Chapter Fifteen
Kinley / 17
I yelp when something red smacks me in the cheek, causing my laptop to nearly crash onto the floor where I sit on the carpet against my bed. Thankfully, I catch it in time and note the licorice sitting beside me. Nose scrunched in confusion I glance up at the door expecting to see Gavin.
Zach grins from where he leans against the doorframe. Pulling another Twizzler from the pack, he gets ready to launch it at me. I wince and peel the earbuds from my ears and frown at him.
“What are you doing here?” I look at the time in the corner of my laptop screen, surprised to see that it’s already past noon. “And why are you wasting perfectly good candy by throwing it?”
He walks in and plants himself beside me, picking up the first piece he threw. “I wouldn’t call it a waste.” Brushing off a few pieces of animal hair, he shrugs and takes a bite.
I make a face.
His eyes go to my laptop screen, then the notebook resting beside me. “Your mom told me I could come up.”
Eating the tainted candy, he studies my room, noting the various movie posters on the walls and books on the case across from us.
I don’t want to stop writing after spending the past few weeks locked away finishing this book. Three notebooks full of ideas left me yearning to pull it all together. It’s my escape from the constant staring contest I have with my cell phone, waiting for it to show a message from Corbin.
And as each day passes, nothing appears.
Mom told me to focus on getting something to Jamie, so that’s what I’ve done. She was happy to see me being productive the first week, but then I refused to go out with them or come downstairs for more than a few food breaks. Gavin showed up and tried bribing me with pizza just to see me leave the confines of my bedroom, but I wouldn’t budge.
“Your room isn’t what I expected,” he admits, pulling out more Twizzlers. He offers me one as I close my laptop.
“Do you imagine my bedroom often?”
Hips lips quirk into a devious smile that leaves me rolling my eyes. “Only every day, Kinley. Come on. I’m breaking you out of here.”
My eyes widen as I clench my laptop in my arms. “I don’t know, Zach—”
“I’m going to be honest with you for a minute, so don’t hate me.” His brows go up in warning. “Your room smells bad and you look like you haven’t seen the sunlight in years. I’m worried about you.”
I scoff and get up, setting my laptop on my nightstand and close my notebook. “I’m fine. You don’t need to worry.”
“When
was the last time you went out?”
Blanching, I cross my arms over my chest and silently consider the answer. Truthfully, I don’t remember. It must have been when I went to Corbin’s house to see him off two months ago, which had been as bittersweet as I expected.
He kissed my cheek, gave me a hug, and held my hand as we walked out to his parents’ car. His dad grabbed his suitcase and looked between my red-rimmed eyes and Corbin’s sullen silver ones and gave us a minute to ourselves—a minute where Corbin told me he’d be back because he loved me.
If I’d only known…
“Exactly.” He jumps up, putting the candy down on my laptop. “That stuff isn’t that great. I don’t know why you guys like it. Get changed and brush your hair, we’re leaving.”
“Zach—”
“My mom is part of a craft fair about twenty minutes from here,” he explains, jabbing his thumb behind him. He stuffs his hands into the pocket of his jeans. “I guess they have a lot of different vendors who sell stuff. It’s supposed to be cool and I told her I’d swing by.”
Seeing my reflection in the mirror attached to my dresser, I cringe at the state of my hair. He’s right, I look awful. I’ve lost weight which my family has scolded me for and I’m paler than normal.
Sighing, I walk over to my dresser and pull out a pair of jeans and a tee. I notice the victorious grin on his face in the reflection of the glass. “I don’t want to stay long. And I’m doing it for my mom because I think she’s going nuts seeing me here all the time.”
He chuckles. “I’ll take it.”
Walking to the bathroom down the hall, I quickly get ready and try looking halfway presentable. My hair is combed and pulled back into a ponytail instead of a bun that resembles a rat’s nest, and a little gloss adds some color to my lips that wasn’t there before.