"Did you punch him in the face?"
"No!" She laughed.
"That's not the Lydia I know," Carter shook his head, staring up at the grey clouds with a reminiscent expression. "The Lydia I know punched me in the face the first time we interacted."
"We were...
"Oh," she looked down, unable to keep contact with that gaze that pierced her. Heat arose in her cheeks but she knew that she owed him an apology so she took a deep, quiet breath and gave him a sheepish smile. "Sorry for doing that. I guess I just got mad and I wanted to hurt him but I shouldn't have brought you into it like that. I'll tell him that I lied."
He chuckled, nodding his head as he glanced off into the distance. "It's alright," he shrugged, retrieving his cigarettes. He lit up and the smoke billowed around them before he continued. "If it had been someone else, I might have minded. But for you— I'll go along with it."
Lydia gave him a grateful smile and watched his plump lips on the end of his cigarette. He had a nice pout, one that she felt herself admiring more and more. Carter noticed her staring and outstretched his hand, offering her the smoke with a raised brow. She contemplated giving it a go, but declined with a brief shake of her head.
"I thought that you and Riley were friends though?" Lydia shifted her weight with a curious expression. "You don't have to be okay with him thinking that. I don't want to get in between you two."
"We haven't been close for a while," Carter shrugged a shoulder. "Besides, what he did to you kind of smashed the respect that I had for him."
Lydia wondered if she should tell him about what happened between her and Riley earlier in the week. The confessions that went down between both of them and the goodbye kiss.
She figured that if she was going to be responsible for Riley thinking that his friend betrayed him, then Carter deserved the whole truth from her. So she went on to explain the emotional moment in her living room, explaining that she felt somewhat responsible for her broken relationship.
"I don't care if he felt neglected," Carter scoffed, exhaling his last drag of the cigarette before he dropped and stubbed it out. "He should have called it off. Or talked to you. I dunno. He shouldn't have slept with someone else."
Lydia was surprised that he kept his stance on the situation. She understood what he was getting at, but that didn't change how she felt.
"Do you know who it was by the way?" Carter questioned. "Who he slept with?"
"No, he told me afterwards and said it was some random girl," Lydia waved her hand in dismissal. It wasn't something that she wanted to re live.
A cold trickle on her cheek caused Lydia to glance up and she noticed the start of a light snow fall. The bell sounded from the school, signalling that lunch had started and she met Carter's knowing grin.
"Guess we better wait for a bit and take this stuff in soon when the equipment room is clear," he stepped forward and picked the bow up from her hand. "Still hanging out tonight?"
"Of course," Lydia nodded and watched Carter as he picked up another arrow.
"Good, now, lets hit that target."
—
How do I look?!
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