Devil on the Rooftop [Book 1]

Chapter 51 - Arisa

I messaged Loyal halfway through first period and told him to call off his lap dog. He was starting to get under my skin. In a really bad way. The delinquent managed to not only insult me but he was brooding around like a disgruntled old man. I was trying really hard not to let it bother me but yelling at my friends was the last straw. All they wanted to do was say hello and he lost his temper over it. Scary or not, I was prepared to challenge the jerk the next time he acted out. Okay, maybe not. It probably wouldn't end in my favour.

'I can't call him off,' Loyal texted back. 'I need to know you're safe when I'm not around.'

I had to endure Khaleel during second period. He wasn't even in my class but he somehow convinced my geography teacher to let him stay. The whole room fell silent when he told Krish, who was sitting behind me, to get lost. Krish didn't hesitate to take the vacant spot at the back of the class. Great, now I had more apologies to hand out on his behalf. Khaleel was surprisingly quiet through the lecture. I almost expected him to distract the teacher with his antics but he barely made eye contact with anyone. His focus was reserved for his cell phone, and when that wasn't the case, I could feel it on me.

I was thrilled when the lunch bell rang. I packed my things and hurried towards the door to getaway from the live wire. Khaleel was too quick to dodge. He got a hold of my wrist before I could take a step into the corridor. He dragged me in the opposite direction, getting more eyes to settle on our backs. I struggled against his hold but it was terrifyingly strong.

"Hey," I hissed, as the entire student body made way for the lord of the underworld. "Stop!"

Khaleel refused to listen. He forced me through one of the school's many fire exits and to my horrible surprise, we didn't trigger any alarms. I could have used the distraction. Was it broken? Did the administration office have any plans to fix it? I told myself to focus on one problem at a time. Khaleel was losing his marbles. He had to be with the way his tightened his grip around my wrist.

Khaleel made sure we were alone before cornering me against a brick wall behind the school. "You need to answer my question," he said firmly.

"What question?"

He stare was ice cold. "Are you Loyal's girlfriend?"

"Why do you care?" I retorted.

"I need to know, so that I can move on with my life."

My heart thumped with anticipation. I knew where this conversation was going but I couldn't help delay the inevitable. "Move on from what?"

"From wanting you."

It was the first time someone other than Loyal had openly confessed to me. I didn't know what to do or how to react. So, I faked a laugh. "Stop joking around," I said.

Khaleel got a hold of my hand and made my skin catch fire. Ignore it. Ignore it. Ignore it. "I'm not joking," he replied, intertwining our fingers. "Are you guys together or not?"

"I-I don't know," I said, too scared to pull away. I didn't want to give him a reason to use force on me. I didn't want to give my body a reason to fall under his touch. "We haven't talked about that stuff in detail. We just shared a moment."

"A moment?" Khaleel asked. "What the fuck is a moment? Did you sleep with him?"

My cheeks burned red. "What?" I squealed, completely mortified. "No!"

"Then what?"

"We kissed!"

"What else?"

I hung my head and closed my eyes, too embarrassed to look at him."That's it!" I lied. "We just kissed!"

I felt him let go of my hand. "I can live with that."

"I'm sorry, Khaleel," I said, covering my face. "I don't know if I've been leading you on in any way, but I don't feel that way about you."

"Someone once told me that hate can transform into love quickly if you let enough time pass," I heard him say.

I dropped my hands and glanced up at him. He was smiling at me, sweetly, and earnestly. "I-I don't hate you," I told him, my heart burning with the burden of the truth.

Khaleel's smile didn't falter. "You could have fooled me."