Hamartia [Nanowrimo] | ✓

Thirteen

Theo let out a small, airy, laugh before tucking both hands into the pocket of his hoodie. His dark brown feathered hair stuck up in varies places as the wind hurled by them. Tequila was aware the he was uncomfortable, but that didn’t stop her from flat out staring at him. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t force herself to look away.  

He didn’t mind, however, because when she had dared to touch the scars on his face he let her without hesitation. The tips of her fingers slowly traced the scars on his cheeks while her eyes kept darting up to watch his reaction, but he was completely emotionless. She pursed her lips together as her gaze dropped to the ground and her arm fell to her side. After a while she slowly glanced back up at him only to be greeted by his intimidating stare.

She pushed her hair behind her ears before crossing her arms over her chest. “Well are you going to tell me your story?” She grumpily asked.

He shifted feet, “Do I have to?”

She stood there with a blank look on her face and without saying a word she had gave him an answer.

His crystal blue eyes were distant as a sigh escaped his lips. “The memories tend to run into one another and I’m not sure if they really happened or if they were your mother’s stories. You see, she used to talk to about you constantly in class. I guess you could say I was infatuated with you – no I was intrigued, that’s a better word for it.” He smiled as if remembering a pleasant memory. “You would always sit beside me and I remember feeling like I had just won something big. Maybe if I was a bit more outgoing I would have talked to you, but at the time it didn’t matter to me. I was sitting beside a girl whose smile was like air – I couldn’t live without it. Seeing you smile was all that I cared about.”

His face fell and his pool blue eyes were filled with guilt, “Of course the day that you noticed me was also the day you watched your mother die. I never forgave myself for that neither did your father. He would always glare at me or make side comments about who I was and about rumors that were going around. He made my life a living hell, but I couldn’t blame him because I had made his life a living hell too. So I guess that made us even.”

Tequila’s eyebrows furrowed together as she settled her gaze on the ground below her, “Wait,” she said, “What rumors?”

“When people heard about how I saved you they took it the other way. They said that I did it on purpose so your mother wouldn’t live. I was known as the weird kid who had no parents and apparently had killed them as well.” He bit his lip as he looked away.

She knew he was about to fall apart, but she was surprised at how well he was handling himself. For some unknown reason she smiled, not a happy smile, but one that was filled with forgiveness and understanding. But then her smile dropped and the words he had just uttered stung her.

“But you didn’t kill them, I mean maybe you killed that policemen the day you kidnapped me but-“

“I didn’t kill the policemen, another guy did. I never kill anyone; it’s unprofessional of me to do so. I-“ He froze, his mouth hung wide open, as he stumbled backwards. He quickly regained his posture but he was still in shock.

“But I wanted to kill you,” he said in a whisper while his face twisted in disgust, as if he had just eaten something bitter.