by C L Walker
Because laziness.
“Please sit-down ladies I’ll be with you in a minute,” Sora said, without looking up from his computer.
I walked over to his desk and cleared my throat to get his attention.
He turned his head slowly and looked at me like I was a fly to be swatted away. “What Nilsen?”
“We don’t have all day,” I said quietly.
He looked at Amber who was on her phone texting before he ignored me and turned back to his screen.
“Grumpy pants,” I muttered, and his eyes shot back to mine in warning. “Sorry.”
Nothing had changed between us in the last week except a growing heat that came with every verbal battle because I wasn’t doing a good job of minding what I said to him.
I took his continued engagement, even though he kept saying he wouldn’t argue with me anymore, to be a good sign. Even if I made him mad it was still a passionate emotion, so I’d take it.
It was exhausting not being able to express myself fully to him because of who he was, so I felt like I had pent up feelings that were all going to spill out one day.
Forbidden romance was a lot of work, not to say that we would end up being in a romantic relationship, but some days it felt like it, so I let myself believe it were possible.
I knew it was easier for me, if Sora was feeling the same it wasn’t easy at all for him and I understood why.
And I couldn’t be sure of what he was feeling because every time I thought for sure I had caught him I doubted myself right after, because why would he be interested in someone like me? He seemed too practical to even consider me because he knew all the trouble it would bring him.
But he implied there was a struggle on his part in his note to me on my birthday, if only he had elaborated on that struggle or put a name to it, I could understand him more.
I sat down next to Amber in the front row and we talked quietly as we waited for him to finish. A few minutes later someone opened the door and a guy walked through, he was tall with broad shoulders and sky-blue eyes that went well with his black hair.
Sora finally looked away from his screen and greeted the boy with a smile and said, “Philip was it?”
The boy nodded.
“Nice to have you, please sit,” Sora said, as he gathered papers to pass out to us detailing the festival and booth requirements.
He had been apparently waiting for Philip and not making us wait just so he could finish his own work, so I felt a little guilty for being irritated at him.
Philip took a seat to my left and smiled at me.
“Hey, are you new here?” I asked, but I already knew he was.
He nodded. “Yup, I’m Philip. I Moved here from Alaska.” He had a bright smile that made me smile in return without even thinking about it.
He was handsome but not my kind of handsome.
“I’m Kyla.” I gestured to Amber on my other side. “And that’s Amber.”
She perked her head up and smiled at him. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he said.
“You look distinctly human,” I said.
I was surprised when he didn’t look confused, instead he looked at me for a second and considered my words thoughtfully before he said, “So do you.”
It was always nice to talk to people who didn’t miss a beat.
I laughed before I explained myself. “I’ve heard men from Alaska are more beast than man.”
“Right, you know I actually catch fish with my bare hands, and I drove a moose to school.”
“Drove,” I repeated, before I laughed and Amber chuckled beside me. “Why are you doing the festival? It’s not really the cool thing to do around here.”
“I need to participate in extracurricular activities because it looks good for college.” He laughed as he flicked his pencil up and down between his fingers. “Trust me, I don’t want to.”
“Ha that makes two of us, she made me join.” I nodded my head towards Amber and she snickered deviously. “In fact, she makes me every single year.”
Sora cleared his throat suddenly and all our attention was directed to the front of the room. “Now that you guys have looked it over any ideas for a theme?” he asked, after giving us a single minute to look it over.
I glanced down quickly and skimmed the flyer then I stood up and waved my hand in the air. “Maid cafe!” I shouted. “Please!” I was dying all day to say that regardless of what the suggestions were this year.
“This isn’t an anime Kyla,” Amber said.
“So?” Everyone loves coffee. “Come on man, Americans are so boring.”
“And we also don’t have enough people to run something like that,” Philip said.
Damnit. “Ahhh Shiitt.” I sunk down in my seat and felt defeated. “I didn’t even think about that.”
“Miss Nilsen…” Sora said sternly.
Yes Dad.
“Sorry.” I flattened my mouth into a line of distaste and Sora smiled at me briefly before he looked back down at the flyer in his hands.
It always threw me off when he smiled, and he seemed to realize it because his smile always grew larger after seeing my frustration with him.
“Okay, anyone else?” he asked, looking back and forth between Amber and Philip. “Come on don’t be scared, it could be anything, within reason of course.” He looked at me pointedly and I feigned innocence.
I looked over at Amber because we could usually come up with something when we worked together. But what I saw in her face I immediately didn’t like; the wheels were turning, and she was looking naughty, so I mouthed ‘what’ with what I imagined was a fearful look on my face. Because honestly, she was scary when she had that look about her own. It was the kind of face that landed me on blind dates with wannabe drummers and doing booths for festivals I wouldn't otherwise attend.
She ignored me and looked up at Sora. “How about a kissing booth?” My mouth dropped in shock over her boldness, a kissing booth at our snobby private school, it would never fly. “We can charge a dollar for every kiss and I bet cha we can earn more than any other booth.”
