Into The Unknown

04

Raegan's POV

*The next morning*

After the little outburst Chris had yesterday, I made it a point not to bring up Liliana's name. Everyone knew her as a free-spirit, but she was only close to a few people. The last time I saw her was the night of the party. We went together, but she left after she and Malcolm came out of the upstairs bedroom. I still hate to think about that night. Again, that is something I'd rather not get into now.

I slowly got up from the bed and stumbled over Chris' limp body. For a moment, he looked as if he were struggling to sleep. His eyes paced back and forth although his eyes were shut. I found myself staring at him, enjoying every feature he had to offer. His blonde and black mixed curls looked like a summer flower's base at the root of its life. His eyes aligned perfectly with his freckled cheeks. I watched as his plump lips stayed sharply pierced to hide a voice everyone deserved to hear. His chest heaved up and down at a peaceful pace as if it were asking me to mimic it. My eyes gracefully met his tattoos. They laced his body as if he were born with them. I felt my heart race as I glanced down further upon his body. Once my eyes fell upon what they wanted to meet, he cleared his throat. I quickly turned my head and blushed harder than anything known to man. That was the moment I took to run to the bathroom.

"How embarrassing," I huffed.

During my shower, I couldn't stop thinking about his body. I never met this man before in my life and I am already keeping him within my mind. His images raced through my skill with the hopes of making me happy. I smiled at the thought of his tattoos. The steam from the shower quickly heated my body as I stared off into space. Slowly, I began to gather my orchestra to conduct a sweet melody. My song was sweet and mellow as I lowly hummed in harmony with my conductor. As the beat slowly increased speed, my hips began to rock and sway to give assurance that the song was meaningful and worth my time. By this time, I was into the song. My hips bucked to the beat as if I were a tribal dancer. The finishing note was perfection. It shot through my body as if it were lightening running through it. I quickly recovered from the musical wave and proceeded to get ready for the convention.

Chris' POV

It took her forever in the bathroom. I needed to shower and get ready for the convention just like she did. Maybe I should get up earlier. Anyway, I walked into the bathroom as she walked out. She dipped her head and blushed after I passed her. I shrugged it off and kept moving.

After my shower, I wrapped the white towel around my waist and walked into the room. Raegan was now fully dressed with her legs crossed playing with her phone. I walked over to my bag and pulled out a grey button up shirt and black pants. I could feel her staring at me as I dressed. She sat up on the bed and opened her mouth to speak.

"Is that all you brought? You know we're here for more than two days, right," she questioned.

I nodded slowly and responded, "This is all I own."

"Oh, did you sleep on the floor last night," she breathed.

I nodded. I kept dressing as she watched me. I wanted to ask her why she was staring at me so hard, but I changed my mind.

"Chris," she called lowly.

"Yes," I turned.

"Today we have to free write. What are you going to talk about?"

I shrugged slowly to ponder what she was asking. I knew I didn't want to write about you, but I didn't quite know what I wanted to write. After a moment of thinking, I knew I wanted to talk about love. That little aspect of life I have yet to feel. I almost had it at one point, but I messed it up terribly.

"Chris," she whispered.

"Huh?"

"You're crying again," she trailed off.

I wiped my eyes with the sleeve of shirt and walked out of the room.

Soon after, Raegan followed after me. We stood in the elevator surrounded by this sudden atmosphere of awkwardness. We headed into the convention and took our seats. Everyone else sat next to their team member but us. I sat in the far right corner, while Raegan sat in the front of the hall.

Time was called and I stared at my beaten shoes.

"Your attire is wrong, sir. Points will be deducted," the scorer explained to me.

I nodded slowly.

"Would you like to go change your shoes," she questioned.

"I don't have any other shoes," I stared at the floor.

"Would you like to go buy some before we start? We will wait for you," she pressed.

"I don't have any money," I whispered.

"Come on, Chris. Let's walk to the mall," Raegan offered.

I got up from the desk and walked out of the snickered filled classroom. I sighed deeply and walked to the mall. I picked out the shoes and walked to the checkout line. Raegan stayed quiet, the way I wanted her to be. She paid for the shoes without protest and trailed behind me.

"You didn't have to do that," I mumbled.

"It's okay," she chuckled, "We need those points right?"

I nodded and immediately felt embarrassed. I didn't have the money to get the shoes because of my situation. I didn't have the right clothes because of my situation. All I really had was in the bag upstairs in the hotel room.

We arrived back into the hotel and took our seats in the convention hall. The scorer smiled at me and I looked at the paper. Time was called to begin and my pencil went to work. I wrote everything that was on my mind about my topic for 20 minutes straight until time was called to halt. I sighed and took my paper to the front of the conference hall. There were snickers and little giggles all around the room. Were they talking about me? Was it about my shoes? I trailed my thoughts away and handed my paper in. I watched as the lady scanned over my paper numerous times. Sh*t, I messed up, huh? I brushed my thoughts away and tapped my foot lightly. She handed my paper back and I scanned over it until I found no red marks. At the bottom, it simply read:

"I'm in love with this paper. Your paper brought me joy and understanding about you. I do not know your name but thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. You are a very articulate young man. You have received a perfect score. Enjoy the rest of the trip."

I smiled down at the paper and walked back to the hotel room. I started to think I was starting to enjoy this trip. I stuffed my paper into my pocket and stepped onto the hotel when Raegan entered.

"What did you get," she smiled.

I stared at the floor when she touched my hand. My eyes shifted back and forth and I stepped away.

"I got a 99. Grammatical error," she pouted.

I nodded. "You got a perfect score didn't you," she huffed.

I nodded slowly and she yelped.

"Omg let's celebrate," she yelled.

I shook my head. "I just want to lie down."

She exhaled loudly and agreed. We stayed in the hotel for the remainder of the night before she asked if I was hungry. She ordered Chinese and we ate in silence.

"Why are you so quiet," she asked.

Here we go again.