No matter how much she runs, Laura is stuck in an endless loop of her past. With a transfer of school and a curly-haired boy who seems to be wherever she goes, it's a matter of time she realizes that her universe ceases at the sight of him-and runni...
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AS SOON AS THE DOOR TO MY ROOM SHUT, I COVERED MY ENTIRE FACE. "Oh my God."
Evan stood in the middle of my room, confused. "Are you okay?"
Did I look okay? He moved right in front of my vision, but I pushed him away. My entire body was flushed. I wanted to dissolve like a pile of cotton candy put into water. "Give me a minute, please."
He hesitated. "Okay." I watched him walk to my desk, pick up a scrap paper, then read what was written. It was just Chemistry notes.
I went ahead and sat on my bed, folding my legs and supporting my head on my knees. I needed to get over it, and I needed to do it quick. But the whole interaction was too real and certainly did happen and it had happened like a second ago.
His words wouldn't leave my goddamn mind. They were printed behind my eyelids. I was losing my mind.
Evan proceeded to pluck the book sandwiched between my modules—the book he had sent to me as a gift. There was a bookmark around page sixty-five. I saw him notice and break into a smile. "You started this."
"I'm reading it slow," I replied. "College and everything. It's draining."
I felt his eyes on me. Somehow, always. Like a physical sensation, something bright and warm and comfortable washing over my body.
"You're overexerting." His voice was so soft, I had to glance up. Once I'd thought of this boy to be harsh and crass, somewhat of a broken shard of glass like me. I wondered when it ended—when roughness had left the lines of his palms and silk had found home. Maybe in experience neither of us were sharp, nor wrecked. We'd just craved an embrace that pierced.
He'd moved towards me without me realizing. "Want me to help? I'll help sort it out. If you want, we can have discussions too. I'll research for you."
My chest tightened. "You already have a lot on your plate."
He shook his head. "Not really. I mean, I'm basically jobless for two months now. I need to focus on finishing school, but that's that."
"You're here for two months straight?" I ended up asking, voice too high pitched, hope searing through the words. "No trips in the middle?"
He could've teased me, but he just smiled warmly. "No."
I folded my hands, hiding my smile behind my sleeve. "I see." I gestured for him to sit alongside. "No college for you, then?"
He paused. "No." He took one step closer, eyes on mine, then sat, facing me. "I'm going to do this full-time. I actually wanted to discuss this with you, properly," his words turned into a whisper. "So that we're on the same page."
I nodded. He said, "Do you...have any apprehensions regarding what I just said?"
"Be serious." I let out a laugh. "I'm here thinking how fate let me date a hotshot like you. I must've done great deeds in my past life."
