Alpha Will

3. Kiara

 

I don't remember when I first fell in love with Will Cage.

We met in third grade, when his family first moved to town. He was a bossy person back then too, taking the entire class under his wing by the end of first period, including me, the class loner. The first day of school, he dragged his desk beside mine and told me we were friends from now on and it would be easier for me if I cooperated, all with a deadpan. I told him he was crazy and he smiled. He didn't move his desk. And although he didn't force me to interact with the others exactly, he sure as hell didn't leave me alone either. He somehow found out I was eating lunch in a hidden corner of the school's backyard and started eating there too, thereby attracting all his followers until the usually quiet space became boisterous and stopped smelling of just my peanut butter lunch. That wasn't all either, he stayed behind in the library with me after school, his army (he made friends from other classes too) tagging along too and after a couple of days of this, the librarian banned all of us. Permanently.

The library was my favorite place, and I'd been close to tears that day, standing on the sidewalk with a group of kids I didn't- and shouldn't be trying to- know at all. I cursed Will out, calling forth all the limited crude words in my arsenal(the worst of them chicken-face) and he stood patiently until I finished, my breath heaving as the tears streamed down my flushed face. Then he raised the hem of his shirt and wiped my face with it. When he was finished, he gave the others the boot and dragged me over to his mother's book shop in the middle of town.

I took one look at the rows and rows of books, all of which Flora said I was welcome to read- and a large amount of which I probably couldn't even find in the school's library- and the rest was history. I started going there everyday.

What I can't remember exactly is when I started developing feelings for Will. When my heart started jogging in my chest like an Olympian runner whenever his lips tilted into that small smile, or how much I liked it when he took my hand in his whenever we walked together in a crowded street, or how warm and safe his long, calloused fingers felt holding mine. How his jeans hung low on his bare, narrow waist when he opened his apartment door on weekend mornings, or how much I just wanted to sit down with him, anywhere, and do everything and nothing forever. It didn't matter, so long as I was with him.

Corny, I know.

The crazy part is I wasn't even aware of what those thoughts meant until about a year ago, when I was sitting in class and staring at the back of his head. I was wondering how it'd feel like to pull at those soft curls and a thought came slamming into me like a two hundred pound football player: Kiara, you're in love with him.

And I screamed.

I'm pretty sure my math teacher- along with half of the class- thought I was losing it, but it was a reasonable reaction for such a revelation. Also very cliché, the normal girl falling in love with the school's bad boy. But unlike the movies, this normal girl didn't stand a chance. The only reason why Will was even staying around me was because of his protective nature, he's always taken care of his friends, I'm just the most vulnerable of them.

Which is what I've been telling myself for the past year, trying to keep my hopes from flying out of control, which they still did- only to crash land everytime I saw him with another girl. But I still told myself the same thing anyway, because at least this way I could still stick around him. Even if it hurt.

***

The alarm blasted in my ears. I groaned, grabbed it and chucked the stupid thing into the wall. It bounced against the wall, flopping onto my rug. In one piece. Still ringing. I crawled out of bed, stomping over to the pink rubber alarm. A present from Will's younger brother, Rob, for my eighteenth birthday.

I picked it up, grumbling under my breath as I turned it off. I stared at the time. Just past six. If I went back to bed for a few minutes... I wouldn't get out. No, must resist the temptation. I shook my head and trudged along to my bathroom. Inside, I took a second to grieve my lost sleep before climbing into the shower.

Since I had some time, I washed my hair with my favorite lemon shampoo, massaging the soap into my shoulder length hair. I turned the heat on high, sighing as the warm water washed over my skin. I stalled inside for another five minutes than necessary, switched the shower off, shook the water from my hair like the immature adult I was and climbed out. I dried myself off, put on a pink blouse and light brown jeans. I pulled on my favorite pair of pink sneakers, smoothing lotion on my face and arms before grabbing my bag.

Both of my parents were out of town for the week so I had breakfast in the kitchen for a change, basking in the peace of the empty apartment. The place felt empty even with them here, but peaceful wasn't ever around when they were. Not often anyway.

I cleaned up after myself and was locking the apartment door behind me when the door across from ours flew open. I expected to see Will (he moved in about three years ago) but it was a woman- a short red head. Not surprising. What was surprising was the fact that she was barreling towards me. I took one look at the determined set in her obsidian eyes, the classy pant suit and high heels that clicked primly against the polished floors, the perfect makeup, and almost rushed back into my own apartment. But it wouldn't do to run away from one of Will's flings, if I let them, they'd chase me out of his life in a flash even though there was nothing going on between us.

So I stood my ground, hand clenching against the strap of my backpack.

She stopped right in front of me, one manicured hand on her hip. Very sophisticated looking, and also the first time I've seen her.

"You're Jane," she said.

I frowned. Only people from Will's family called me that. "I'm Kiara," I corrected, unable to keep the hostility out of my voice.

She glanced at her watch, silver and expensive like her perfume. "You need to stop hogging Will to yourself, Jane. It's very unfair to the rest of us."

"Audrey, cut it out."

Will stalked out of his apartment, wearing dark jeans that fit snugly over his long, muscular legs, and a navy t-shirt that clung to equally muscular arms. His scruffy boots, along with the black tattoos on his muscular arms didn't exactly fit in with the surrounding chandeliers and Persian carpets. It definitely wasn't his kind of scene either, sometimes I worried he moved in here because of me. To keep an eye on my dad.

"Kiara, we're going to school," Will said. "Audrey, go home."

"No," Audrey responded curtly.

I blinked. Will's eyebrows lifted. This was the first time I've seen anyone openly challenge him, even the whiny selfish girls knew where the line was.

Audrey ignored him, her sharp, malicious gaze on me. "I'm getting engaged to Will. You should stay away from him from now on- unless you're against his engagement. You're not against it, are you?"