Dead Boy Walking

10 - P U P P E T

In a whirlwind of motions that I couldn't keep up with, Kingsley had opened the door, pushed me inside and watched as I fell to my knees in a heap. My heart raced as the air in the room seemed tense. I could feel eyes on me, I knew Felix had to be here somewhere.

"W-who are you?" A deep voice called out to my left.

My nerves finally set in, leaving my face void of emotion and my body completely still. I tried my best to think back to Kingsley's words, about being cute and innocent. My body was too stiff to think too much into the act though. I felt like a deer caught in the headlights.

I pushed passed the heavy thoughts and slowly turned my head to the side and finally faced the voice. Upon seeing him though, my breath got caught in my throat.

The boy, Felix, looked young. His skin was tanned and every sharp edge of his face smoothed out like a child. His dirty blonde hair stuck in all directions while his blue eyes seemed pried open in a wild expression behind the large glasses.

"Shit," Kingsley cursed from the floor beside me. I couldn't lift my gaze from the boy.

My cheeks flushed red upon finding Felix Montgomery in this way. Vulnerable and speechless, he sat on the counter of a wooden desk as some guy stood in between his legs and gripped his shoulders. Too intimate for friendship. Too casual for intimacy.

For a stretched-out moment, nobody said anything. For too long, I stared up at the boys who looked like gods in their tailored suits and dominating auras that filled up the room by itself.

Felix pushed the guy away and jumped down from the counter. He wasn't tall which made him even shorter in comparison to the building of a boy he was caught with. I couldn't connect this flustered Felix to the one who spat poison from his mouth in Kingsley's memory. It couldn't have been the same. This didn't seem right.

It was obvious that I had interrupted their moment. They must have been locked in a makeout session for their hair was unruly, lips were swollen and their jackets tossed to the floor.

I snapped my head to Kingsley and silently begged for him to do something. I was done for at this point. If Felix thought of me as a threat, he could destroy me. He had enough money and status to bury me alive in lies.

Kingsley looked back at me with an equal amount of desperation as he opened and closed his mouth like a blubbering fish. It was clear then that Kingsley didn't know Felix as much as he'd once thought.

Suddenly, the sound of Felix's pacing stopped and he paused to glare holes straight through me. He moved slowly my way, like a deadly snake with its prey, and crouched to meet my eyes.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" He exploded. Felix's face contorted cruelly, corrupting the child-like features. "I don't know what the bloody hell you're doing in this room, or who the hell you are but regardless, I will throw you out of the goddamn window unless you give me a good reason not to."