Behind Your Walls

bonus • 02 [CARTER'S POV]

"Brandon?" I say weakly. "He...he wants to ask her out?"

Cherry nods and the confirmation only heightens the bad feeling.

Brandon is nowhere good for Amaya. She will never say yes to him. Boys like Brandon don't deserve girls like her. He will only end up hurting her and by the look on her face this morning, I could see she is already hurt due to something.

"He shouldn't do that," I blurt out and Cherry raises an eyebrow at me.

"Why? Are you interested in her too, Carter Bell?" she smirks. "Seems like the quiet girl has boys falling at her feet."

"No, no, I'm...I'm not." I deny her accusation, chuckling lightly to cover up my real thoughts.

Brandon and Amaya. No way.

Amaya Sommers belongs to someone who is gentle with her, not someone who treats his girlfriends like private property. She needs someone to care for her, someone to take her on dates, someone to tell her how fucking beautiful she is every day. In short, she needs someone better than Brandon.

Someone like...me.

No, idiot. Don't go there!

I shake my head to get rid of the horrendous thoughts. I don't know why Amaya keeps occupying my head. Any chance of being close to her makes my heart start doing little somersaults. I recall how she collided with me in the corridor today just to say thank you. I can still smell the scent of her shampoo and the feel of her hips pressed against my hands when I touched her. She had no idea what she was doing to me. No idea that being near her is that hard for me.

Something snaps in front of my eyes and I find Cherry staring at me.

"Earth to Carter Bell," she says. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." I nod. "I'm fine."

"You sure? You look like someone shoved a glass of fat down your throat."

She hands me her pen and I take it quickly, looking away from her. My hand roams above the half-written page and I look at the board, reading the table but my mind goes completely blank of the present as I start to imagine Amaya and Brandon together.

Amaya and Brandon walking about the school hand-in-hand, Amaya and Brandon sitting together for lunch, Brandon brushing his hands through Amaya's soft hair, Brandon burying his nose in the crook of her neck, Brandon hugging her...kissing her.

The low cracking sound of something breaking pulls me back to the present and I look down to see that I have broken Cherry's pen too. I lift it in front of my eyes, looking at the damage caused, blankly.

"Oh, God..." I hear Cherry and shift to face her again.

"I'm sorry." I return her pen to her desk. "I was just thinking."

"About Brandon and Amaya?" Cherry asks, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Are you jealous, Carter Bell?"

"No!" I answer instantly. "No, no, absolutely not. I'm just..." I look about me and am relieved to find no one watching us. "I just find it weird that Brandon wants Amaya. Why her?"

"Because she is pretty and smart?" Cherry scratches her forehead with her baby pink fingernails as she watches me, looking perplexed.

"Yeah, she's smart." I nod.

Too smart for Brandon.

"If you want a girlfriend you can date me, Carter Bell." Cherry smiles, winking at me. "I'm quite good in bed too."

I give her an incredulous stare.

"Cherry, we both know you're gay," I say and she giggles, covering her mouth with her hand.