Breathe

seven

Asher simply sighed, turning back to his shelf, this time for good. I watched him for another second before making my way out of the store.

Forcing myself to see the bright side of things, I smiled a little. At least we had talked. And he had been honest with me. So far, this hadn't been too bad.

Honestly, if he had just continued to look at me with that cold gaze and not say a single word, I probably would have fallen apart right there.

But he hadn't, and like he had just told me, he still wanted to look at me. So maybe, not all hope was lost.

No, definitely. Until now, there were things that could be fixed.

My smile growing to a narrow grin, I thought about Conan. I couldn't wait to tell him about this.

I found myself at his front door only a few minutes later, ringing the doorbell before impatiently waiting for someone to answer. When it finally opened, a boy I didn't know looked at me.

I hesitated as he raised an eyebrow, letting his gaze wander over my whole appearance.

"Do you sell brooms?" he asked, running a hand through his red hair. Dyed, the color looked unnatural.

"Uh..." taken aback by his question, I managed nothing more than a confused stutter before clearing my throat. "Nah. I'm here for Conan, actually."

The boy smirked at me, leaning against the doorframe. "And what do you want from Conan?"

"I hate you, Kian," Conan stated, suddenly appearing behind the boy. Even though Conan was already excessively tall the other boy was only a little shorter, leaving me to feel even more insecure.

"Oh, hi Kiri." Conan beamed a smile at me, opening the door further to allow me to step in. "This is Kian, he's an idiot so you probably shouldn't talk to him."

I entered the house, and he closed the door behind me. "Okay. Sorry, should I come back later?"

"Why?" Conan asked, raising a brow. I glanced at Kian who was leaning against the wall now, focusing on his phone. "Oh, him. Nah, he's nothing. He's like, background music, you know? Kinda like you have it, with constantly letting your music play and stuff."

I nodded, slowly since I still wasn't convinced. "O-kay. Maybe I should just go."

Waving that idea away dismissively, Conan put an arm around my shoulders, pulling me with him.

"Stay, man. My parent's aren't here, let's just chill in my room."

And that's where I found myself just a minute later: spread out on Conan's bed, with him sitting next to me, and Kian laying in a beanbag at the other side of the room. Music was playing, a band I didn't know, but didn't dislike.

Kian was still on his phone, and Conan had pulled my legs into his lap, one hand laying on my knee while his other was holding his phone. I watched him, a little pissed that he wouldn't turn his attention to me since I was his guest.

Lightly kicking him with my leg, I finally earned his attention.

"Do you always favor your phone over your guests?" I asked, raising a brow. Conan grinned, tossing his phone aside.

"I'm all yours, kid." He shifted a little, settling with a slightly more comfortable position. "So, what brought you here? Did you miss me already?"

I hesitated, glancing at Kian. He didn't seem to be listening, so I gave in with a shrug.

"I went to the supermarket today."

Conan raised a brow. "Interesting. I do that too, sometimes."