Heartstrings - Forbidden Hearts Series Prequel

9| Three Wishes

Yin and Yang.

Shit. Karma and I were complete opposites when it came to the whole love thing. And I meant every word I said. My heart was only meant to pump blood through my body and keep me alive. Plain and simple

I won't lie...what she described sounded good, but was it worth the risk of feeling that gut-wrenching pain? Nah. I was good with that. I've remained safe and happy doing what I've always done and I had no reason to change.

But what was up with her questions today? As for the reason I was being nice to her, I meant what I said about that, too. I could tell she was freaking out about something ever since I saw her shoving those brochures in the drawer of her nightstand.

This whole college thing explained it. I was just trying to be nice. I've basically known her my whole life. She might be my sister's best friend, but I still cared about her. And Harper. I wasn't a total fucking asshole.

Well you kinda lied about that night, I reminded myself.

Yeah, I did. The night we watched that damn movie in the living room rattled the hell out of me. I was so engrossed with the damn flick that I didn't notice she had fallen asleep until I felt her head on my shoulder.

I forgot about the movie after that. I just sat there, hands gripping my knees as my breathing got shorter and faster. Then when she kind of nuzzled my arm, a cold panic hit my chest in a death grip. The way we were sitting and the way she was pressed against me was something that couples did.

And we weren't a fucking couple. We didn't even like each other like that.

Regardless, I was frozen because I was so goddamn uncomfortable. I kept telling myself to get up, but I couldn't seem to move my body. Then I fell asleep. On her.

It was almost dawn when I woke up. Somehow we ended up in an even more compromising and dangerous position than we were in when we started the movie. I was laying back against the armrest and she had her head on my chest with my arm wrapped around her.

Like a fucking couple.

Thankfully I didn't have a problem leaving that time. Luck was on my side and I carefully slipped out from underneath her without waking her. I stared at her for a few seconds, still unsure what to make of what happened. I noticed she looked uncomfortable and that's when I got the pillow and put it under her head. Then I covered her with a blanket.

Then I fucking bolted out of there and went looking for a random hook-up stat. That led me to making out with that blonde in the pool, followed by the inconvenient cannonball cock-blocking session by Lanie and her friends.

"It's just up ahead I think."

Karma's voice pulled me from my thoughts as we approached the admissions building of USF.

"Here we are. You ready?"

She stared out of the window but made no move to leave. Anxiousness and dread poured off her in waves. She did not want to go in there. I felt for her when she told me the trouble she's been having with her mom. Even though my parents were pretty chill, they still tried to steer me in the right direction with my life. But nothing like what's going on with Karma.

"You wanna leave?" I asked after another minute.

Her eyes remained glued on the building. "If I don't go in there..."

"I know. But do you want to leave, Karma? Yes or no?"

"Yes," she whispered, and when she finally turned towards me, tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Please get me out of here, Nathan."