Touch Me While I Taste You

47 Arabella Rivera You need her Haiden.

After that last sentence, everything just became, silent. It was heavy and reeked o fawkwardness. The pressure was so weighty that | inched closer to the door to somehow escape from here. Only to be stopped by Mr. Boyd's words.

“I'll leave you two to talk about it. | need t o be somewhere-" Mr. Boyd stops, lifts his hand to look down at the silver watch wrapped around the bone of his hairy wrist.

Wait he was going to leave us here alone? Scratch that.

He was going to leaveall alone with a brooding and vexed Haiden? “In exactly eight minutes.” His quick fingers worked to place the last of his things in his briefcase.

| squint my eyes on the black briefcase as Mr. Boyd took a hold of it and began walking. Can | fit inside that tiny thing? | Alking. Can | fit inside that tiny thing? | wish he’d packinside too, therefore | wouldn't have to face Haiden all alone.

Before he disappears out of the door, he whirls around to pin Haiden with a heavy stare. “If you want a future, | think you know what to do.” With those last words, Mr. Boyd left us in a strained stuffy silence | tighten my grasp on my bag, my lips pressing together with every second that ticked by. It was only us in the room and | was pretty sure in the entire school, excluding the security. It couldn’t get more awkward than that.

| lift my eyes to Haiden. He wasn’t looking. His eyes were burning holes through the dirty floor, teeth gritted in frustration. He wasn’t going to be the first one to speak. He'd leave it toso h e can make a mockery out of my words.

Except, he shockedby lifting his gazet o mine, connecting them so sharply that | sucked in a quick breath.” | don’t need your help.” His tone was twisted with aggression but | could descry the vulnerable sound of uncertainty.

The black hoodie he decided to wear today made him look even more intimidating than his aura. | suppose he tried to lessen the attention on his bruises but they only stood out like a sour thumb, clashing with the black material.

The brown of his eyes shaded darker until it exposed his frustrations, “I don’t need anyone. | can do shit on my own.” | had no doubt he could. But the thickness of vulnerability was too heavy to ignore. H e needed my help but his ego wasn’t going to let him.

Brown eyes that were supposed to be warm and show off their beauty, nailed m e with a look of anger.” So how about you get your perfect act on and tell Mr. Boyd you will not be able to tutor me? | know you're so busy and all.” “What I'm surprised by is the fact that you even agreed to it.” Frustration emanated off of him like waves of a roaring ocean when a storm is about to hit. If | had not gotten used to being treated as a pest, | would have definitely -backed down.

Being treated like one my entire life madegrow a thicker skin. Now words hurtbut they don’t dent my armor. They don’t show my vulnerability. They don’t show how weak | truly am. They don’t unveil how deeply Haiden can get to me.

So | straightened my spine, slacken my tense jaw and burned him with a stare of fury. If he can be mad so can I.” You really think the world revolves around you? News flash. It doesn’t. What makes you think | agreed to tutor you out of all people? | didn’t even know who I'd be tutoring until a few minutes ago. If I'd known that I'd be tutoring an asshole, then | wouldn't have agreed and wasted my time.” His eyes stung a hole in my head as he adjusted his bag strap on his shoulder then gestured to the door.” Since we're both on the smindset, you can just leave. Don’t want to waste any more of your precious tprincess.” He mocked the word princess. So different from how he said it todays ago.

What changed? Why was he treating mes o badly like.....

Like what Arabella? Did you really think he'd treat you any different than the others? A few conversations here and there wouldn't have put you in the friendzone. The better part of my mind pulledright back on track only forto stumble back But what if | don’t want to be in the friendzone’? Then what do you want to be in Arabella? My fist clenched at my sides as | sort for a n answer to my own question.

I don’t know.

My answer was like a blank canvas, waiting to be painted. | could choose the colors. | could choose the bright ones, the ones that put you in a good mood, the ones that look, perfect.

My eyes leave Haiden’s stormy ones and settle on his dark clothing, What if | wanted to paint it black? What if | didn’t want perfect? Then you'll only be painting a dark hole, “endless and depressing.

My eyes lift back to his eyes. Behind the anger and frustration, | could see something else. Something that maderealize that | wasn’t the main focus of his anger. He wasn’t angry at me, not really He was angry at himself.

In that dark hole, there will always have a tiny spot uncovered. And that’s where you'll find the little spark of light.

My conscience grows quiet after my last thought Suddenly the room darkens. We both look out the window, seeing how the grey clouds hang over the entire town. The rumble of thunder cnext, a loud warning that an actual storm was approaching and not the one standing a few feet away from me.

| turn to Haiden and sighed. “Fine. You don’t need my help, you can do your shito n your own. At least that’s what you say. I'm not going to stand here and tell you why you should accept help Haiden. It’s your future and not mine.” Honestly, | didn’t think of what would happen if | did actually help Haiden.

ppen if | did actually help Haiden. Everyone warnedto stay away from him. Tutoring him was going to make the entire female population catwith pitchforks and lit torches. Not only that, Gwen and mother wouldn't be too happy.

But Haiden remindsof, me.

And within the depths of his eyes, | could tell that he wanted to graduate. He wanted to escape this town, just as I.

| shook my head when he doesn’t respond. | sighed and made my way to the door. But before walking out, | turn to him.” You don’t always have to act like a n asshole you know.” With those last parting words, | walked away.

| could hear the howling of the wind as it sang in the air. The rolling of thunder shook the walls of the school and the heavy rain nearly overpowered it. When | stepped out of the school, | clenched my eyes and murmured a curse after realizing | didn’t bring an umbrella.

| looked at the rain pouring down the roof of the school and puffed out a sigh. “Shit. “I rested my back on the wall far away from the pouring rain, not wanting to get the pouring rain, not wanting to get drenched.

Don’t getwrong, | love the sound of rain. Just not when | have no protection against it or have any sort of transportation. And judging by the heavy pouring, | feared I'd be stuck here for hours.

| couldn't exactly call Gwen seeing as she’s babysitting, neither can | call father, he'd probably make up an excuse. And mother? Well, she'd probably say she can’t drive with her freshly manicured nails.

| don’t know how long I stood there staring at the rain but the next thing | heard was the school’s entrance door closing beside me. | know it was Haiden, that damn penetrating stare couldn’t go unnoticed.

Was it bad that | wished it was the security and held only just cto handan umbrella? “Let's go.” He finally murmur after a couple of seconds staring at me.