The Spirit of Summer | The Andersons: Book 1

Chapter Six

November 14th
Monday

Kat had her violet eyes glued to her cellphone screen as the two of us made our way down the hallway. Knowing her, I wondered how long it would be until she bumped into somebody.

She seemed completely enamoured with whatever she was looking at, judging by the look of pure concentration gracing her features. So distracted and... at peace. I envied her. Where could I find a distraction effective enough to divert my attention from my current thoughts?

I still couldn't get the image of me and Liam out of my mind. It had been three whole days since Patrick's party, but I still couldn't forget the way his hands felt on my waist or the way his lips felt on mine and I hated myself for that- more and more each second. I was in such a horrible mood Friday night when I came back home, I completely ignored Mai when she came knocking on my door after everyone had gone to sleep. And, knowing Mai, she was most likely aware of that truth, which would probably explain her recent... passive-aggressiveness.

My eyes scanned the hallway nervously at a hundred miles per second, looking for the nearest escape route just in case I happened to bump into Liam- or worse, Raelynn. I couldn't face her. And to make things worse, my anxiety was being magnified by each greeting hurled my way from people who I hardly even knew. Their heys and hellos were abrupt, yet gleeful, just like Raelynn's. Just like her, period.

Kat looked up from her phone at me, and then at the next seven people huddled in a group who greeted me. She gave me a puzzled look. "What have you been doing? It's like your popularity grew over night!"

I forced a smile. "I guess so..."

Kat raised a dark eyebrow at me in question. "You guess so? That's all you have to say? Gee, Heather, I thought you'd be happier about this considering acceptance is all you've ever wanted virtually your whole life."

She then went back to her phone.

My gaze fell to my shoes and stayed that way for a while. I let out a long exhale for some reason I couldn't quite point out, watching my feet take turns leading the way as I walked.

"Okay..." I heard Kat mumble to herself. Sighing, she spoke out louder. "What's going on with you?"

My attention went back to her. "Nothing..." I told her weakly, not quite meeting her eyes.

"Mmm," she nodded, not looking amused at all. "So I'm making this all up in my head?"

I shrugged.

Kat abruptly stopped walking, and I wanted to keep on going just so I could escape her scrutinizing violet gaze, but I knew it would seem like I was running away if I did that, which I actually would be.

So I paused as well.

Kat was a little bit more than a few inches shorter than me, but even so, the way she examined my facial expression with her arms crossed determinedly over her chest was twice as intimidating as it would be when an adult did it. I couldn't help but look down at my shoes again- she had that kind of effect on people.

She sighed again, her arms dropping to her sides. This time when she spoke, her tone of voice was as delicate as a flower- I realized how long it had been since I'd last heard her speak like that. "Heather, please just tell me what's wrong. I can help! Okay, I hope I can... ugh, whatever, just... I'm worried about you. Krysy told me about your panic attack last Friday and... you know I'm here if you need anyone to talk to. We all are."