The Fallen |BxB| ✓

14 | I'll Change for You

↞[Luke]↠

As the day of homecoming crept closer, the school hallways became more crowded, with students running from one place to another. The sight of Bella got even rarer, and so did Ken's. He was busy most of the time with basketball practices. I occasionally went to the gym to watch him play, but he got visibly agitated with me around, so I stopped doing that. Unfortunately, for me, I missed him way more than I liked to admit to myself. After our trip to Rosewood, I kept feeling guilty for pushing myself on Ken. I didn't know what he expected from me, and I felt like shit for getting his hopes up. How was I supposed to give Ken anything when I didn't understand my feelings for him?

I closed the metal locker with a clunk after taking out my art supplies. As I turned the corner, I stumbled into a girl. She yelped before composing herself, fingers smoothing out the hem of her black tank top.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there," I said.

She stood tall, reaching my height frame, and her ruby-red lips curled into a glimmery smile directed at me. "I was looking for you, so." She slipped the lock of hair, burning in the colors of fall, behind her ear. "This just got a whole lot easier."

"Do I know you?"

"No, but you will, soon enough." She regarded me with a sultry gaze. Smokey eyeshadow brushed the lids of her eyes. Those eyes were a contrast to her fiery temperament — a soothing hue of shallow ocean.

I couldn't hold back my smirk as I leaned sideways on the wall. "Bold statement."

"You liked it," she stated and stepped closer. A sweet scent of black coffee and cedarwood embraced the air around me. The perfume was as captivating as her.

"How could I not? Coming from someone of your likeness." I wondered how I had never noticed the girl before.

She chuckled softly, her confident demeanor unswerving. "You're real smooth, Raynott." She lifted her forefinger and hooked it in my t-shirt's neckline, manicured nail grazing my skin.

Damn, she's forward.

"I have an invitation," she said in a low voice while playing with the edge of the neckband. "To get to know you better."

"And how would that be?" I asked with amusement, though I knew where this was going.

"A party. Friday night. My place." She smiled with a sinful innocence, lighting her features framed with flowing red hair, which softly fell over her cheeks as she leaned closer, pulling my shirt in the process. "Or we can skip to the after-party." Her sweet perfume burned through my nostrils.

Nothing compared to the vanilla on Ken.

The thought hit me hard, and I gripped her wrist and pushed it away gently. Taking a step back from her, I raised my eyebrow. "I don't even know your name."