The school was always cold in the morning but it seemed particularly cool that day. The metal of the lockers was cool to the touch, and a chill ran down Keylee's spine. She blinked a slow pair of eyes and the school hallway came into focus slowly. The soft soles of her shoes weren't making much of a sound on the tile, her own way of keeping herself hidden amongst the sea of students.
Until a soft push on her shoulder made her turn suddenly to face a student who was equally as stunned. They both muttered their respective apologies, but then she met his gaze. There was something off about the way he looked at her, blue eyes like ice. Her gut clenched and she turned away quickly, her pace and pulse suddenly rushed.
She turned the corner and her fingers clenched on the railing to the stairs, which would lead her down the stairs if she continued. But instead she shrunk down, to sit on the edge of the step, fingers brushing the railing shakily as she closed her eyes.
"Keylee! Hey!"
Her dark green eyes peered through her eyelashes at a rather fashionable woman waving at her. A smirk touched the edge of Kaylee's lips. Aradia was a strange female, with choppy red hair and an eyebrow piercing. She'd been the one to convince Keylee to pierce her belly-button, to sneak off and eat in the small gym together. She was also the extent of Keylee's social activity.
Aradia sat beside her friend and peered at her, nudging her shoulder gently. "Looks like you bumped into the new kid," she suggested. Keylee closed her eyes once again, not wanting to think about it.
"You saw that, huh?"
Ara gave her a funny look. "Oh my god."
"What." The flatness in her voice couldn't have been more evident. She leaned her head against the stair rail and watched the kids file into their classrooms one by one. She imagined, for a moment, one or two of them flashing a look at her - the one she'd gotten from said new kid. A mix of shock and then recognition. Recognition and then a certain amount of smugness. I found her. That was the look he'd given her. Like she was a criminal.
The imaginary glares faded.
"You like him, don't you?"
Keylee's eyes finally snapped open widely. For a breif moment she thought about laughing. But laughing would be wrong. "I beg your pardon?"
Ara stood. "I knew it. When you first started running off. You find him attractive, don't you?"
"No," Keylee responded curtly, "He just gave me a look I didn't like."
"Did it make you feel funny?" Ara took a few steps down the stairs and knelt, coming eye-level with her friend. "Did it make your stomach sink and your heart jump?"
"Yes," she admitted. "But it's different. I don't like him."
"Come on!" the other girl clutched her chest in exasperation. Her dark brown eyes searched her friend's for a good piece of juicy gossip, like a dog begging for a steak. "You've never liked a man in all the years you've been here! Tell me something!"
Again Keylee did a double take. "Y-years?" She had to think about it for a moment. It'd really been years, hadn't it? Since she'd come to New York, burried herself in plain sight. Used an overly populated area to blend in like a regular person, hide. And it'd worked. For three years. Keylee'd been able to settle down, attend school, make a friend.
"Oi," Ara snapped in front of the girl's dark eyes. "Don't change the subject, Miss Sentimental. Back to Dorian Brown."
"Who?"
"The new kid. The kid who gave you-" she lifted her eyebrows gently in a suggestive, joking way, wiggling them before continuing. "- a look."
Keylee waved it off. "I'll pass on that. You didn't bump into him. It would've been so easy for him to just...." she faltered and shook her head. Stop it, Keylee. Just go to class.
"To kiss you?" Ara stood, reading the look in her friend's eyes and smirked, extending a hand to help her to her feet. Again she shook her head and stood, ignoring the offered hand.
"No, to kill me."
