Broken

7: Nick

During English class, after Thomas saves me from Mrs. Simons (though I could've managed on my own), he looks back at me and winks. I smile at him, but then I notice his eyes land on Katie.

I also notice that his face contorts into the most hateful look I've ever seen. It sickens me to the point where I want to punch him in the gut.

When I ask Katie what happened, since she has shrunken down into her seat, she starts to explain what Thomas was doing, but I merely say, "Tell me later."

When the bell rings to end the first class, I stand quickly and gather my books. I have religion next, and Katie has algebra.

"Can I walk you to algebra? Religion is just beyond it," I suggest, smiling at Katie as she tries to scrape up her books as fast as she can.

She blushes visibly. "I-If you want to."

"I do want to." And with this, I help her pack up the rest of her books so she has her hands free. When we get out into the hallway, despite the looks I get, I take Katie's hand, loving every second her pale fingers are interlaced with my tan ones. Her hand is so cold, a stark contrast to the girl I took to the Fall Dance, Reilly Warner. Had I known about Katie at the time, I would've taken her instead of Reilly.

As we walk, my thoughts drift to the Spring Dance. It's just around the corner; in fact, it's next week, and I haven't asked anyone yet...

"Nick?" Katie's soft voice snaps me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I ask, looking down at her.

She smiles. "I like walking with you." As soon as the words leave her lips, she looks away, probably blushing.

I find myself chuckling. "I like walking with you, too."

When we round another corner, someone bumps into Katie, knocking her into my arms. She regains her footing immediately, practically flying out of my arms, probably out of embarrassment. I look to see who bumped into her, and I'm not surprised at all: it's Arthur.

He glares at me, flipping me the bird.

What a dickhead, I think to myself.

"Are you all right?" I half-say, half-whisper to Katie.

She only nods. That can't be good.

I look ahead, seeing that algebra is only a few lockers away. I stop.

Katie looks up at me, but doesn't say anything. I only look down at her, my eyes skating over her face, separating each part from the last... Everything about her face is beautiful.

She seems to be searching me, too, but then her eyes set themselves on mine, and I can't help but stare back. We have an entire conversation through our eyes, it seems, and I wonder what she's thinking.

Her eyes are made up of three different colors, all swirling together, though I can make each out distinctly; hazel, blue, and green. Just around her pupil is traces of green, and as you extend your vision outward, the green melts into blue, which somehow melts into hazel on the very edge. The hazel then turns to white, and I notice red veins streaking some of her eyes. It's not a lot, but it's definitely there.

Someone clears their throat, making me reluctantly look away. It's Thomas. "Don't you have religion?" he asks.

I nod. "I do, and Katie here has algebra."

"Algebra is right there." Thomas points behind himself without turning. "Drop the girl off and let's go."

Irritated, I walk past Thomas, still holding onto Katie's hand. I notice it's shaking.

"It's all right," I say into her ear. "I'm going to talk to Thomas."

She nods, too scared to reply. I feel bad for her.

"See you in biology," I say, smiling at her. Wishing I could do something more.

Wishing I could kiss her.

The thought crosses my mind so quickly that I almost do kiss her. It also leaves me frozen in place, and it takes another clearing of Thomas's throat to knock my senses back into place.

"Bye," she whispers, and then lets go of my hand and disappears into the algebra room. I watch her as she sits down and drops her backpack off, then looks behind herself at the door. We make eye contact, and Thomas pulls me along.

"What's wrong with you?" he asks, not bothering to look at me.

I sigh. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm serious, Nick," he says. "You need to snap out of this."

"I'm serious, too, Thomas." I turn to face him. "You need to be nicer to Katie. You're scaring her."

"Good!" he yells, a little too loudly; people stare. "I don't like her, Nick. She's not good for you."

I snort. "How are you supposed to know what's good for me?"

And with that, I leave him behind, continuing to walk to religion class. Forget talking to him - he's just going to have to learn to deal with Katie.

To deal with me. Because if he can't deal with her, he can't deal with me.