My mother's old friend had visited us once.
I was only seven at the time, standing there next to my mother and little sister, with my wavy blonde hair left loose and those big blue eyes that always got me what I wanted.
She knelt down in front of me and smiled fondly. Glancing at my mum, she looked back at me with a soft chuckle, "Sarah, your daughter's gonna be a real heartbreaker one day."
And as I stand here, 10 years later, with one of his hands in mine as he practically begs me to reconsider, I realize how true her words were.
"Kyra..." he repeats my name for the umpteenth time today, his blue-grey eyes fixed on mine. In the three years I've known him, I have never seen this side of Noah. The heartbroken one.
I take a deep breath, preparing myself to end whatever we had going for a couple days there, "I'm sorry. You know we can't do this."
We're standing in the school's old west wing that's used for meetings by the council members, and more popularly as a make out spot by the other students. There's no one around this early in the morning, and even though we're being quiet, our voices still slightly echo down the empty hallways.
"Why not?" He demands, desperate. Maybe I would've been happy to see him display some form of emotion other than lust, only if I wasn't the cause for it.
"Noah," I sigh, squeezing his hand in any kind of comfort I can provide. "I don't like you." I tell him, keeping my voice low in hopes of not hurting him any more. I've done enough damage as is.
Usually when I'm having this conversation, I don't have to think twice about it. Those guys barely know me, their emotions based solely on how good the sex was, so I don't really feel that bad rejecting them. It's not the same with Noah, he was one of the first few people I met in LA, courtesy to his twin and my best friend, Maggie.
Noah has always been that brooding brother that sitts with us, but never really speaks. He has that mysterious boy thing going for him, and although he isn't the most charming guy out there, he has his moments. Or rather, we've had moments. Sparks even. They were always there, but being Maggie's brother meant he was off limits.
I ignored it as best as I could, purposely staying out of his way for the most part. But ever so often, our eyes would meet, our hands would brush, and I don't think either of us could deny what was right there.
So when he made a move to kiss me at the party last Saturday, I couldn't bring myself to turn him down. One thing led to another, and the next day I woke up naked in a bed with my best friend's brother.
Now, here we are.
"Either way, Maggie will be upset if she finds out," I break the silence when he doesn't reply, my voice holding traces of remorse. I really didn't think I'd end up hurting him this much. I didn't know he actually liked me. "Let's just forget about it, yeah?"
He doesn't say anything, just stares down at his hands folded in mine. He swallows, his eyes not moving an inch, his face not giving me any clues as to what's going on inside his head.
Finally, after what feels like hours, he looks up and his blue eyes meet mine with an electricity they always seem to possess, "I don't want to forget."
I blink at him.
I wasn't expecting that.
"I'm sorry?"
"I won't forget, and I'll make sure you can't either."
Before I have the chance to blankly utter 'what' for the second time, he moves away from me, letting my hands fall by my sides. Without another word, he turns around and walks away.
Way to make a dramatic exit.
I have the strongest urge to follow after him and tell him that try as he might, my feelings won't change. But just the thought of going through another ten minutes talking to him is emotionally exhausting.
I lean back against a desk with a heavy sigh.
As much as I love drama, being the center of it is fucking exhausting.
*
After my encounter with Noah about five minutes ago, I walk back out to find Maggie waiting for me by my locker.
Just my fucking luck doing wonders here.
It instantly knocks the breath out of me, and I swallow, trying to look as casual as possible.
"What's wrong with you?" She asks the second I reach her, glancing at me sideways as she chews on a piece of gum. Her blonde hair is tied up in a ponytail, a strip of bangs falling over her blue-grey eyes. The resemblance she holds to Noah has suddenly gotten much more unnerving.
I open the locker door to hide my face from her curious eyes. "What's wrong with me?" I counter, trying to sound nonchalant. My acting skills aren't really on par with my younger sister's, but I wouldn't say I'm the worst out there.
"You were looking at me real weird for a second," she says, possibly at least partly convinced by my skills. "I guess it's just me."
I let out a breath of relief, but the air is still awkward and I'm unable to say anything without thinking of her brother's face on top of me. Thankfully, I don't have to worry for long, because a distraction comes walking straight towards us.