He thought it over for a moment and we all waited on the edges of our seats. “I don’t know about that, I’m sure it would be deemed inappropriate.” His gaze flicked to mine.
Inappropriate this and inappropriate that, he was like a broken record.
Before I realized what I was doing I asked, “Is that your favorite word to throw around?” I tried and failed to keep the rudeness from my tone, but I was annoyed. “As a teacher I think you should be an example to us all and not overuse words, it lacks creativity and speaks of your laziness.”
I bit my bottom lip as I recalled Philip was in the room, I made a huge mistake and I feared how much trouble I was in.
Sora walked to a desk next to us and sat on it before he looked down at me confidently. “I use the same word all the time because I wouldn’t want to confuse the children around me by using fewer common synonyms. And it’s not my fault that at eighteen years old you still lack basic knowledge of right and wrong, so I am forever having to tell you what is and what is not off limits to you. Also, for being disrespectful once again Miss Nilsen, detention. Tomorrow. “
Ouch. Shut down. And in front of others.
I was kind of impressed, so I shut my mouth which seemed to please him.
He directed his attention back to Amber. “Let’s hear your argument, give me one good reason to consider your suggestion,” he said to her in a kind tone he rarely used with me.
She nodded her head and renewed her determination since she had his attention. “It doesn’t have to be on the lips, only what both parties are comfortable with. I mean that’s a greeting in some places Mr. Tanaka so I think we can all agree experiencing other cultures is a good thing.” What a load of rubbish she sprouted from her mouth.
“Let’s do it!” Philip said excitedly, reminding me again that he was also present as I hadn’t dared to look at him during my exchange with Sora.
<
br /> He bounced up in his seat and clapped.
I couldn’t help but smile as my irritation was forgotten because Philip was a high energy dude and I loved it immediately.
But Sora’s jaw was clenched tight and I knew he was fighting the urge to run a hand across it or run his ringed fingers through his silky hair. But even though he didn’t like the idea I didn’t think he would outright dismiss our wishes.
“Alright fine, I will see what Mrs. Anderson has to say about it and we will meet again on Friday, and if she says no, we have to pick something else that day that we know she would approve of,” he said.
We all agreed to the plan and gathered our stuff to leave. “Nice meeting you Philip, maybe we will see you around,” I said, and I wasn’t just being nice, I meant it.
He looked kind of shy as he nodded his head. “Yeah, I saw you earlier at lunch, actually maybe I could sit with you guys sometimes if that’s cool?” he asked hesitantly, as he looked between Amber and I before his gaze came back to me.
“Yeah! You can join us tomorrow,” I said.
“Thanks, that’s great. I haven’t made any friends yet and I hate eating alone,” he said, “well see you girls tomorrow then.”
“Bye.” Amber and I both called out before he escaped through the door.
I still had a smile on my face when a loud slapping noise made me jump.
I turned to look at Sora at his desk, he was standing in front of it with his hand flat against a folder, and his other hand was rummaging through his drawer.
Amber tapped me on my shoulder to get my attention, but I kept staring at Sora as he was having a meltdown over his drawer.
“I’ll text you later Kyla I have to meet Jake. Bye Mr. Tanaka,” she said.
I raised my eyebrow when a few things fell out of his drawer that was filled to the top with junk as I was surprised anything of his was so disorderly, well aside from his papers.
“Okay see you, hon,” I said, before I began to walk towards his desk.
“Goodbye Miss Peters,” Sora also said, with his head practically in his drawer at that point.
The door shut behind me as I stood a foot away from him and waited for him to look at me, which didn’t take long.
“Is everything okay Mr. Tanaka?” He didn’t look mad, but I could tell he was irritated about something, so I recounted my steps to try and figure out if I did something else wrong.
He leaned back in his chair slightly before he ran both his hands over his face and shook his head with a heavy sigh before he righted himself and seemed to be a more put together version of himself. “Yes of course Miss Nilsen, why wouldn’t everything be okay?”
“I don’t know why; I’m just going off of what I saw sir,” I said, “First you slammed the folder down, then you started looking through your drawer quite loudly. Honestly, you appeared to be searching for your sanity in there.”
“I didn’t slam it down; I am in more control of myself than that.” Mmhmm. He was certainly trying to have more control, but I wouldn’t say that he was successful. “It just made a loud noise. And if my sanity goes missing, I’ll start looking with you, not inside a drawer.”
I did my best to look taken aback. “Why would I have your sanity and where in the world would I put it? I don’t even have pockets.” I grabbed my skirt and did a lazy curtsy to display the lack of pockets.
He scoffed at my words and gave me a small smile. “It’s not a tangible thing and you know it, now get out of here before you give me a reason to add more days to your detention.”
“Tell me why you are frustrated, and I’ll never darken your door again,” I said, “until… tomorrow of course.”
He quirked an eyebrow and seemed to think his options over. “It’s none of your business,” he said, with a full dimple showcasing smile.
“So, you were upset!” I pointed a finger at his chest. “You can’t lie to me.”
I closed my mouth as he stood up and took a step towards me, close enough that I could smell his cologne and close enough to make me weak in the knees.
I lost my bravado with his proximity, so I gave in, took a deep breath, and filled my lungs with his scent, it was becoming a habit of sorts.
He looked at my mouth as I let the air rush out and for a moment, I thought he might do something crazy. Kiss me maybe, but it was a crazy, dangerous thought.
His eyes snapped back to mine and I saw the heat in them that I was becoming more familiar with every day.
He was calm, reserved on the outside, but on the inside, he was burning and angry with me.
“That is where you’re wrong Miss Nilsen, I can lie to you, easily. Don’t pretend to know anything about me. You think you can read me but it’s so much darker than that. You have no idea who I am so it would be wise of you to mind your business and step away.”
Empty threats were Sora Tanaka’s last line of defense and I didn’t buy it for a second.
It was interesting that he was painting himself as the villain to keep me at a distance.
But he was mistaken in thinking that would work on me.
Being a lover of books, I’ve read many stories about tainted men who were no good for the girl, but I knew better than to believe Sora was one of them.
It was crystal clear to me which one of us was the bad guy, because I knew then that he was trying hard to resist what was happening between us and I had decided then and there that I was going to do my best to make sure he failed.
He gave me an inch, so I was going to try and take him a mile.
I stood my ground then literally took it a step closer, I tipped my chin up to look him square in the face. “It’s sort of adorable that you thought that would work on me, do your worst Mr. Tanaka but I won’t be going anywhere.”
He opened his mouth no doubt to protest but I cut him off.
“It’s in your eyes by the way, the truth that is,” I said. “I see the truth despite the lies that escape from your lips.”
He was so close to me I could feel his body heat, and if I raised myself up onto my tippy toes, I could kiss his lush mouth.
But I heard voices in the hallway and remembered where I was, so I stepped away from him quickly and left the classroom without another word.
Chapter 14
Kyla
“Snap out of it,” Philip said, as he snapped his fingers in front of my face from across the lunch table. “You are actually frightening when your eyes are open that wide.”
I dragged my gaze from Sora’s back, to look at him and Amber as they were both apparently trying to get my attention. “Sorry I uh, yeah I don’t know. Anyways…wait… what?”
“Dude your ass is dragging today,” Amber said, and she peered at me suspiciously from where she sat next to Philip.
She knew that I wasn’t staring off randomly. I told her what had happened after they left the classroom a few days ago after our first festival prep meeting and we had both failed to understand what it all meant.
And because I couldn’t understand him, I couldn’t stop watching him as I was constantly looking for another sign. A sign that I was digging into his skin even though I shouldn’t, even though I said I wouldn’t.
Philip ate lunch with us every day since we met, and I was growing to like him more by the minute. He was sarcastic, brutally honest and fit in with Amber and me perfectly. He was basically my male other half, Amber joked that she could only handle one of me, but I knew she was falling for his boyish charms as well.
“I may not know you well, but I do know well enough to know that you are not as lively as usual,” he said, then he leaned towards Amber and they both made V’s with their thumbs and pointer fingers across their chins and pondered my odd behavior.
I stared at them without a word, testing how long they could hold their serious faces.
I reached down to grab my ham sandwich off my tray and took a bite without breaking eye contact.
When I reached for my energy drink, I knocked it over but
still I held their gazes.
Philip cringed as the liquid slithered his way. “Ah hell no, that’s cheating.” He sprung up out of his seat and let the liquid dribble down onto the spot where he had been sitting moments before.
“It was an accident, besides you two should never wage war against me,” I said, before I finished my food as I glanced at Sora as he stood up and Ms. Lemon quickly followed.
I noticed she had taken an interest in him, whether it was friendly or more I didn’t have a clue, but either way I didn’t like it.
She was cute, had a warm personality and she seemed like a woman who knew how to take care of a man. I didn’t know how old she was, but if I had to guess I would say she was in her late twenties and for all I knew Sora might have been into older more mature women.
She was the opposite of me, my mom still took care of me, and I was only mature when the situation called for it, so what the hell would I do with a man?
I had forgotten again what was going on so when Philip addressed me, it took me a minute to catch up.
“Why is that?” he asked, so I pulled my wandering gaze back to him and tried to focus.
I looked at him like he just asked the world's dumbest question while he smiled at me innocently. “Because you’ll always lose...duh.”
They both sighed in response at the same time and I laughed, I had certainly found my people. Philip was a lovely addition, and it was made all the better by the fact that Rachel had finally made another friend or something because she was nowhere to be seen most days.
“You’re so full of shit,” Amber said with a smile of admiration on her face.
Philip winked at me as he picked up my bag off the floor where it fell and handed it to me. “Yeah she is. But what’s not to love.”
I felt confident he wasn’t hitting on me, there was something about him that made him feel like he was one of the girls. Amber straight up thought he had to be gay and I was leaning that way, but I didn’t want to make any assumptions.
Because either way it didn’t matter, although it’d be nice to have a guy friend, I didn’t have to friend zone.
