Kiss & Blog

2. Collide

                                        © janxel 2013 All Rights Reserved

T W O: Collide

        "Heads up!" Daniel called out. Sean had absentmindedly dodged his quick pass and the basketball he had thrown was on its way to hit some poor girl square in the face.

        Daniel didn't even bother hoping for the girl's safety; the ball was already–

        "–Ouf!"

        He cringed as he watched the girl's head tip backwards, the laptop sleeve she had once held tightly in her grip now high up in the air.

        A crowd formed around her where she lay sprawled flat against the cement floor. Daniel rushed over to where she was, threading his way through the crowd until he encountered her petite self staring up into space.

        He slapped Sean's shoulder when he saw him standing in the crowd's inner circle. "Dude, I thought you had it!"

        "My bad," Sean muttered, scratching his head. "I didn't even realize you threw the ball."

        "Tsk," Daniel kissed his teeth, shaking his head, before kneeling down beside the girl. "Are you okay?"

        He had expected her to be tearing up or engaging in a crying of some sort but her expression surprised him. She looked pissed; she glared murder at the sky, her left eye twitching slightly. Her mouth was open enough to see the gritting of her teeth. He tried not to laugh, even going as far and biting the insides of his lips shut, but his grin escaped him. Daniel smiled widely at her, one corner of his lips lifted in satisfaction.

        He could hear her heavy breathing as she let out a tired sigh. "You've got to be fu cking kidding me," she muttered. She shut her eyes tight, processing the situation, and quickly shot a death glare at Daniel.

        It was only when she looked at him that Daniel realized where he had seen her before. Although he didn't remember her name he did have some vague memory of her, most of them being her sitting alone in the cafeteria with her laptop, or sitting alone in study hall on her laptop, or sitting alone at the back table of the library hidden behind the safety of her laptop. Mostly just sitting. Alone. With her laptop.

        He'd hardly spoken more than a few words to her at most. Daniel grinned, amused. He'd never expected the school geek to have such a sharp tongue.

        She squinted at him. "What the hell are you laughing at?" 

        Daniel's eyes widened at the supposed geek's sassy outburst. The smile on his face only grew wider.

        "Are you okay?" he asked again, offering his hand.

        Kathryn swatted at it. She managed to lift herself up onto her elbows, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Peachy," she offered a sarcastic smile.

        Daniel would be lying if he said he wasn't intrigued by the thought of this geek gone bad. He had to sit down on the cement ground beside her to think the situation through. He stared at her, his elbows on his knees, with a smile of genuine interest on his face.

        She looked at him, disgusted. "Why the hell are you smiling at me like that?"

        "You're cute when you're mad."

        She rolled her eyes, offering him a deadpanned expression. "Gross."

        He grinned. He wasn't lying; her glasses had fallen off some time during the impact. Without the thick frame obscuring her face, her appearance improved drastically. She was a nerd with potential.