"You won't believe what I just heard!" Her voice reaches us before she does, and I turn around my eyes immediately catching sight of the red haired beauty speed-walking our way. Alan is helplessly running after, trying to catch up with his girlfriend.
"Isla," I say her name, giving her the mandatory side hug as she reaches me. "What's up?"
I've never really liked the girl a whole lot, but it's a lot easier to be her friend than her enemy, even if it means I have to pretend a little.
Don't get me wrong, she's pretty chill and she can be nice when she wants to, but the girl has a talent for ruining lives. She might be a little more than just plain crazy, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about her sometimes.
"You walk way too fast, you know?" Alan steps in beside her,
"You're really unfit, you know?" Isla bites back, rolling her green eyes at him.
"You're really mean, you know?"
"You're really fucking close to being single, you know?"
They go back and forth for a while, and eventually I get bored and my gaze returns to Maggie, who fake gags in agreement. I bite my lip to hold back my smile, and turn to Isla, my voice a higher pitch as I ask, "weren't you going to say something? I'm dying for the goss!"
Isla's eyes light up as she remembers her true purpose for coming here, but Maggie must've heard the sarcasm in my voice because she snorts to cover up her laugh. Quickly recovering with an additional cough, she waves her hand about, "excuse my cold. Please continue."
Isla doesn't seem to notice, her mind too preoccupied with what she wants to say. "We have new meat coming in today. Rumours are, he's smoking hot."
"Why's he moving in the middle of the year?" Alan asks, not looking too bothered about his girlfriend gushing over another guy, despite my concerns. I guess it happens a lot.
"Who knows?" Isla shrugs, her green eyes sparkling as a wicked smile comes over her lips. "We'll just have to find out for ourselves."
"Oh, right," Maggie suddenly says, tilting her head to one side in thought, "I remember Cami mentioning it before. She was pretty excited about it too."
"Where is she, anyway?" I ask, realising we only have five minutes left before the bell rings. It's not like the whole group meets up before class, but she's usually hanging around somewhere.
Maggie sighs, "Samara grabbed Peter and Cami followed after them."
My nose turns up at the mention of her name, "that girl needs to get her hands off Pete."
"You're not the only one who thinks so," she shrugs, referring to Camila and most probably herself too. Cami very clearly has a thing for Peter and everyone can see it, but him. It's quite sad, I won't lie.
This would all be so much easier if she'd just tell Peter she likes him, but no, she can't make things weird by going after a guy in our group. Well, maybe if I had followed that rule, I wouldn't have been in this situation with Noah.
Okay, I have to stop thinking about him. It's not going to help me in any way. I have other, more important things to concentrate on, like my assignments, the SATs, and all that jazz.
I take in a deep breath.
I can do this.
*
And all I did was think about Noah.
All through the first half of the day, he was the only thing on my mind. It didn't help that he was in one of my classes. I had to run out before anyone had the chance to get up. It's not an easy task, I assure you. I almost tripped and fell right onto Mrs. Smith's behind. It's not a moment I want to relive, the pure momentsry terror I felt was almost worse than if Noah would've caught up with me.
But even without him glaring daggers into my back during the other lectures, there's this constant worry that's been eating me up on the inside. What's going on in his mind? What's he going to do?
Will he tell his sister?
I know lying to her face will be difficult, but what if she finds out? What then?
I'm so paranoid, that I almost make up an excuse to avoid sitting with them at lunch. I only have to apply basic common sense to realise skipping would only make everyone more suspicious.
So I push forward and reach the table I've been sitting at everyday for the past four months. Everyone is sitting around, conversing animatedly with smiles on their faces. Instantly, I can tell no one else knows.
But that's not what my attention is on anymore.
A dark haired boy, with gorgeous brown eyes and slightly tan skin is sitting and chatting away with the rest of my friends. He looks familiar in a way that's equally comforting and equally terrifying.
Is that really... him?
Not more than a second later, Camila notices my presence. I think she's smiling at me, but I can't really tell. My eyes are fixed on him.
She probably read my expression because she sounds worried as she says, "Kyra, are you okay?"
Her voice is loud enough for the others to look my way. He looks up too, and when his eyes finally meet mine, there's no doubting it. I'd recognize those eyes anywhere.
It's him.