Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67355 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67355 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
The third room Keith and I come to is thankfully empty.
He closes the door behind us once we enter and flips on the light switch with a seeming knowledge of the layout. I glance around what is clearly a bedroom. It’s three times the size of my own room that barely fits my full-size bed, and dresser.
The cream-colored walls are tastefully decorated with gold-framed sports portraits of famous athletes. This is not so much a bedroom despite the four poster king-size bed with a satiny black comforter, but a sanctuary. It had a sitting area with a black love seat and gold chaise lounge. On the opposite side of the room, was a desk with three monitors, a PC set and various expensive electronics.
I notice a picture on the nightstand by the bed. A family portrait and I freeze. The three people in the frame is the Champion family. An older version of Jackson with iron gray hair, a stern looking blonde who appears several years younger than her husband, and Jackson.
It occurs to me that I’m in his room and I immediately want to leave.
“We shouldn’t be in here.” I headed for the door but Keith moved in front of me.
“Wait. What I have to say won’t take long.”
Instinct screams at me to get the fuck out of here because a gnawing sensation in the pit of my stomach has formed. I shake my head. “Maybe you can tell me in the hallway, because it seemed pretty empty before we came in here.” I maneuver around him and make a beeline for the door.
As my hand grips the handle, he blurts out, “I had the biggest crush on you our sophomore year.”
I freeze. Maybe I heard him incorrectly. Slowly, I turn to exam his face. He’s not snickering but then again, he could be a good liar. “Excuse me?”
He moves closer until our bodies nearly touch. “It’s true. I liked you a lot back then. I wanted to tell you but I couldn’t.”
“I don’t understand. You basically stopped talking to me. You barely acknowledged me in the classroom unless you absolutely had to. And even if I did believe you, why are you telling me this now.”
He releases a heavy sigh. “I told myself that if I ever see you after graduation, I’d tell you the truth. So here I am. I really liked you Zora, and I’m sure you’re wondering why I stopped talking to you.”
I raise my shoulder into a shrug of nonchalance even though my heart is beating a mile a minute. “Does it really matter? I already figured you didn’t want people to think we were friends because they’d make fun of you too.”
He takes my hand in his and our gazes lock. “There’s nothing I wanted more than to be your friend Zora. I wanted to be more. But I was scared, but not for the reason you think. If you would have agreed to be my girlfriend back then, I wouldn’t have cared what anyone said.”
“So, what was the reason if it wasn’t that you were ashamed of me?”
“Jackson Champion basically threatened to beat the shit out of me if I didn’t leave you alone. It makes me sound like a coward to admit that but you deserve to know the truth.”
Every part of my body stiffens except for my heart which threatens to burst from my chest. I knew that asshole was out to get me but threatening violence to someone who wanted to be my friend, possibly more, pissed me off.
“That motherfucker,” I say more to myself than to Keith, as I process what I’d just learned.
“I have another confession.”
“Huh?” My mind is still trying to play catch up after his revelation and I don’t notice when he cups my face until the heat of his breath is on my lips.
“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.”
“What are you—”
He smashes his lips against mine, cutting me off. I’m so caught off guard, I remain still. For the most part, I’m a realist, but there’s still a part of me that’ fantasized my first kiss being a little more romantic than this. I wait for that tingly feeling I’m supposed to get from this intimate act, but I feel nothing.
The crush I once had for Keith is well and truly dead. Whether he was sincere about his feelings or not, this ship has well and truly sailed.
Just as I place my hands on his chest to push him away, the bedroom door crashes open.
Keith and I jump apart like two kids caught doing something they’re not supposed to, although technically we weren’t doing anything wrong.
Everything seems to happen in a blur.
Jackson charges inside the room and grabs Keith by the collar and proceeds to punch him in the face. The sickening crunch of broken bone turns my stomach.