“Why are you doing this?” I asked, turning around to face him.
He arched an eyebrow. “Doing what?” He was wearingthe same worn-out black hoodie I saw him wearing at the cemetery, and his hand was still fidgeting with something in his front pocket.
“Talking to me.” I glanced around the halls, noticing a few people looking at us. Looking atme. I held the books even tighter. “You don’t have to talk to me. People here don’t talk to me.”
His stare narrowed. “Why not?”
“Because, well... Look at me,” I said, gesturing to my face.
“I am.”
I sighed. What was this guy’s deal? “Look closely. I’m a freak. People don’t talk to freaks like me.”
He laughed. Yup, he laughed at me. Then he reached into his back pocket, pulled out a pack of Skittles, and poured some into his hand. “You’re funny.”
I grumbled. “I’mnot.”
He held his Skittles packet toward me. “Skittle?”
I stared at him blankly for a few beats before starting my slow pace again toward my class.
“All right. Karla isn’t a Skittles girl. Noted,” he replied, tossing the handful into his mouth. “More for me.” He chewed his candy and kept walking beside me. He was new to our school, but it was clear he didn’t understand that it was social suicide to talk to me. Didn’t he care what other people thought of him?
Sure, Ash was odd in his own ways. He dressed in worn-out clothes and had messy hair, but he wasn’t like me. He wasn’t hideous. Actually, with a slight update to his wardrobe and maybe a freaking comb, he could’ve been... handsome.
Oh gosh.
Wait.
Hewashandsome. Messy hair and all.
Ash was so attractive, and I figured that was what madethe idea of him interacting with me so odd. Ash’s skin was a deep, warm brown, and he had light-brown eyes that made it hard for me to stare at him. At the same time, it made it hard for me to look away. His eyes seemed to hold so many stories within them, and for some odd reason, I wanted to read every syllable, every word. Unlike my eyes, which probably appeared empty, Ash’s were filled with care. He had kind eyes. Maybe that was why they bothered me so much—they reminded me of my mother. And whenever I was reminded of her, I missed her.
I missed her every single minute of every single day.
Plus, Ash had long, thick eyelashes that probably made every girl in the world envious of him. If I wanted eyelashes like his, I would’ve had to apply ten pounds of makeup. I used to always steal Mom’s makeup and wear it to school. She knew I was doing it and never called me out on it. Dad always said I didn’t need makeup to be beautiful, but I just wanted to fit in like all the rest of the girls at our school.
Missy and I used to do our makeup together. She still wore a lot of makeup to school, but I didn’t. The last thing I wanted was to enhance the face that I currently had. If anything, I’d consider wearing a bag over my head to improve my looks.
Ash also had a perfect mouth. Full lips that didn’t always smile, but somehow his nonsmiles felt comforting, too. As if he didn’t have to force a grin in order to showcase that he was content.
Yeah... he was so handsome, and well out of my league. Not that he saw me in that way. No guy saw me in that way.
But Brian did say hi to me today.
Gosh, I missed him. I missed my friends. Especially Missy. It was funny how you could miss people who turned so drastically against you at your lowest point. It was like missing a flickering memory of something that used to be so great. Howdid that happen? How could something so good turn into something so deeply bad?
“Uh, earth to Karla. You still there?” Ash asked, waving his hand in front of my face.
I shook myself from my thoughts and stopped staring at my former friends down the hallway, who seemed to be happy and filled with laughter.
I turned back to Ash. “Sorry. You say something?”
“I said a lot of somethings. I gave you a long story. You weren’t listening.”
I picked up my walking again. “Want to give me the short-story version?”
“Mainly, I wanted to know your favorite candy,” he calmly repeated, “and what made your life so sad.”
