Chasing Sin

12

"What the hell, Haven?!"

Now with my feet on the ground, I look up at Sin, craning my neck to match his height. He glares at me—clearly angry—and I fold my arms defiantly.

"What are you taking about? I saved your ass out there," I tell him. "We're on school property! You would have gotten expelled if you were caught."

Sin just continues brooding, as if my words made no point. "You never should have gotten involved! You could have gotten yourself hurt," he shouts, clearly not calming down.

"I'm careful," I tell him. "I knew what I was doing, and I knew the risk." He scoffs, looking exasperated.

He takes a breath and looks at me closely, up and down. I suddenly realize how close we are, our chests mere inches apart. We say nothing for a short moment, our eyes locked as we stand off.

"You shouldn't get involved in fights—especially when you don't know who you're fighting."

"Who was I fighting?" I ask him, wanting to know who Archer is. They clearly knew each other, but didn't seem friendly in any way, shape, or form.

"The fact that you have to ask that literally proves my point," Sin tells me, and I think he is trying to calm down, but I don't think it's working. His brown curls shake a little bit as he takes a deep breath.

"What the hell just happened out there?!" Taylor shouts at us, finally catching up to where Sin put me down inside the school's hallway. "Who was that guy?"

"Is he still out there?" Sin asks, now looking at Taylor.

"No, some guy in a truck pulled up and drove away with him," Taylor fills us in.

"I figured Conrad would show up."

"Who's Conrad?" I ask him, not letting these answers slip by. I fold my arms again and look at Sin closely.

"Archer and Conrad are..." Sin starts to give in. He seems unsure of how to explain them. "They're a couple of guys you never want to get mixed up with. Yet somehow, I did."

I furrow my eyebrows, wrinkling my glabella as I wait for a more extensive explanation.

"Don't even ask. I can't get into it right now," he snaps, shaking away any explanatory thoughts as he avoids my eyes.

I roll my eyes, expecting as much. Taylor looks at me, clearly confused.

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised," I say, knowing better than to push Sin too far. I especially don't want to agitate him even more right now.

I'm tempted to offer him some help as I look over his cut hand, but I doubt he would want it. He still seems quite angry.

"You should go get cleaned up," I tell Sin. Then I turn to Taylor, "and we should go."

"Yes, you should go," Sin says, still practically seething.

Taylor nods in agreement. "Yeah, we should. Are you sure you're fine, Sin?"

Sin nods. "Yeah, I'm fine. You two should go."

"What are you going to do? You're not going after him or anything, are you?" I ask, unable to help myself. I just want some kind of answer out of this guy before I leave.