Succumb | ongoing

chapter one

chapter one
an unwelcome surprise

"You're lying," I told the ebony haired girl beside me.

She rolled her eyes, tucking a ringlet strand behind her ear and hit me gently. "This is the third time he's looked over here!"

"Maybe he's looking at you or someone behind me," I said simply.

She didn't take this as a possibility, but then I didn't take Tyler Connor looking at me as a possibility either. "Fuck off, Mila. He's definitely not undressing me with his eyes," she said. "I would feel it." I ignored the prickling sensation of someone's eyes on me.

There was no way, and I mean no way Tyler Connor— the most popular, good looking boy in our school— was looking at me. Not unless I had smeared that chocolate ice cream we'd gone off site for at lunch across my face.

"Yeah, yeah," I said, waving her off. "Anyway," I really needed to change the subject before I got even redder or worse, fainted. "What time are you coming to mine?"

She side stepped a meandering thirteen year old, grimacing as we were both hit with a waft of the overpowering stench of lynx. Smelt like he'd bathed himself in it.

"Christ," Camilla muttered. She turned to me again as we made our way towards the car park. "I don't know. Are we having dinner before we go?"

"Can do," I said, pulling my bag a little more securely onto my shoulder, and watching my step. "Mum said the wheel's not open until five, so we don't have to rush."

She paused. I turned to look back at her, eyebrow raised. "I am not going anywhere near that death trap."

"Cam," I said, slowly. "Please. It's only here every two years, and I don't want to miss out."

She bit her lip, worriedly. "Mm... I don't know. Maybe."

I couldn't be bothered arguing, so just sighed dramatically and made my way towards her car. I paused. There, leant against the driver's door, looking half-heartedly at his phone, the boy I struggled to be around stood.

He shouldn't be here. He should be backpacking in Italy or whatever the fuck he was doing. Whatever it was, it shouldn't be here.

It was Camilla's turn to watch me as I stopped.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, fine," I said, regaining myself quickly, and starting forward again. I lowered my voice as we got closer, "I didn't know your brother was back."

He was drawing more and more eyes the longer he waited. Everyone within range seemed to be drawn to the stern and tall boy.

"Oh yeah," she said, seemingly not realising like this was something I definitely should have been warned about. "I forgot. Sorry, I know you two don't really get along."

The last time I'd seen him, he'd been a little less tan but other than that, not much had changed. And, making me want to kick myself, the time hadn't settled the small crush I'd always had on him.

Guess I'll have to go back to my old ways of pretending he didn't exist.

That was probably half the reason Camilla thought I despised her brother. It mustn't have been nice for her to have her best friend and brother seemingly not want to be in the same room with each other, but it was better than her knowing the truth.