Then You Look At Me |COMPLETED|

Emotions

~The dawn is breaking, a light shining through. You're barely waking and I'm tangled up in you. I'm open, you're closed, where I follow, you'll go. I worry I won't see your face light up again. Even the best fall down sometimes, even the wrong words seem to rhyme. Out of the doubt that fills my mind, I somehow find you and I collide~ Howie Day.

Chapter Theme Song: 'Collide' by Howie Day.

°°

Rainey

Tate approaches me while I pack my textbooks into my locker. He has a palm tucked in his pocket while he forks the other through his hair.

"Hey, Rain." His tone is low and skeptic, and I glance at him curiously. He looks nervous and jittery, a similar expression to the one he had the night he drank that drugged liquor.

I narrow my eyes. "Are you okay? You look weird."

"I-uh heard what happened with Jace." He begins. "I saw the video as well."

Oh.

I am aware that the whole school knows about that by now. I kept getting inquisitive glares all day from people. To say it wasn't annoying would be a lie, but I am used to being scrutinized.

"I am sorry," he continues.

I look at him in confusion while I shove my math textbook in. "Why are you even apologizing? Yeah, Jace is your friend but what he did has nothing to do with you."

"Yeah, it does."

I tilt my head to the side as I close my locker, turning to face him. "How?"

"Well, I..." He pauses, running a hand over his face. "The thing is, I knew about Olivia ordering him to mess with you, and I didn't tell you about it."

I blink my eyes at him, and he itches his temple in guilt.

"I know I should have said something, and I am sorry. It's just that—It's not easy to snitch on Jace. My Dad works with his Dad, so it's kind of complicated. If Jace's father refuses to do business with my Dad, then my family could potentially go bankrupt. His Dad has a lot of shares in my father's business, and although I hate his guts, I can't do anything about it. It's just hard having to deal with someone just because your..."

I don't hear anything else as my eyes drift behind him to Ansel's figure. He's moving toward the exit of the halls. His knuckle is hurt, will he be riding his bike today?

"Are you listening to me, Rain?" Tate drops his brows, glancing behind him to see what I am so intently focused on.

"Uh, yeah...it's whatever Tate, really. Just forget about that, alright? It's cool, I gotta run." I hurry off and he turns around, scowling at my back.

"I was gonna ask if we could hang out later?"

I turn to face him while stepping back. "I can't. I got tons of homework; I'll see you around."

He nods in disappointment as I turn away and hasten down the hall.

I step out of the school's building, scanning the parking lot for any sign of Ansel. I spot him at the gates, unchaining his bike from the fence. Great, he hasn't left yet.