Paparazzi Girl

19. The Storm

Kat's eyes accusingly looked from Xavier and Stella, her hands on her hips, her skirt barely reaching to her knees.

"Yeah. Sorry. I was just kinda busy. I was gonna go back anyway."

"Really?" She asked incredulously. She genuinely seemed upset. It hurt to see but he didn't regret what had happened with Stella.

"Yeah, just got distracted." Jesus, how was Stella taking this?

He couldn't look at her right now.

"I can see that. Girl from the audition, right?" Her eyes were glossy.

No, no, no.  It was wrong on every level. In that moment, he wished Kat didn't care.

Xavier blushed slightly as he looked at Stella. "Yeah, she's sort of a friend."

"That's... nice, actually." Kat stepped forward. "Nice to meet you, I guess."

Stella nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear. She was beautiful. It hurt.

"I'll be waiting up here," Kat said as she turned the corner.

He rolled his eyes as he looked back at Stella, before stepping forward and clenching her. Her breath spread against his neck, her lips unbearably close to his skin. He had to use all his power to step away. It made his heart squeeze a bit.

"I'll see you later then?" He had to go see Kat.

"See you later," she whispered as he walked away, leaving her there with her camera in one hand, and her bag in the other. He hadn't even noticed that she had it with her. He was way too distracted with her lips to focus on anything other than that.

When he had caught up to Kat, her eyes were injected with slander. But once he reached her, she didn't say a word. She offered a small smile and kept walking.

"She's a close family friend," he tried to clarify with a lie.

She breathed in a deep breath as she nodded with her lips slightly puckered. Hard to admit but, she was cute. Bad thing was, she wasn't Stella.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just tired. Big day, drama, media."

Silence.

Step, step, step, step.

There was so much going on in his head.

Step, step, step -

"Do you think she's pretty?" He blurted.

He surprised himself with his question as he curiously awaited for Kat to answer. He would love to hear the answer from another girl. Maybe he should go to her for advice. I mean, she's a girl, right?

"Yeah," her voice choked up slightly as she smiled, "it looks like she really likes you. You should totally go for it."

She ran to the door as she went away, leaving Xavier standing there as if he had just won one of the biggest lottery tickets ever but then it hurt again.

Why did that feel so good to hear?

Why did it hurt to see Kat like that?

Why did having a crush have to be such a fuss?

But how would his parents react if he came home telling them she was his girlfriend? Would they support him? Or make him break the chain off?

Oh, Tyler would so smirk all the way to his grave. Maybe he wouldn't even stop there. At his funeral, while they looked inside his coffin, a smirk would lay on his face. Xavier laughed as he made his way through the doors, looking back just to find Stella twirling her car keys around her index finger. He smiled as she jumped in, a small smile tugging at her lips. Those lips he was just dying to kiss.