Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 71595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Momo appears surprised. “Alexei told us so.”
My footsteps come to an abrupt halt.
Seiji grates out something in Japanese, too fast for me to follow, but I have a good idea what it is when I see the dismayed expression that falls on Momo’s face. “Oh no. I’m sorry, Kat—-”
I shake my head, saying quickly, “It’s okay. I was just surprised.” I force a smile. “What exactly did he tell you guys?”
“Nothing that you should even worry about.” Seiji’s girlfriend is quick to give her assurance, but her expression remains distinctly troubled. “Alexei is a friend of ours, and he simply asked us to look after you. He seems to think you might not feel comfortable when you realize you’d be the only girl in Seiji’s Mecha class.” She bites her lip, and after a moment continues reluctantly, “He also asked us not to let you know about...this.”
Her words swirl around me. They seem to make sense. But at the same time they don’t. How can it, when the guy who’s asked his friends to look after his ex is also the same guy who walked out on me last night?
Forget what you heard, I urge myself. Even if what Momo’s just told me is making me wish for the impossible—-
If I want what’s good for me—-
I should just let it go.
But when my lips start to move, the words that come out are the words that I shouldn’t but needed to say.
IT SHOULD’VE BEEN A five-minute walk from my school building to his, but the way my heart is simultaneously aching and hammering against my chest has slowed me down. It’s already been ten minutes and I’m nowhere closer to my destination. Even worse are the memories; ever since he dumped me, I’ve never let myself remember the times that...we were okay. I’ve only allowed myself to dwell on the bad stuff and built a mental wall to hold back everything else. But that barrier’s gone now, and the memories are weighing me down—-
Keep your shite together, KC.
I reach the top of the steps leading to his school building and force myself to stop. The memories threaten to overwhelm me, and my fists clench as I feel my body actually starting to sag under the weight of it. I squeeze my eyes shut and will myself not to break down.
They’re just memories, KC. They’re done and over with. They can’t hurt you.
And when I open my eyes, I realize it’s true. Memories are nothing. Or at least they can’t ever compare to the painful reality of him, standing right in front of me.
Yuki.
Even the sound of his name in my mind is like a drug, my heart craving and fearing it at the same time. I watch him step out of the school building, knowing I should look away – even if just for a second to let myself breathe. But I can’t. I just can’t. There’s a sick sensation throbbing in the pit of my stomach, telling me that if I so much as blink, he could disappear—-
And I can’t risk that.
A male upperclassman comes after him, causing X to turn away and giving me more freedom to stare at the boy I used to love. He’s dressed in a thin V-neck shirt and denims, but somehow this low-key look only makes it worse for my heart. I don’t like the way the sleeves outline the muscles in his arms, don’t like the way his jeans mold too closely to the powerful length of his legs. He’s sexy enough with every inch of him still covered, blast it, so does he really have to know this much skin?
When the upperclassman finishes talking to X and walks back inside, my brain blanks out, and I freeze. Do I call out or walk up to him? Do I wait? Do I—-
But a second later, it’s no longer my choice. I watch him stiffen as if someone’s stepped on his grave, and before I can move, he’s already turning around.
His gaze clashes with mine—-
And that’s all it takes.
I don't care if he cheated on me. I don’t care if he dumped me. I don’t care if he left me.
I still want him in my life, in whatever way possible.
Oh, KC. You’re just as foolish as his fan girls, after all.
I take a step forward, but he doesn’t even let me say his name. He starts walking away, and pain grips my chest when he strides past me like I’m invisible.
“Stop!”
And I find myself walking after him.
“Don’t you hear me? I said stop.” A part of me can’t believe he’s making me do this, but the other part of me doesn’t care. I just want him to...
“Stop!”
And still he keeps walking, and the world starts to shimmer. It’s the kind of magic that only tears can bring.