FILM | KTH (OH)

I

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DARA KING THOUGHT she was going to die. she held on to her cousin's flapping jacket in a death grip, mentally thanking god that she had decided to crop her hair short or it would have been flying in her face and blocking her final view before she died.

her spine was stiff as she leaned against him, muttering the lord's prayer under her breath. she squeezed her eyes shut, unable to take seeing how fast everything whizzed past.

"hey, open your eyes." she felt a hand moving over hers, prying her fingers off her cousin's torso. "are we alive?" she asked, opening one eye. he laughed, body vibrating against her ear. "no, this is heaven."

straightening her back and glancing around, she hit him on the back. "trevor king! i'm never getting on your fucking bike again." she threw her leg off, getting off the bike carefully.

trevor laughed again, shaking his head at her. "you're such a wimp. how will you ever survive as a photojournalist?" he asked. "by not getting on power bikes with a batshit rider like you." she replied.

"c'mon, don't you enjoy feeling the breeze in your hair?" he grinned. "first off, what hair? you can even see my scalp." she ran a hand over her cropped dyed curly hair. "secondly, that wasn't breeze, it was a gale."

"semantics." trevor remarked. "tomorrow, either we take your car or i take the bus because this," she gestured to the bike he was still seated on with her hands, "is never happening again." trevor made a face. "you're no fun."

"because i don't like the possibility that i might have to be scraped off the asphalt?" she gave him a look. "it'll grow on you." he smiled. "nope, no growing here." she shook her head. "okay, i have to get to work." he glanced at his watch.

"okay, be safe." she eyed the vehicle underneath him. his full lips split in a wide grin as he ruffled her short hair. "i will." she stepped away from him, frowning. "have fun in class." he added.

she glanced back at the building behind her. the sun hit her eyes, making her squint. it reflected the bronze undertone of her warm brown terracotta skin like the warm glow of the sunset right before dusk.

she adjusted the strap of her bag and turned back to trevor. "i'll try. let's hope i make a friend." she let out a deep breath. "you will." he smiled. "bye!" he winked as he revved the engine and rode off.

shaking her head at his disappearing form, dara turned around and headed for the building.

she almost got thrown back by someone at the door to the class. "so sorry!" he apologized hurriedly as he stepped back for her to enter. "it's fine." she answered watching as he practically ran out of the room.

she glanced after him, wondering why he was in such a hurry. someone snorted behind her. "he's going to the bathroom." the girl said when dara turned to her. "oh."

"nayara araújo. but you can call me yara." she smiled. dara stared at her. from her big smiling hazel brown eyes to the grin she sported, she looked really friendly.

"i'm dara king." dara answered, still surprised to see a latin american this far out. "i thought i was going to be the only foreigner from another continent in this class." she added quietly.

"so did i." yara smiled. "british?" she asked noticing the accent. "yes." dara nodded. "nice. you can sit next to me." yara offered. "thanks." dara offered her a smile.

the class slowly began to fill but it didn't seem like there were many taking the class. dara counted twelve people including herself. the boy who had run out of class earlier reappeared and took the seat in front of yara.

"didn't i tell you to slow down on the fruit water?" she remarked the moment he sat. "yeah, yeah. you told me so." he rolled his eyes. "i did. by the way, this is dara king. the girl you almost ran over."

the boy's gaze shifted to the girl who was now also looking at him. "hi," she waved awkwardly. "hi. taehyung kim." he smiled. his voice was unbelievably deep. "nice to meet you."

"yara and dara, hm?" he hummed, turning back to the latina. "i didn't even notice." she chuckled. "your names rhyme so you'll probably be best friends." he remarked.

the two girls glanced at each other, smiling. maybe he was right.