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“No way! Catch me, arsehole!”
“Asia, wait!”
But I don’t wait. I keep going, running deeper and deeper into the mirrored maze. Turning corners, I feel along the mirrored glass, laughing gleefully with my heart pounding and my skin flushed with joy, I keep running.
You see, the thing with Eastern is that he always loved the chase, loved the challenge, and in my deepest, darkest fears I’ve often wondered what would happen if he eventually caught up with me. If he gets what he wants will I suddenly lose my allure? Will he cast me aside then?
Sudden overwhelming shame that I’m even questioning his loyalty, and fear that I might be right forces me to stop, to test out that theory. I lean against one of the mirrors, my clammy palms pressed against the glass as I wait for Eastern to catch up.
It doesn’t take him long.
Only it isn’t Eastern that finds me, it’s someone else.
It’s Ford.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I hiss. This is not the time nor the place for us to have a discussion. Tonight is about Eastern and me. There’s no way I can deal with Ford.
“Come with me?” It comes out as a question, but my choice is taken away when he grips my wrist and pulls me through a gap in the mirrors that I swear wasn’t there a moment ago. My feet move on their own accord even though I know I should protest.
“Alicia! Asia! Where the hell are you?” Eastern calls, amusement mixed with a tiny amount of fear evident in his voice.
“Let me go,” I eventually hush out. I try to pull out of Ford’s hold, but his grip is vice-like. The motherfucker is strong.
“Ford, let me fucking go.”
Like the determined arsehole he is, he ignores me. Traversing through the maze, Ford drags me behind him, as though he’s been in here a thousand times before. Perhaps he has. Or maybe his instincts are just more honed than the rest of the population. There’s something about Ford that’s different to anyone I’ve ever met before. He’s aloof, yes, cold at times even, but underneath I’ve seen glimpses of warmth. Every other time he’s unreadable, just like now.
“Asia! This ain’t funny. Where the fuck are you?” Eastern calls.
“I’m here, this fucking arse-”
Ford places his hand over my mouth, backing me up against the nearest mirror, his chest pressed against mine. For the briefest of moments, before my phone crashes to the floor plunging us into darkness, I see the fading yellowy green of a large bruise on his check and a cut through his eyebrow. What the hell has he been up to?
“Quiet. Listen,” Ford hisses, pressing his whole body against mine, the tenseness of his body a warning I can’t ignore. I can feel the thump of my heart pulsing in my neck. Jesus, what’s his fucking problem? Couldn’t this wait?
“What the fuck, Asia?” Eastern shouts this time, panic in his voice. “Stay where you are. I’ll find you.” He runs, I can hear his feet stomping on the floor, the light from his phone moving frantically, casting shadow and light above us.
“I just need one minute,” Ford bites out. “Please,” he adds, sensing my anger. He removes his hand from my mouth slowly, tentatively, trusting me not to call out. I don’t.
“Were you following us?”
“Yes.” He doesn’t even try to deny it.
“What’s so urgent that it couldn’t wait? I’m here withEastern,” I hiss.
“I know,” his voice flares with sudden jealousy before he shuts it down quickly. “Look, I need you to know that whatever you hear, whatever you think my intentions are, whatever you’re told, I have your best interests at heart. I swear to you.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I wish the light was still on. I wish I could see the truth in his eyes, or the lies he hides behind them.
“There’s no time. I need to get back. Trust me, trustthis…” Ford slams his mouth against mine and kisses me hot and quick before pushing off and running away, leaving me panting, confused and alone in the darkness.
Half a minute later Eastern finds me. “Asia, what the actual fuck?” he grinds out breathing heavily, his cheeks flushed with exertion. “That’s not fucking funny!”
“I’m sorry,” I fumble, my own body still feeling the heat of Ford’s kiss and my head still spinning from his rushed message. What the fuck had he meant? Was he talking about Sapphire? How could he even know Camden told me about her? The two of them are hardly friendly enough to share. I’m so goddamn confused.
“You look freaked out. What happened?” He looks from me to my phone dropped on the floor and picks it up, handing it to me. I grab it with trembling hands. He assumes I’m afraid. I am, but not for the reason he thinks. I should tell him. I should tell him everything, but the words won’t come. I owe him the truth. He needs to know about the kisses I’ve shared, about Camden’s revelation, about Ford’s rushed request.
“Asia, what is it?” he persists, stepping closer, trapping me against the mirror with his hands either side of my head. “You can tell me. I’ve got you.”
“It’s…”
But before I can tell him what I should’ve hours ago, the air around us charges with electricity. The hairs on my arms stand upright and before I can even form a sentence Eastern’s mouth is on mine, replacing Ford’s minty taste with candyfloss and promises. I don’t push him away. I don’t force him to listen. I let him kiss me because right now I’m two things: a chicken-shit and the hormonal mess Camden once accused me of.
Eastern presses the length of his body against mine, successfully pinning me to the cold mirror. “Fuck, Asia,” he mutters gently biting my lower lip before spearing my lips with his tongue. I respond in kind, wrapping my arms around his neck and letting him kiss away the memory of Ford’s lips, replacing it with his own. And for the second time in just a few short minutes I let another boy’s lust and hope seep into my skin and crawl into my bones, settling within the strongest parts of me, only to make them weak.
