30 Days

Day Three

" sometimes your heart needs more time to accept
what your mind already knows "

;

"Hey, listen—"

"Don't talk to me. Don't look at me." Kiera's chocolate brown hair whips around, causing me to flinch as it flies past my face. Her cold, icy eyes dig into my own as she looks up at me. "In fact, let's pretend we never met."

"Kiera, wait." I grab her arm, not even caring that her eyebrows furrow angrily in response. Not wasting any time, I pull her around a corner into an empty hallway. "I know things about you. Things that make you special, that make you even more amazing. I don't see why you're acting like this because of something as small as that." I sigh, tilting my head at the beyond beautiful girl in front of me. "If you haven't noticed, I literally have three friends. Who am I going to tell?"

"Shit gets around. Trust me, I know." She rolls her eyes and leans against the wall behind her. "So I'll repeat myself. Don't talk to me."

She continues to speak, but I stop listening. My gaze lands on the pieces of paper tucked under her arm. I see colors through the back of the paper, but that's all my eyes can make out. Before I can tell myself what a terrible idea it is, my hand is reaching for the papers. I'm only able to admire one of them before she pulls it away.

It looks like a drawing, of a giant forest with a girl sitting in the center, back facing the artist. It's beautiful.

It takes me longer than usual to connect the dots.

"Kiera, you draw, too?"

She says nothing. Then she raises her hand and within the second, it comes in contact with the side of my face. I have to admit, it stings a whole hell of a lot.

Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she walks away from me, not looking back.

"Come on," I call after her, raising my arms in protest. After she's out of sight, I let them drop. Well, that encounter went well.

With my head down, I walk back down the empty hallway until I reach my locker. All of my movements are slow and dragging, as if my body knows exactly what my mind does.

Kiera Mae will officially never talk to me again.

Out of nowhere, two hands grab me and shake me aggressively. I must jump five feet in the air, because the person holding me starts cracking up. I roll my eyes as soon as I hear his laugh, waiting for a moment before turning to face him.

"Parker, what the hell?" My voice comes off agitated, and I don't even try to hide it. I'm definitely not in the mood.

"Emilia asked me if you were going to her meet today. It's at home, so, I figured you would be. I didn't tell her anything, though." He narrows his eyes at me. "There's definitely something going on between you two, isn't there." His bright blonde hair is all messed up; a side effect of having gym class ninth period.

I sigh. "No, Parker, it's fine. Don't worry about it." A group of guys enters the hallway we're standing in, talking loudly, and I can't help but turn my head to see who they are.

"Dude!" Parker exclaims. "Your face has a hand-print on it!"

My hand immediately finds my cheek, and I wince. It hurts to touch. When I groan, Parker's eyes widen.