Chasing Shadows | ✓

Chapter Seven

"DO YOU HAVE A MINUTE?"

A heavy sigh left my lips as I slammed my locker door shut. My eyes looked up towards the ceiling for a brief moment, irritation swelling in my chest.

"Not really," I replied.

"It's important," Natalia pushed, "I wanted to talk to you about the other day -"

I spun around, anger lighting up my eyes, "I don't know what you think you saw, but you obviously misunderstood."

"I think it was pretty clear cut what happened," she countered with a knowing stare.

"Do you make a habit of going around and sticking your nose in other people's business?" I snarled, feeling exposed, "If so, you really shouldn't."

"Not usually," she smiled despite the glare I was shooting at her, "Actually, I'm usually pretty quiet -"

"Then stay that way," I snapped, cutting her off, "Do you find it fun to piss me off every chance that you get?"

"Believe it or not, no," she lifted her shoulders in a light shrug, "I actually feel the opposite."

I massaged my temples, a look of impatience crossing my face, "Look, I'm hungry and as much as I love our conversations, I'd rather go eat."

"Sure," her lips tilted upwards, deepening her dimple, "Let's go then."

My head jerked back at her words, "Excuse me? Let's?"

"I haven't been to the cafeteria yet," she mused, ignoring my words, "I guess you can show me the way."

"Hey," I sneered, "Look if you want me to show you the way, that's fine. But you must be delusional if you think I'm sitting and eating with you for the next twenty minutes."

"I heard they had pizza today," Natalia continued to ramble, seemingly choosing not to acknowledge my words. She lowered her voice to a whisper, playfully lowering her voice, "I'm actually one of those people who likes pineapple on pizza but I might get attacked if someone hears me saying that."

"Are you even listening to me?" I scowled, "Or are you just deaf?"

"My ears work just fine," she smiled, "Come on, you did say you would show me the way."

I debated just turning around and leaving her. But when my stomach let out a ravenous growl, I bit down on my tongue and shot her a forced smile.

"Sure."

We walked side by side, Natalia chatting away to herself. Her words fell through the air like confetti, their transient beauty nearly drawing me closer. She spoke in a tone, that felt soothing to the soul, almost lulling it to sleep. And when she peered up at me, rays of colors from every end of the spectrum seemed to go running in all directions, looking for an untouched canvas on which to leave a mark.

"Have you not made any friends?" I forced myself to interrupt her, "When did you get here? Like a week ago?"

"I'm not the best at socializing," she confessed with pink cheeks, "I find it hard to make friends."

I raised a suspicious brow before scoffing, "Yeah, right. You want me to believe that?"

"Speaking up when there's a wrong being done doesn't count," she pointed out, "I can talk with people fine in class or in the corridors, but I've just never been able to keep friends."

"Have you ever considered it's because you're nosy?" I shot, "You probably asked them too many questions or said some creepy quote from one of your books."