Secondhand Girlfriend

.20

"Kie," I flinch at the name, but turn towards the person who called me.

Harper is sprinting down the hall toward me, and I have to put my arms out to stop him from knocking me over. Just as predicted, he runs straight into me, but we keep our balance. When he fixes himself, he tries to catch his breath as I wonder how he could even be tired. It's not like Harper is fat, he's quite slim and slightly muscular, but maybe he's out of shape?

"Have you seen Lisanna, I was supposed to be walking her, and then she just ran off," he explains, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"One, please don't touch me," I say, shrugging his hand of as I step away, "two, no I haven't. She's probably just throwing up in the bathroom."

"Shit, I didn't think of that. Thanks, Kie."

And then he's running off again, right back in the direction of which he came barreling into me. I shake my head as I walk toward the library, and push open the door to enter the quiet room. Giving a small wave to the librarian, I stride past the desk and into the ever going aisles of books. Sometimes I forget that this place is here, because it is tucked into a far corner of the school it is easily overlooked. And just like the library, I overlook the fact that there is a bookshelf in front of me, and I walk right into it. Well shit, that hurt.

I pick myself up from the floor, cursing a bit as I do so, and I brush my pants off as well. Scowling at the shelf as if it had pushed me, I turn down the aisle and begin to wander again. Leaving the shelves behind, I step into a space filled with tables and a few scattered people sitting at them. I sit across from a girl with peach coloured nails, and matching bow in her afro. Finding it cute, I tap the girl on the hand to get her attention, and she glances up from her book. Captivating, and the only thing I can think to say is,

"Caught you."

Neither of us make haste to speak after, and now we just sit in silence. She takes the corner of her bottom lip in between her braced teeth, how had I not noticed them before, and I smile down at the table. When I look up again, the girl is staring at me as she tilts her head slightly to the left.

"You seem, hesitant," she states, sitting back in her chair a bit.

There it is again, confidence; the way she sits tall in her chair, and keeps level eye contact with me screams it. Her gaze is unwavering as a bit of her fringe falls into her eyes, and my automatic reaction is to move it out of the way; I don't. Instead, I ponder over her words until I realise what she means.

"If you think I'm going to tell you I like you, you're wrong," I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

Her eyebrows, which are arched to perfection by the way, shoot up in surprise as her eyes widen. A smirk eases on to my cheeks, as I look at her with narrowed eyes. What could have been light conversation, has easily turned into a game of wits as her eyes also narrow as she sets her jaw. I try not to smile at how pretty she looks, although I'm sure she's going for intimidating and not flattering.

We stare at each other in a tense silence, neither of us looking away or willing to admit defeat. I uncross my arms as I continue to look at her, and grip my hands on the sides of the chair as I become fidgety. She bites her lip again, and I notice her tapping her nails against her bicep, we're both giving in. Not ready to lose, I clench my hands tighter on the chair as I watch her shift in her seat. Break, I think to myself, break so I can rub it in your cute little nose.

My eyes begin to water a bit from not blinking for so long, and a smirk makes its way onto her face as she continues to stare. As I try to keep my eyes open, I realise that tears are streaming down her face, and I know I'm not going to win. Finally I give in, blinking rapidly as I let the tears fall from my eyes. This is the first time I've ever lost a staring contest, and I feel my pride crumble. Rubbing my eyes, I open one to look at her and she is mirroring my actions.