Broken

8: Katie

After English, I stand up and quickly try to pile all of my books together and stuff them into my backpack. I'm horribly slow at this, however, and I'm surprised when Nick's voice appears from behind me: "Can I walk you to algebra? Religion is just beyond it."

My cheeks flush so fast that I don't even catch it at first. "I-If you want to," I say, hurrying to get my things together.

"I do want to," he says, helping me with my books. When we get out into the hallway, I'm about to slide my hand into my pocket when I feel Nick's fingers touching mine. Surprised, I look down, watching as he holds onto my hand and squeezes it lightly.

As we walk, my thoughts drift to the Fall Dance - I went with Abigail, because her boyfriend was out of town, and I wasn't going to go unless she went with me. It's not like I was embarrassed to show without a date; in fact, I was far from that. I liked to show off my singleness... though now, I think I might like to show off Nick.

And what about the Spring Dance? It's just around the corner - it's actually next week, and I haven't been asked yet... "Nick?" I say softly, looking up at him.

"Yeah?" he replies, making eye contact with me and making my heart flutter.

I smile, building up as much courage as I can. "I like walking with you." As soon as the words leave my lips, I look away, blushing hard.

Nick chuckles quietly. "I like walking with you, too."

Does he really? Or is he just saying that to be nice?

I can't tell.

When we round another corner, someone bumps into me, knocking me into Nick's arms. I regain my footing quickly, recognizing the person immediately: Arthur. I'm so embarrassed.

I look back at him and see him flip Nick the bird.

How can he do that and get away with it? I wonder.

"Are you all right?" Nick half-says, half-whispers to me. I can only nod in return, too shocked and scared to speak. What's he going to do to me when Nick isn't here?

Suddenly, Nick stops walking. I stop, too, and look up at him, still speechless. I watch his pupils as they skirt over my face, absorbing everything. I blush even more.

Seizing the opportunity, I take in all of his face, trying to memorize it. Once I've looked at it for a while, I lock eyes with him, and he stares back at me. It seems like we have an entire conversation through our eyes, and I wonder what he's thinking.

His eyes are made up of two different colors, bleeding together next to his pupil; blue and hazel. I can barely tell where one color ends and where another starts, but I do my best to pick them apart, finding beautiful shades of blue hidden among the deeper spots of hazel. Absently, I notice red veins streaking some of the white part of his eyes. It's not a lot, but it's definitely there.

I hear someone clear their throat, but I don't look away, even when Nick does. Thomas's voice asks, "Don't you have religion?" He's obviously speaking to Nick, so I don't bother to look at him.

"I do," Nick says, nodding. "And Katie here has algebra."

"Algebra is right there," Thomas says, and I watch as he points at the closed door without turning around to face it. "Drop the girl off and let's go."

I feel my hand shaking and hope Nick doesn't notice. He pulls me along, walking past Thomas without looking at him. "It's all right," Nick whispers right into my ear. "I'm going to talk to Thomas."

I nod, too scared to reply. If I say something, Thomas will make fun of me, and that would be just too embarrassing... 

"See you in biology," Nick says, smiling at me. I wish he would do more than just say goodbye.

I wish he would kiss me.

The thought crosses my mind so quickly that I wonder for a second if he will kiss me. It also leaves me frozen in place, and it takes another clearing of Thomas's throat to kick my senses back in.

"Bye," I whisper, letting go of Nick's hand and walking into the algebra room. I take a seat next to Abigail, near the back of the room, and set my backpack down next to me. Taking a chance, I look behind myself at the door and make eye contact with Nick once more - and then Thomas pulls him along.

"What's wrong with you?" I hear Thomas say.

Nick sighs, answering with a "What's wrong with you?"

And then I can't hear them anymore.

Abigail catches my attention by whispering my name. "Looks like you two really clicked," she notes.

I chuckle. "Thanks for being so observant."

"I talked to him, you know," she says, ignoring my sarcastic remark. I sit up straighter in my seat. "When he was getting your books. I caught him in a hallway and talked to him."

"Well?" I prompt, impatient. "What did you talk about?"

Abigail sighs, tapping her chin. "Where do I start...?" It's another agonizing moment before she begins. "Oh - I asked if he knew your name. He said no, so I told him. Then we talked about the Fall Dance a little, and how he took Reilly Warner"-her face scrunches up at the mention of Reilly, and mine does too-"instead of you. And then I-" Abigail suddenly stops. "Oh."

"And then you... what?" I ask, knowing she slipped up. She told him something about me that she doesn't want me to know.

"I... accidentally... called you Kat," she says, making me wince. "He asked about it, and I said it was your nickname - but I firmly warned him not to use it!"

I sigh, taking my algebra binder and textbook from my backpack and setting them on my desk.

He's going to break you, that same voice whispers again. This time, I ignore it.

"Well... after that, I told him I had to go, that my homeroom was nearby." Abigail taps her pencil to her chin nervously.

"Was it nearby?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "I had to take the long way around."

I chuckle, though it's more out of habit than out of humor. "Why did you do that?"

"Because I wanted to get away from him," she admits. "I was embarrassed about calling you Kat."

At least she feels bad, I think.

"Either way, he's a sweetheart!" Abigail comments, jerking me from my thoughts. "I can tell why you like him. Even without being cute, he'd be an awesome person to date, with his personality-"

"Abby!" I scold. "We're not... dating."

"Not yet," she replies in a sing-song voice. Right then, the algebra teacher - Mr. Tate - begins attendance, and I'm forced to look away from Abigail.

I guess I'm just going to have to learn to deal with Abigail's teasing... To deal with the stares I'm going to get. He will, too. Because if he can't deal with the stares, he won't deal with me.