Obsession

Chapter 1

There's something about the way he looks when he's concentrating. His thick, dark brows furrow and his almond shaped eyes narrow into slits. His tongue is always sticking out of the right side of his mouth when he's drawing.

He's been working on that same dragon for weeks now. I've been watching him ever since he started, even though I can barely see anything from here. I told myself that I'd gradually move closer to him, but as the weeks drag on, I've found myself moving farther and farther away.

I like watching him from afar. He doesn't notice me from here.

He doesn't notice me from anywhere.

"Mara."

I snap back to reality and sit up straight before looking over at my friend, Rue. Her frizzy brown hair is piled on top of her head like a budding flower. She pushes her thick-framed glasses up her nose, giving me that look; the one she always gives me when she catches me drooling over Kai Sweeney.

"Look at him, he's such a weirdo. Why do you torture yourself like this?" she whispers.

I look back at Kai, who is still in his own little world. He probably doesn't even know our professor just assigned us an essay. I barely even caught that part myself.

I look back at Rue and sigh. "I honestly can't tell you the answer to that."

"You're still a virgin, in college," she reminds me. "All because you're holding out for the serial killer next door."

"Serial killer?" I ask, furrowing my brows. "He's a bit strange, but come on."

"He doesn't talk to anyone. He doesn't have friends. You've known him since the seventh grade and he's only spoken one word to you in seven years. And what word was that?"

My heart deflates when I think about the only interaction I've ever had with Kai.

"Move," I mumble.

"Exactly. He isn't interested, and you should be happy about that. He'd probably be into weird stuff anyway," she whispers, copying down the details of our essay as our professor writes them on the dry erase board at the front of the classroom.

She's probably right. I really don't know that much about Kai, despite the many years I've spent imagining what it would be like to be with him.

He is so beautiful. His skin is a flawless, almost shimmery gold in color. His dark brown eyes are exotic and mesmerizing. His full lips are my favorite shade of pink. His silky black hair usually falls across his face, over his eyes. I love it when he tosses his head to the side and gives me a precious view of that perfectly chiseled jawline.

Sigh.

He's quiet. Strangely quiet. I never see him interact with anyone other than his family.

They moved in next door to us seven years ago, the summer before we started middle school. My parents and I went next door to introduce ourselves and were greeted by his mother, a short, pale-skinned woman with shiny black hair, who didn't speak a word of English.

I'll never forget the moment I first laid eyes on him. My heart literally stopped beating. Well, maybe not literally, but it felt like it.

"Hi, we're the Thaxtons from next door," my dad had said.

Kai stared at us blankly for a couple of seconds before turning to his mother and translating our greeting into their native language. She politely smiled and bowed, replying with something that none of us could understand. We looked to Kai to help us out, but he only turned and walked away.