A Walk With You

TWELVE

Chapter 12: She drives me nuts

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Kenaz

My fingers started tapping against my body out of curiosity and nervousness. I bit my lips again and again, almost ate it up. My eyes narrowed down her face, mentally disciplining myself to be calm and patient.

What if she doesn't trust me and says no?!

It was funny how a single person had enough to make me happy and enough to make my heart throb abnormally out of nervousness as well.

Finally, she looked up at me.

"Okay," she replied with a smile.

Well, that was easy.

All my nervousness and fear faded away and was replaced with joy.
A fifteen-minute walk with her was worth all the hundred adventurous rides without her.

We ambled down the road while everyone else was rushing to get home. And soon their footsteps descended into the emptiness of the night. It was just me and her now, though there were cars occasionally passing by honking and their headlights slicing through the dark.

The sun had set against the horizon by now and the moon already rose to its glorious beauty.
I looked to my side and found her staring at the sky with so much enthusiasm.
I tilted my head skyward and saw the vast expanse of sky dotted with twinkling stars. Some were dull, merely flickering into existence every now and then.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" I remarked glancing at her.

She didn't utter a word but just nodded with a smile. And like a crazy asshole, I was even enjoying her silence.

Being the clumsy Miss she was, she stumbled over her own feet. Thankfully, she didn't fall and hurt herself. She quickly balanced her body and brushed off her hands on her dress. She strode off looking at me from the corner of her eyes.

I pursed my lips to suppress my amusement. If I hadn't then she probably would've run away like last time. And I couldn't risk it.

I followed her hastily without saying much.

"Can we just slow down," I stopped near one of the lampposts. She turned back to face me.

Her face relaxed in the smudgy illumination of the lampposts, as she walked toward me. The warm yellow light flattered her complexion and with every step she took, all my worries burned to smoke. My head that was always filled with agony and despair, for the first time, was set free.

Her presence calmed me, filled me with hope and made me forget my flaws, my imperfections, the scars, and the stabs burned into my flesh.

"The worst thing you could do is stare at me," she laughed it off.

Seriously, that was the only moment when I was actually embarrassed. Not sure of what I should be doing, I chuckled. And being the cocky me I countered back.

"Why? You don't like it when I stare at you?" I smirked at her winking.

"We should probably get going." She turned away, probably red-faced.

We were halfway by now and not much talk happened between us but just childish act of ours punching and cracking jokes with no humour in it, filled the silence of the night.

"My cousin tells me a lot about Zach. How long have they known each other?" she enquired.

Zach was not only a cousin to me but also my best friend. We always looked out for each other. I never befriended people other than my cousins but Ariana being Zach's close friend I met her a couple times but just exchanged HIs and HELLOs. I never knew Miss Landler and Ari were cousins until Zach told me that day, the day when I saw Ari with Miss Landler in our old elementary school.

"Since 6th grade, I guess. But why do you ask?" I scoffed knowing that Zach liked Ari a lot but never confessed.

"I just asked. Nothing serious," she retaliated.

"Do you remember Ari as a kid?" she further questioned. Probably because she had nothing much to say and was trying to avoid any awkward silence.

"No, Miss. We were just four or five-year-olds. If she was with me when we were in the sixth grade I probably would have had some memories of her," I replied.

"Yeah, me too. I mean, I remember Ari but I don't remember things that I did in kindergarten. Too young to make memories, I guess." She wrapped her fingers around her bag's shoulder straps and looked to her side to face me with a smile.

But I did remember her, entering the class wearing a yellow tunic and a hairpin clipping her fringes. What she said just ripped my heart. Didn't she have any memories of me from elementary? She's not to be blamed, that day was just another normal day for every elementary student.

Except for me.

"What happened to your epic hairstyle?" she giggled. Her dimples deepened as her face flushed with hilarity. The kind of beauty I had never seen.

At least she remembers how I used to look back then.

"It wasn't that bad," I huffed and ran my fingers through my hair. My soft and precious hair that I loved more than anything.

We talked about the old days and made fun of each other all the way. The main motto of the night — To walk her home safely — slipped away from my head until she stopped, suddenly realising something.

"I think we just passed by my home," she muttered and turned. She hung her head and moved ahead of me.

It was always fun to watch her embarrassed face. Made me want to tease her even more.

"Got lost in my eyes. You like me that much?" I articulated boastfully.

She huffed and puffed in annoyance and walked away toward her home.

"Good night, Miss," I babbled to myself with a smile. She got inside her house without even looking back.

Am I  that bad?

I trailed off towards my house, alone. And the moon guided my way through the screech of darkness.

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

A/N: A vote would be nice if you liked it(: