Sebastian winced as the ice pack made contact with his bruised skin. "It burns."
"Sorry," I muttered. "What did you say to him anyway that made him clock you up like this?"
"I'm not telling you," he answered avoiding my gaze.
"Why not?"
"Cause it's a guy thing and you will kill me if I tell you," he answered, tensed.
I was already miffed. "Fine, keep it a secret but at least tell me why the hell did you not fight back," I said pressing the ice pack under his eyes again.
A hiss of pain escaped his mouth. "Cause I'm not that stupid like him. I can't afford a detention or a suspension right now."
"But you can afford to get a black eye?" I asked in a dry voice.
"I can take it for you," he said with a pout.
Even though my brain was pounding against my skull, I couldn't help but smile at his innocent expression. "You didn't have to. Starting from today, neither of us are getting into anything regarding Daniel Cohen, okay?"
Sebastian gave me a pitiful look. "You know even though I knew he will blow up everything eventually, just for your sake I was actually hoping that he proves me wrong."
I stayed silent.
Cupping my right cheek with his palm he said, "Unfortunately, this is the real Daniel Cohen everyone has been telling you to stay clear of. All that he has ever learned is how to be a jerk to everyone."
There was still a hopeful part of my brain that didn't want to believe him. It wanted to tell Sebastian that the real Daniel Cohen was the guy who saved me from drowning, the guy who held me close in the cemetery, the guy who gave me that photograph which was still sitting on the top of my desk. Not this guy. But Sebastian's damaged face and Abbey's broken heart had another story to tell.
"Guess I should have listened to you earlier, huh?" I sighed pushing back the disappointment that was coursing through me.
Instead of a reply, Sebastian leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on my lips. As usual I felt nothing.
"What was that for?" I asked, running my fingers on my lower lip.
"Because I can't see your fallen face." He pinched the tip of my nose. "I really want you to find somebody who actually deserves you. You've been lonely too long."
"And you blame Luke for being melodramatic." I gave his forehead a light push.
He pouted again. "You spoil all my moments."
"Aw, do you want an apology?" I tilted my head to a side. "Well, you're not getting one, Bambino. Now, get up and hurry your ass down to your class. Lunch is over."
"Fine," he said with groan and got up from the ground and joining the current of students hurrying to their classes, he yelled, "Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again."
"Be well, do well and keep in touch, my Shakespeare," I shouted dramatically over the undistinguishable chattering of the crowd and tossing the ice pack in trash can, headed to my classes.
I had History for the next period but instead of taking notes from the board which was being written on and then rubbed quickly, I sat with my hands holding the pen on the very first line of the page.
When the bell rang, I still hadn't gone past the first line and the blank page just sat there on the desk as if mocking me. Two similar blank pages stared back at me in my next two classes too.
I drove back home in silence. Neither I made any sound, nor the radio.
The sky was still the same shade of gray that they were yesterday, the day before yesterday, and the day before that.
Even though I was losing memory of the last time that I had slept, I still had tiny amount of energy left in me physically but at mental level, things had gone really ugly.
It took me double the time to reach my house than it usually did and even after reaching the driveway, I had no hurry to get inside but eventually I had to. Pushing the front door open, I scanned the area for a good whole minute. Silence and emptiness were the only thing I could find in the dark house.
I didn't bother to switch on the lights.
What would have been the point?
I lumbered up the stairs and towards my--err--Emma's room but something took over me and then I just couldn't move any further.
I stared at the door with apprehension and I felt scared to go inside, like it was a forbidden place to enter so instead I slid down to the floor.
Pulling my knees closer to my chest, I rocked back and forth, cradling myself.
The silence of the house was disturbing, almost to the point of deafening me with it. It was like death hovered over the place and like a dead I felt inside.
I didn't want to be alone. I needed someone, anyone, right now to be there with me.
"Anybody home?" I whimpered and even though it would have been a terrifying thing if I had gotten an answer but I still hoped for it. Anything would have been better than this.
I thought of calling someone for a second but the question was who? Who was I supposed to call?
Dad? Mom? Nathan?
Who?
No one.
Because every single one of them was suffering on their own without any closure. Thinking of the 'what if's, dwelling on the things that they could have done differently, imagining the 'what could have been'.
Hooking my wrist with the strap of my bag, I pulled it towards me and dug inside to find the box of cigarettes. Tipping the box upside down, just two cylinders of tobacco rolled onto my palm.
Shit!
I needed more of it. It was the only thing binding me to my sanity and my only source of comfort.
Taking the support of the wall behind me, I got up, falling once while doing so. Lighting one of the cancer sticks, I stuffed the other way one in my back pocket along with the lighter and crippled out of the house.
I lacked orientation as I took the first few steps so it was better not to drive or else I might have ended up hitting some poor man.
The night was taking over the town as I dragged myself on the side of the roads, imagining the sound of the cars passing by as my background music. The wind was determined and strong and since I was not, I felt like a dandelion which was being blown.
And the felling returned, the feeling of being followed but I shook it away.
I was walking down the street which ended up at the gas station. There were a few people moving around, holding their umbrella even though it was just rain drops but of course the weather around here couldn't be trusted so I guess it was a smart move on their part.
Maybe it was the ending day or my screaming for sleep brain, but I could actually feel my vision getting blurry and by the time I was just a road cross away from the station, it was almost non-existence.
Gluing my eyes shut, I opened them again. While doing so I hadn't realized that I was standing now standing in the middle of the road and before my body could react, all my mind could process that there was a car approaching me.
Bright headlights took over my vision and suddenly the air was terrified by the squeeling of tires and a loud blow of horn.
My legs did nothing except being attached to the road, only my hand rose up in front of my eyes to protect me from witnessing the impact that was coming but instead of the feeling of the metal body of the car ramming into me, I felt myself flying backward because of a sudden pull.
I opened my eyes, curious to the core about what was happening but apparently my body wasn't because it remained still. The man driving the car didn't stop and went on yelling something along the lines of 'stupid teenagers'.
So there I stood with an hand wrapped around my waist and a heart beating against my back. Our breathes were fast, mixing in the howl of the wind and then getting lost in it.
Once my senses started to function and a familiar smell met me, I didn't have to turn around to know who it was.
I removed his hand off me and without saying anything, started to walk in the opposite direction.
Screw the pack of smoke. I need to run!
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked. He sounded shook up.
My own head was still spinning from the alomst accident too.
"Away from you." I kept on walking.
"No, you're not."
"Watch me, Pinocchio."
He ran to catch up and stopped to stand in front me, making me stop in my tracks.
I know it wasn't the right thing to think at the moment but he looked really good in the white shirt he had on. His hair was wet and pushed back, possibly due to a recent shower. His eyes looked sparkling and the dim streetlights flecked in the almost liquid like blueness of the iris.
Damn that guy and his hypnotising blue eyes.
"Please move out of my way," I ordered in a bored tone.
"No, I need to talk to you," he answered in a adamant tone and this time he wasn't asking, he was informing me.
"Okay, I have an idea." He looked interested. "Why don't you let me go and I'll call you later and then you can maybe answer or better make other people take the call, since that's the kind of thing you're into."
"And I told you I'm sorry about that. So if you can please listen me out." He flashed me a hopeful smile.
"Let me think about it," I said, making a face as if I was actually thinking. "Yeah, no. Not interested."
"Not even for a minute?" He stuck his lower lip forward and made a cutesy face.
"Don't make that face. It's not going to help your case," I told him, glazed and moved further but he thwarted me once again.
"So what will?" He asked, his left hand on my right one to stop me from running away and that made me notice the absence of his cast from it. Now just a crepe bandage covered his arm and I wanted to tell my brain not to swoon over it because it totally made him look like a badass.
Snap back to reality!
"I asked you something," he said, with a expectant look.
"There is something I wanted to do," I answered, tipping my head to the left.
"Anything," he replied with confidence.
"Anything?" I questioned him to confirm.
"Anything," he repeated.
I looked at him wickedly and there was a little surprise in them as my foot slammed hard on his, and the fact that I was wearing a little heel, would have ended up hurting him even more.
"Ow! That hurts," he shreiked, holding his foot with his hands and hopping.
"You said anything. This is my version of 'anything'," I answered shrugging my shoulders and inhaled the burning the lit cigarette in my hand about which I had forgotten about.
"I probably deserved it, anyway," he said, still grimacing.
"You got that right," I remarked, laughing and exhaling the smoke. "That was for Abbey and Sebastian."
He looked flummoxed. "Okay, I get about Sebastian but why Abbey?"
His disdain fueled my lividness. "How could you ask that, you heartless whore! You totally bam wham thank you mam'd her!"
Bewilderness landed on his face. "Excuse me, mam. I didn't 'bam' or 'wham' anybody!"
Huh. Well, that was not something I expected.
"Then why was she crying today?" I asked. I was CONFUSED.
"Why do you expect me to know?" He was slack-jawed but his eyes looked sincere. "I left before anything happened."
"Huh." I didn't have any answer for that. "Well whatever, you're still a whore."
Somehow he found my insult amusing and the corners of his lips lifted up in a tiny smirk.
"Maybe. Anyway since now you have done your 'anything' I want to do something too." His voice was husky and low and with his blue eyes linked with my brown ones, he leaned towards me.
The more he leaned, the bigger the size of my eyes became. His breath was on blowing my cheek and mine was stuck in my throat.
"What....uh..." I stammered with my heart beating like a drum.
"Please don't stop me," he said, his voice dropping an octave and his face almost touching mine.
I was still lost in his eyes when I saw a new glint in them. A sudden wicked smile appeared on his face and his hand reached up to my lips.
And the next thing I know, the cigarette from my mouth is being snatched and thrown away in a projectile motion.
"Your smoking has been bothering me a lot," he said standing back straight like nothing just happened right now.
"Why the hell would you do that!" I screamed running towards the cigarette which was now covered in mud. "It was the last one!"
"Damn right, it was because you're not smoking again. Ever," I heard him tell me from behind. "Now, let's get you home before the storm comes so that I can explain everything to you."
I turned around, my shoulders squared and my chin up. "Why do you think I'll listen to you after what you just did?"
He sighed and shaked his head in disapproval. "Fine, I didn't wanna do this but seems like this is the only option."
"What?"
I was absolutely lost.
And then my narrowed eyes went wide again as they watched Daniel get to his knees.
"What are you doing?!" I shreiked, absolutely aghast.
"I am asking for your forgiveness," Daniel simply answered with a sweet smile. "Now, please say you forgive me and that you'll hear me out."
"No, I'm not doing that. Now get up!" I said with my teeth pressed together, flustered.
A middle-aged woman passed by us with a kid who looked around five. Both of them gave us an odd look and scurried away.
"I'm not doing that until you forgive me," he replied, determined. "I don't care if everyone's looking."
By now, people were starting to notice us.
Oh what the hell.
I rubbed my forehead. "Alright, I forgive you. Now will you please get up?"
His smile became bigger.
"With pleasure." He stood back up, patting his black denims around the knee area. "I knew you would forgive me."
"That's because your apologies are basically black-mails." I raised an eyebrow at him.
He shrugged, grinning. "Their implications work in my favor so who is complaining."
"Whatever." I started to walk away from all the attention that we had caught and Daniel followed, nipping at my heels.
The way back to my home was seeming longer than the way from it. The sky had gone completely dark now as we kept walking.
"Stop looking at me. It feels like you're stalking me," I commented, feeling his eyes on me.
"If making sure that you get to your home alive is stalking, then fine I'm a stalker," he retorted back with ease.
Turning my head in his direction, I said, "Oh please, I'm perfectly capable of getting back to my own house safe-"
My words got knocked out of my mouth because just to prove me wrong life had decided to put a rock in my way, literally. Losing my balance, I fell flat on my ass.
"You were saying something, butterfly?" Daniel smirked, offering me his hand to stand up.
And then I don't know why, I started laughing. The last few days have been a complete fiasco and maybe that's what I really needed to get my mind off everything.
A good laugh.
"Do you know your brain has a strange reaction mechanism," he commented at the complete turn about of my emotions but I could tell that he didn't mean it an offensive way.
I took his hand and was pulled up in a sudden motion.
"I know. Guess, you should stay away from me then," I advised him in between my mirth.
"Never," he replied without giving it a second thought. "Now, try to walk without falling again, 'kay?"
