𝗙𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗗 𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗢𝗜𝗗𝗦 ❨𝖺𝖽𝖺𝗆 𝖻𝖺𝗇𝗄𝗌❩

𝗑. 𝖿𝗅𝗈𝗋𝖺

𝘅. 𝖿𝖺𝖽𝖾𝖽 𝗉𝗈𝗅𝖺𝗋𝗈𝗂𝖽𝗌: 𝖿𝗅𝗈𝗋𝖺
"𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐧𝐞."

"I DON'T HATE YOU." Was I lying to myself and to him? It felt like I was because it seemed like it confused both of us.

I didn't think I would ever say that, but I guess it's the truth. Of course, he still irked me and made me want to bang my head repeatedly against a wall, but he was improving. Banks didn't make as many crude and snide comments as before, though some still slipped when we were around each other.

Kenny was fully asleep and slumped against me, my arm around his shoulders. Banks was still sitting on the edge of the couch and the movie was still playing. And it was very awkward; even with the movie playing, the silence between us was deafening.

I rested my head on Kenny's and my mind whirled with random thoughts. The thoughts of my free skate clouded majority of my head because it was later in the week and I hadn't practiced for it as much as I would have preferred. I thought about whether or not the rink was still open at this time and if I could sneak in a few hours of practice before the rest of the world woke up.

I tried to get up but Kenny's weight pulled me down. I sighed and looked at Banks. I brought my arm down from Kenny's shoulders and folded my hands in my lap, a look of exasperation on my face.

"Um, Banks? Could you help me get Kenny on the couch, I need to grab some things from my dorm." I asked reluctantly through gritted teeth, trying to stand only for Kenny's head to roll on my shoulder once more.

Banks looked over, no doubt debating whether or not to help me get the boy comfortably on the couch. After five minutes of an internal debate, he stood up and walked over. Kneeling on the ground, Banks carefully picked up Kenny with ease and placed him on the couch. I turned around while still sitting to lay a pillow underneath his head, brushing his hair out of his eyes in the process.

"Thanks." I mumbled, standing up completely and walking out of the room and up the stairs to the dorms.

The air was cooler in the stairway, causing me to wrap my arms around my torso to try and conserve my body heat. Footsteps thud against the stairs loudly, causing me to turn around to see Banks running up the stairs after me. We made eye contact and I shook my head slightly.

I, not wanting to deal with him at the moment, turned around quickly and kept walking up until I reached my floor. Banks didn't seem to stop because even as I stopped at the top of the door, he walked up and stood next to me.

I continued walking down the hallway to my dorm, aware that I was still being followed by the boy. As I was about to unlock the door, I turned around and crossed my arms to face him, an impatient sigh escaping.