Stained

Chapter 2

"What the fuck, Damien! You blew smoke right into her face!" Kenzie yells.

I cover my mouth with my palm and peer up at him as I struggle to free my lungs from the unwelcome poison.

Through the side view mirror, I can only see the bottom half of his face, the top half masked by the shadow of his drawn hood. Despite being unable to see his eyes, I feel them, hot and heavy as lead on my skin. And in the bottom half, I'm clearly able to see his full lips pierced with a lip ring curved into a smirk. A cheeky smirk.

My hand drops from my agape mouth, the shock boggling my mind and killing the cough in my throat.

Jerk! He did it on purpose.

Not wanting to deign him with a glare, I snap my lips shut and yank my head in Kenzie's direction as she leans over the centre console to grab a water bottle from the cup holders between the passenger and driver seat.

"Here, water," she says, holding out the bottle to me whilst buckling herself back in.

I shake my head no and reach into my bag for my own water bottle. I can't drink from anyone else's bottle or glass—germ anxiety.

As I'm tilting the bottle against my lips, I catch Kenzie's bewildered expression and stop. I mouth, "sorry," against the bottle's rim with a shy smile, then tilt my head back and take a ginormous gulp.

When I lower the bottle, I find Kenzie shuffling through her handbag

I lick the bead of water that threatens to drip down my lips and onto my chin and lean back in my seat to look out of the window.

I'm socially awkward and struggle to instigate conversation or keep it going.

My best friends' seem to be the only exception in that regard, conversation constantly flowing as we veer from one topic to the next, never really managing to finish any one.

But those truly are one of the best conversations.

My phone buzzing with a message almost makes my soul leap out of my chest. Despite my heart racing a mile a second, I calmly lift my backside off the seat by placing my hand on the passenger in front of me for support.

Too late, I remember the Rude Guy is sitting in the seat and end up touching his shoulder.

I see and feel his body tense.

With the speed of lightning, I retract my hand, ignoring the feeling of blood rushing to my cheeks as I pull my phone out by clutching the window cill instead, my elbow banging against the door in the process.

It was only an accident. It's not like I touched him on purpose, so I don't understand why I'm so embarrassed.

Fortunately, when I check the notification, I forget all about my mishap and smile.

My mum sent me a picture of my cat, Rosie, sprawled out on my bed, asleep.

Leave it to Rosie to bring a smile to my lips. Even in slumber. It's like she has magical powers. I will be pouring my eyes out and, like magic, she will manage to make me smile and laugh with her mere presence.

Kenzie must notice my sudden glee because she leans into me and sing songs, "are you texting a boy?"

"A boy being my mum? Then sure," I chuckle.

Kenzie being the nosy person she is, peers at my phone screen. "Oh cute, is that your cat?"

I nod my head yes.

"She's grown so much," she says, observing the picture.

I jut out my bottom lip in a pout. I can't believe she's two, I could've sworn she was turning five months old yesterday. Time sure flew by like a whirlwind.