Aftertaste (shawnmendes)

Chapter Four: Part One

I'm sitting on my windowsill quietly, pressing the side of my face against the cool glass with my eyes closed in thought. Bartholomew is cuddling in my lap, letting out loud purrs every time I run a hand through his soft ginger fur. The cup of tea I made myself earlier is sitting next to me, it turned cold a while ago. My eyelids flutter open, I stare at the tree in my yard, watching the dead leaves slowly detach themselves from their branches, only to drift away in the wind, weightless. I shut my eyes and I hear the soft sound of a guitar playing in the background, above the sound of birds chipping and the wind hurling. My body instantly relaxes, recognizing the sweet voice that somewhat grounds me, and soon enough, I'd dozed off quietly to the sound of it.

*

The next morning I wake up in a surprisingly good mood, hopping out of bed and taking my time to get ready. I grab my stuff and head out. It's raining, as always, but that doesn't put me off in the slightest as I pull out my umbrella and began walking, almost skipping to school. I look around distractedly when something captures my attention. It's Shawn, walking a few steps in front of me. He doesn't have an umbrella, only the hood of his maroon hoodie pulled over his head. I bite my lip, debating whether or not I should go up to him. I can't possibly let him walk under the pouring rain without an umbrella, can I? I start running up to him quietly, and smile fondly to myself when I hear him humming a song under his breath. I gently tap his shoulder as to not startle him. He whips around and his eyes focus on me. I smile hesitantly and he raises a questioning eyebrow at me. I pull my umbrella over both of our heads and motion for him to start walking. We walk a few steps in comfortable silence, before I decide to break it.

"I'm sorry you had to see that yesterday," I speak softly.

He looks at me curiously for a moment, and I wonder if he's gonna reply or just stay silent like he usually does. He looks down at his feet and to my surprise, speaks up.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he says with a slight rasp in his voice, surely from having just woken up, and it's the next most endearing thing I've ever heard.

It's clear that he's making an effort to talk to me and I can't help but be delighted by that. It's also pretty obvious that he's lying though, I know he heard my little quarrel with Tyler, if the curious expression he shot me right after was anything to judge by.

I chuckle, "C'mon. I know you heard me, it's not like I spoke very quietly."

I watch him stuff his hands in his pockets and shrug. He doesn't say anything, though.

"You're not gonna ask me why I yelled at him?" I ask curiously.

He pauses, then snarks, "I don't really tend to stick my nose in other people's business, unlike some."

I glare at him, "Hey, don't start." I warn him. After a beat, I speak again.

"We were talking about you."

As soon as the words leave my mouth, I instantly regret it. He halts to a stop and I bite my lip nervously, waiting for him to say something. He stands there without moving for a few seconds that felt like years to me, before he starts walking again. When he speaks up, his voice is laced with a suspicious serenity.

"Okay," he says simply, sounding way too calm.

I blink at him a few times, having expected more than just those two syllables. Okay? Really, that's it? I'm almost annoyed at his blatant carelessness. I know I shouldn't have said that, and I should probably shut up before I push him away even more. But for some reason, I feel like I should let him know what Tyler said exactly. Partly because I want him to reassure me that there's nothing to worry about, that I'm not doing a mistake by getting so involved, but also because I want to get some sort of reaction out of that boy, growing tired of his constant indifference. I swallow around the thick lump in my throat, pushing down my nervousness.

"He- he said some stuff. And I didn't agree with him, so we had a fight. Shawn," I plead him to look at me but he's looking straight ahead with a void expression and it's scaring me. The little bit of confidence I had is slowly vanishing and I have to concentrate on anything else but his destabilizing stoicism to go on. "He just- How can everyone just make assumptions about you when they don't even know you? I don't get it, it's not-"

"They're not just assumptions, okay? They're right. What's so hard to believe about that?" He says abruptly, turning to look at me with an expression more guarded and cold than ever. I almost trip when his eyes meet mine and have to remind myself how to breathe properly. This is going way differently than I'd imagined.

"It's hard to believe because these are all coming from people who have never held a conversation with you," I reply softly, almost embarrassed.

Why does he make me feel so small and naive?

For a second, I almost think that he didn't hear me. But then he scoffs, his face showing no emotion at all.

"You're so stupid. Do you think that just because we've talked two or three times you know me? Well you're wrong, and you're making a fool out of yourself by even thinking that you could ever know me," he spits cruelly.

My heart clenches painfully at that, it feels like receiving a punch in the guts.

"If you think that acting like someone you're not will convince me that you're bad then you're wrong," I whisper, looking down as to not let the hurt show through.

"When will you get this through your thick skull," he starts lowly, turning to look at me, "You. Don't. Know. Me."

He glances slightly behind him, and my gaze follows his, I only notice now that we're standing next to the school. His eyes find mine again and I shiver at their coldness. He starts walking up to me menacingly, and I flinch back against a gate, my back hitting the cold metal rather harshly. I almost whimper in fear, but will myself to not give in to his little show.

He's looming over me, his face close to mine, so close that I can notice a small scar on the side of his face that I'd never seen before. Every little detail about him is magnified and even under his threatening gaze, I can't help but think how gorgeous he is. The breath is knocked right out of me when I look up into his deep brown eyes.

"Maybe you should listen to your little friends next time. Don't get close to me, you're playing a losing game, Samantha," he says warningly, his voice having dropped a few octaves.

My heart is racing at the sound of my name coming from his lip, My breath is coming out in short, ragged puffs and I can feel my knees getting weak just from standing so close to him. God, what is happening to me?

Before I can say anything, he's already walking away, leaving me standing there frozen in the same spot. I still can't process exactly what just happened, as I try to catch my breath.

The more everyone, including himself warns me about him, the more I want to push my limits. And even if Alice served enough of an example as to why curiosity leads to trouble, I can't help that I've already tripped and fallen way down the rabbit hole.

And boy, was Wonderland inviting.

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So, uh... Hi?
I know this was such a late update and I know that this chapter is way too short to make up for the wait , but I couldn't leave you guys hanging anymore so I decided to just split this chapter in two until I can finish writing the rest.

I have so many things planned for this story but the first chapters are so hard to write because there's not much to write about and I just want to get to the good part already but I can't rush things.

Anyways, how did you like this very short, very disappointing chapter? Leave your comments, I love reading what you guys have to say. Don't forget to vote as well if you like this story, it really keeps me motivated

Also if you guys want to follow me on twitter, my username is @oddlydallas. Ask for a follow back!