I scoffed."Don't treat me as a kid. I can't help it if you have a hero complex. Oh wait-" I made a face like I just hade an epiphany. "Oh my god, I just realized something."
"What?" He looked spooked.
"You moved from Alaska, you hate people, your mood swings are totally capable of giving people a whiplash and plus you have a hero complex."
"Yeah so?"
"Oh my god! People, I've found the real life Edward Cullen!" I declared loudly to no one in particular.
His face face fell like a coin from Eiffel Tower. "That is like the meanest thing anyone has ever said to me."
I laughed again. "Eh, you'll get over it."
We were now outside my house, and I stopped walking, not wanting to go inside.
"What happened?" he asked, noticing my abrupt halt.
"I can't go inside," I replied in a mousy voice.
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to."
"So what you're just going to stay outside all night?"
"Pretty much. Now you can go. Bye!" I chirped and waved him goodbye.
"I'm not going anywhere, cupcake. If you're planning to sit here, then I'll stay here with you," he said, adamantly.
"You don't need to."
"But I want to."
I rolled my eyes at him. "And you call me stubborn."
"Whatever," He said and then examined my face. "Give me your house keys."
"Are you going to rob my house?" I asked, sitting on the steps.
He gave me an eye roll and scoffed. "Yes Norah, you totally got my plan. Now give me the keys."
Too tired to inquire any further, I threw my keys at him. Catching them effortlessly, he disappeared inside after unlocking the door.
Daniel was inside for around five minutes and I was about to go and investigate when I heard a dragging sound.
"Oh my god, you really are robbing my house!" I stood up, disbelief etched on my face as I watched my living room couch being lugged outside on the porch.
"Calm down, I'm not robbing anything. I thought since you can't go inside, I'll bring it outside," he explained. "You look like someone who can use a little rest."
I stayed mum.
He seriously gave me whiplashes. Just this morning he was ready to bite Sebastian's head off and here he was on the verge of making me convinced that he actually cared about me. It was like they were two different people.
The question lingered in my mind.
Who exactly was Daniel Cohen?
"You're doing that weird eye thing again," his voice brought me back to the present.
"I don't have any eye thing," I denied and ensconced myself on the comfortable couch. I pulled the blanket lying on it and wrapped it around me like a cocoon.
"You do."
"I don't," I repeated although I knew I did that eye-thing where I would keep staring at people with eyes narrowed while I'll be lost in my thoughts. Emma always hated that.
Okay Norah, don't think about her...
"Have you eaten anything?" he asked, pensively.
"Yeah," I lied without blinking.
"Don't lie." He gave me a stern look. "When was the last time you ate?"
I huffed. "Two days ago."
"What? Are you out of your mind?" He nothing but shrieked with disbelief. "What's your plan? Death from starving?"
"Why are you shouting? It makes me wanna cry," I whimpered pushing my head against the backrest of the couch.
"I'm sorry," he lowered his voice. "I'll go and find you something to eat. I don't wanna see you die on me."
"I don't feel like eating," I protested feebly.
"Please shut up. You look like a dead person. You need to eat," his words became fainter as he entered my house once again.
I nestled inside the blanket further more. My body wanted to turn the power button off and sleep until the next millennium but my stupid brain wasn't ready to give up on the fight yet and was adamant on keeping me awake.
I struggled to keep my eyelids from sticking together as I chewed on the sandwich that Daniel had made me. Of course, the sandwich came with his expertise comment that my house was going through a apocalypse because there was practically nothing worth eating in it.
"Stop fighting it. Just go to sleep," he said in disapproval.
I rubbed my eyes after taking a bite. The sandwich was plain but since I had gone through a self imposed famine, I nibbled on it like it was a delicacy.
"No, I am fine," I said, waving his argument off. "You said you wanted to talk."
Daniel thought for a minute. "We will talk about it later. Right now you need to sleep or else you'll drop dead."
I was getting impatient. "I told you I'm fine. I can handle another hour."
"And I told you we will talk later." He was unswerving and resolute. "Laila Tov."
Realizing there was absolutely no chance of winning, I allowed my eyes to shut down and it didn't even take a whole minute before I felt myself falling asleep. Finally.
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