Connor and I walked out of the gym together today, his father had told him to close the gym for the day and go out. Connor and I had been arguing about what he found in my bag a while ago for the past few days, the fighting was breaking me. Over the last few months, we've been getting close, and he had become something that brought me comfort and made me feel at home. His presence somehow made me feel close to Karley, though I'm sure that was more true for him than it was for me.
I didn't want us to drift apart because of my choice, I didn't want to lose him too. Not to say I wouldn't give up our friendship for my revenge, to be honest, I would, but I'd rather be his friend for as long as I could before I spent my life in prison.
"Annie, you're free today right?" I turned to him quickly, shocked by his question. Other than training he's barely spoken to me and even getting him to train me these last few days has been hard. Has he finally accepted my decision? I hoped so.
"Yea, why?"
"You want to go out for lunch or something, maybe a picnic?" I gaped at him for at least a minute, relief flooded through me when I realized this was his attempt at reconciling. He wasn't the type of person who said sorry often, so I wasn't necessarily expecting an apology. It was a pleasant surprise, one that I was happy to accept.
"Yea that sounds great, I just have to go home to shower first though" I began walking towards my bike when he gently grabbed my arm, his touch was soft and warm his fingers left tingles and on my skin wherever they touched.
"I'll give you a ride" He passed me, picked up my bike and headed towards the trunk of his Range Rover. I got on the passenger side and shut the door.
We were driving on the long, winding and isolated roads of Hawthorn city. Connor had one hand placed firmly on the steering wheel and the other on the gear stick. I sat straight in the seat watching as the surrounding trees passed in a blur.
"So what do you have planned for this picnic" I turned to look at him as he drove. He glanced at me quickly before looking at the road once more.
"That's a surprise" he smiled widely, he looked proud of himself. An odd feeling tugged at my chest as I looked at his face, his smile was bright and warm, it made his eyes sparkle. His dimples showed in the smile, enhancing his joyous expression. A rush of heat passed over me when I looked at him, his boyish grin caused an odd feeling at the base of my stomach, but it left as quickly as it came.
I looked away from him and back to the window, we were turning into my street now. The pavement was brand new, it had started crumbling a while ago, the neighbours complained to the city about it, they said it was a hazard to the kids playing outside. I didn't mind it though, as odd as it may sound I felt like the pavement looked how I felt, worn out and tired crumbling on the inside out from the weight of its problems. Finally, giving in to the weathering of… life I guess.
I used to sit on the curb and stare at it, though now that it's gone it seemed like I was just being sentimental.
We pulled into the driveway of my childhood home where Karley and I had run around without a care in the world.
"Are you ready?" he looked at me now as he undid his seatbelt and reached for his door handle, I nodded to him. He stepped out and went to get my bike out of the trunk.
I went to undo my seatbelt and quickly realized I was stuck. Connor's car was… ancient. The old hunk of metal had been passed down from generations, and he simply wouldn't let it go.
Karley used to tease him endlessly about replacing his old car, and now I could see why.
"Connor, I'm stuck!" I called out to him as he pulled things out of the trunk. He stopped, placing my bike on the floor and came around to the passenger side. He opened the door and leaned over me.
As he leaned over my body, working to remove my seat belt, I watched him. His clear green eyes looked down at my side and his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. His dirty blonde hair fell into his eyes every few seconds, and he shook his head slightly to remove it from his view.
Connor's lips were a light pink and were pursed slightly, the seatbelt was being stubborn, it wasn't budging.
As he struggled I looked at him closely, the feeling from earlier blooming once more, but this time it was much more intense. Something was wrong with me, was I sick?
As a hair fell back into his eyes, my hand itched to move, and before I could come to my senses my hand reached out and brushed the hair away from his face.
His eyes snapped up to mine at the action, and I swear to you the breath left my lungs and my heart stopped for a moment.
His emerald eyes bore into mine, they were breathtaking in every sense of the word. First, they held confusion, but then they darkened slightly bouncing from feature to feature until they landed on my lips.
My breathing hitched as he looked into my eyes once more, his gaze was so intense that it held me in place while my chest rose and fell faster and faster. His eyes trailed a line towards the top of my shirt where my chest rose and then up to my lips once more. My body began to heat up, did I have a fever? It was hot, too hot, I started to sweat.
It's as if wherever his eyes looked they left a trail of heat and goosebumps in their wake.
I didn't understand what was going on, the way I felt and the way my body reacted. My eyes flickered down to his lips, and I leaned forward. I couldn't understand it, it was as if my body ached to touch him, and now with him so close my body seemed to thrum to life.
His minty breath fanned over my face and neck lightly, the hairs on the back of my neck standing in response. My breaths came out in short, breathless, pants as he leaned closer to me, our lips now only inches apart.
Suddenly a movement in one of the windows upstairs caught my attention. Someone was there staring out the window in... Karley's room?
Connor halted his movements towards me and followed my gaze up to Karley's window.
"Are your parents home?" His voice was laced with concern as he leaned out of the car looking up to where the person once was. Whoever was in there realized they had caught our attention and moved out of sight.
Without a second thought, I bolted out of the car and up the front steps. Even if my parents were home I was certain it wasn't them. They would never step foot in Karley's room; it hurt them too much. It's been two years and my mom can't even say Karley's name without tearing up. No, something was wrong.
I swung open my front door and ran into the hallway on my way to the stairs. I stopped when I saw them. My parents were sitting at the table having some toast and bacon in silence, they seemed fine, as fine as they were usually, and I couldn't decide whether the sight of them downstairs calmed me down or made me worry even more.
"Were either of you upstairs in Karley's room?" They looked at me with shocked expressions, I probably looked insane, my heartbeat was erratic from worry, and I was panting from hurtling up the stairs.
"No" my dad replied grimly, he sneaked a look at my mom who had frozen at my words.
"Someone's in there" I mumbled before running up the stairs towards Karley's room. Connor had walked in and was now following me up the stairs.
When I got to Karley's room, I gasped. The room had been wrecked, her clothes were on the floor, her bed was messed up too, all the sheets had been removed from the mattress. The papers that had been on her desk were on the floor as well as her books and stationary but perhaps the most disturbing thing that had littered my big sister's bedroom floor were pictures.
Pictures of her…. Dead.