County Falls

Chapter 27: A Little Too Late

My jaw dropped open.

"You're Jason Summers girlfriend?" I could not believe the words when they came out of my mouth. He never had girlfriends, this newbie must be mistaken.

"As of last week. Look he's coming." I looked over her shoulder and locked eyes with Jason. His eyes widened and he hesitated but only for a fraction of a second. He continued to walk towards us, still staring at me.

"I was looking all over for you!" Taylor yelled but her whole face lit up when she saw him. "Good thing Kai was here to help." I gave a weak smile and turned my head. "Do you know each other?" she asked, a look of confusion on her face. All I could do was give a slight nod and without explanation, I turned to walk away.

"Kaia..." Jase called out but I rounded the corner before I heard anymore. When the coast was clear, I ran. I ran until my knees locked up and I dropped to the floor. How could he do this to me? The kiss we shared changed my entire life and I thought it did the same for him but clearly I was the crazy one. While I was at home pining for him, he was falling for some girl who from what I could tell, was perfect in every way, hell, even I started to like her. I thought I was hurt when I found Justin in bed with my nemesis but that was nothing compared to what I was feeling now. Every bit of my body ached with loss and I didn't know how I would ever recover from this.

When I found the strength to stand, I wandered aimlessly until I reached the photo class. I thought about going to study hall, when I remembered that Taylor had that class as well. How was I ever going to set foot in there again? The slight chance of seeing Jase walking her to class made bile rise in my throat. I must have looked like a zombie when I walked in the classroom because Seth didn't say anything and just offered a chair at his desk. I mindlessly started grading papers and when that was done, I took out my camera and handed it to seth.

"What's this?" he asked. I kept quiet, I wasn't in the mood to say anything quite yet. He started scrolling through the pictures, a smile creeping up on his face. "Does this mean your back?" I wasn't quite sure how to answer that. In some way I had found myself again after the kiss with he who shall not be named but after the encounter I just had, I felt all of that falling away again. "These are absolutely beautiful Kai. Whatever brought you back to life, don't lose it."

I locked myself in the dark room for the remainder of the day. Seth's last words to me echoed in my mind, "... don't lose it." he said, but what if I'd I already lost it? Or should I say him? A slight knock came from the revolving door. Figuring it was Seth ready to kick me out, I called for him to come in. Instead of Seth standing at the entrance, it was Jase. His face was crestfallen and his eyes apologetic. I almost lost it right there but I managed to keep my composure. The red light in the dark room accentuated his features causing him to look even more beautiful then he already was. Looking at him was painful so I kept my head down and continued developing my pictures.

"I thought I would find you in here." I'd almost forgotten that he knew everything about me. I felt his presence come near me and I stepped away. I didn't want him near me. He looked at the pictures hanging on the line to dry, stopping on the one I took of Aidan on the bridge. "I see you've been putting that camera I gave you to good use. It makes me happy to see you take photos again."

"What do you want?" I asked, my tone harsh.

"I wanted to explain everything to you."

"What's to explain? You have a girlfriend now and you came here to tell me that kissing me was a mistake. Well, I don't need to hear it so you can leave now." I placed my next picture in the fixer.

"Please Kaia..." he stepped closer to me as I stepped back.

"Don't."

"Don't what?" he came closer.