not anymore. I can't let some boy get my guard down.

I could just run away. Or I could be nice, and say goodbye to everyone. Or I could make it seem like I was kidnapped.

I'll do what I did when I left my family. Leave a note, and just run. I'm not ready to leave just yet, I still need to steal some things. Like food and weapons. I have clothes and something to keep me warm already.

I'll only stay a while longer, just until I get some food and some sort of weapons.

I walked out of my small excuse of a room. It was merely an old conference room on the first floor by the music section. I walked past the people sitting and napping on the few chairs of said music section.

I walked into the teens room, looking at all the bookshelves. The blue lights that used to glow on the ceiling. The plastic mirrors that used to reflect said blue lights, now cracked and torn. The emergency exit door, now swung open, let light flood into the room.

Capri came out of the staff room across from where I was standing, "Ah, Cameira, it's quite early, don't you think? Why are you awake?"

"The city's going to the gutter and you expect me to sleep like nothing is happening? I don't even know if my friends are alive!"

"Oh, but we are all your friends now, aren't we? We took you in, gave you a place to sleep. How could we not be your friends at this point?"

"Hah! Good one! Friends? Seriously? You're just a group of over-trusting strangers who brought in some girl that was calmly sitting on some rubble. We're not friends," I stopped my rant and went to turn away before noticing something, "Oh and Capri?"

"Yes?"

"You might wanna not make it so obvious as to what you just did in that staff room. Your shirts unintentionally hanging a little low and your hair is a complete mess."

"Oh good god."

"I smirked to myself as she hurriedly fixed herself while I walked away. I just walked until I found myself into the reference and genealogy section upstairs. I picked up a random book and started reading.

"Hey there. Long time, no encounter."

"Farris, I just saw you yesterday."

"Babe, that was from across the room, you didn't even say hi!"

"Don't call me babe."

"Okay, hun. Anyway, you're always reading up here. Anything good?

"Stop with the nicknames. They're not cute."

"Stop avoiding everything else I say, sweetie, and I'll think about it."

"Sweetie? Seriously? I'm about as sweet as a raw coacoa bean."

"You could be sweeter than sugar if you tried, honey."

"I'm more like the bee, making the honey. Calm until you piss me off. Get ready for the sting, Farris."

"Oh Cami, you'll make me blush. But I'm pretty sure I'm the one with the stinger. Do you wanna be the flower I pollinate?"

"No."

"I don't think you mean that."

"Oh but I do."

"That's not what your body was saying the other night. You didn't think I didn't notice the way you tried to get closer. But I did. Oh and the dilated eyes. I noticed that too."

"You never told me what that meant by the way."

"Now's not the time, darling," he sat down at the chair across from me, placing his head on his hand and looking out the window at the sunrise.

He looks so.. No. Cam you know you can't let him in, you're leaving soon amyway!

"You gonna need a napkin for that drool? Don't think that I can't see you staring."

"I wasn't, I saw a book behind you."

I don't know what happened, but suddenly his left hand was was above my head and his right hand was holding both my arms down.

"Don't try that Cami. I know exactly what you were staring at, and it wasn't some book about atoms. Unless you count staring at my lips wanting to study atoms. I'll just let you know now, that I'll let you check out alot of my atoms."

"I-I w-"

"Don't say you weren't. You're staring right now."

"I do-don't kno-know."

"Cameira! Oh no, I'm interupting, aren't I?"

"Oh no, Kai. It's fine. I was just about to leave anyway. I'm done flustering your little subject for now," he let go of me and walked towards him, "she better stay a subject for whatever you're doing."

"Farris, you know I have Capri. Why would I want Cameira?"

"Because Capri has been having an affair since all this started."

"W-what?" his authoritative voice suddenly lowered to a whisper, "How? Everything she said.. W-why?"

"I understand what you're going through. Take my advice and don't do anything rash."

"I-I'll talk to l-later, Cam-" his voice cracked, and he cleared his throat, "C-Cameira." He walked away, completely forgetting all that he wanted to say to me.

"Someone had to tell him. I saw opportunity and I took it. Poor guy couldn't keep going thinking everything was fine when it really wasn't."

~+~+~+~+~

That night, Farris stayed in my room. The yelling from the office in the former kids playroom was just too mich for me. Too close to home.

"Why'd you suddenly le- Are you okay?" Why I let him in? Because I was actually remembering alot and I was breaking? Probably. Was I okay?

"N-no."

"Oh, come here," he pulled the door shut, took my hand and led me to the cheap bed, "Tell me what's wrong."

"I-I," I broke, throwing my arms around him and just soaked his shirt. The yelling was still going on. I could hear it loud and clear.

"Can you tell me now?" he asked after a few minutes of me silently crying into his shoulder. The yelling had settled slightly, but it was, no doubt, still there.

"My parents. They fought alo-" voice crack, "Alot. Then one n-night. My mom drove off and she g-got into a really bad car accident. She was in the hospital for so lo-long. Living off of machines, until I was 12. I to-told my dad to l-let her go. That h-he was only hurting himself more by le-letting her stay there, half-living, hooked up to those ma-machines."

"Oh, baby, it's okay. No one else is getting hurt while I'm here, okay?" I modded my head, "It's okay, how about we get you some sleep, okay?" I nodded again, unable to speak.

I woke up the next day, my head on a chest, arm splayed across a stomach, legs tangled with someone elses legs. I was honestly too comfortable to move, so I just studied him, his hair, his face, the stubble thats been growing in to a point where it's barely stubble.

I imagined his green eyes studying me the way my hazel eyes studied him. I wanted to tangle my olive fingers into his deep dark brown hair. I want his perfect lips to- I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm leaving. These feeling are just lust and infatuation. I'm not getting used again.