Suicide, Skittles and Skates [✓]

Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

For once Alex was glad of the stark emptiness and deafening silence of his flat. As they stepped through the front door he saw Kalila's shoulders visibly relax, the stress diminishing slightly. He led her to the small living room and they sat down on the black leather sofa, her face passive.

Although Alex didn't know what had just happened or who the guy was, he knew it was something that hurt her a lot. She had been putting on a mask for so long and now that it was stripped away from her, he could plainly see the vulnerability underneath. 'Good thing we didn't go back to the party,' he thought.

Party.

Shit. He pulled out his phone and quickly texted Tyler. 'heey ty, not coming back. emergency. will explain 2mrw. sorry!' His best friend would assume something had happened between the two of them thanks to Lacey's matchmaking scheme and Alex knew Tyler wouldn't mind.

"Do you want to stay?"

Kalila looked up. She hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings and was only just aware that she was sitting on Alex's sofa with her head in her hands. How could she go home like this? Her family would know something was up straight away and she didn't want to tell them of her little encounter with Eric, they'd freak out by just a mention of his name.

"If that's okay with you?" she asked, her eyes begging him to agree. She had already told her mum that she would stay over at a friend's house since she lived pretty far away and knew they wouldn't worry.

Alex nodded reassuringly and changed the subject subtly about their art project and Tyler's birthday party. They talked until it was late and they were both too tired to talk anymore. She was glad that out of all the people that were with her today, it had to be Alex. He understood that she didn't want to explain just yet and he had distracted her by talking about random things. For that, she was immensely grateful.

And with that thought in her mind – still wearing her dress lying on Alex's sofa, her legs entangled with his – she fell into a dreamless slumber.

Kalila's eyes squinted open slightly, the slowly appearing sunlight blinding her through the curtains covering the windowpane. 'I don't have curtains though,' she thought in alarm for a minute before the events of the previous evening came back to her suddenly. Sure enough there was Alex lying at the other end of the sofa, his feet intertwined with hers.

She took a moment to study him; the chocolate hair sticking up all over the place, the angles of his jaw cut to perfection and the slightly hallowed eye bags indicating that this was the first time in a while he had some proper sleep. She watched him for a while, still amazed that this boy who previously had been only an incredibly well-known face at school had managed to worm his way into her life. And it wasn't even done with intention, if anything she had been the one to start it. Their lives had been tangled together by fate and she found herself incredibly grateful that she had found him on the roof that day.

He had become a great friend.

Her body was aching under the navy blanket that had been carefully placed on her sleeping form and her face felt greasy with the remains of last night's makeup. She lifted herself up slowly, careful not to wake up the sleeping boy beside her, and crept to the bathroom.

It was only after she had finally washed all the mascara off – it normally never stayed on but obviously decided that today was a good day to sport panda eyes – that she remembered Tyler's birthday. 'Oh God, I made him miss his best friend's birthday party!' she cursed herself wondering how on earth she could have forgotten that last night.