DESIRE

CHAPTER SIX

WINTER BRAY

I was so intimidated by him, but why? There was something about him, something I couldn't put my finger on. He was so mysterious, so different. Nothing like I had ever met in my life, but then again. I didn't meet people unless I really had to. His way of speaking, his voice. It was so smooth as he spoke. His words shocked me. No one had never asked me if they would ever see me again. The others didn't care about me too much, only one person did.

Rowan Hawkin.

He was my best and only friend. We were somewhat opposites, but somehow that made our friendship even better. It still breaks my heart I had to move away. I can still recall the look on his adorable face when I informed him.

He looked lost for words for a short moment, but I knew he had other friends than me, so I knew he would be fine. Rowan repeated a thousand times I couldn't just leave him, but he had other friends, which I mentioned more than once.

"But they are nothing like you." I yet remember his words, his voice cracked a little, and he couldn't look me in the eye. I kept on assuring him, that everything would be great, but it wasn't.

I guess, Rowan had had enough of me and my reassuring, because he finally snapped at me "Don't you see, that you're just leaving me here?!" He shouted pacing around my old room, which we had filled with boxes.

"Rowan, please. How many times to I have to tell you that-"

"Everything is not fine!" Rowan broke me off, turning towards me. His eyes showed so much sadness and anger. His platinum blond hair was messy, and he clenched his fists "You may think I have many friends, Winter, but they aren't my real ones. You are." His voice moved from shouting to a delicate and desperate one.

"T-There's nothing I can do..." I responded, looking at Rowan with watery eyes. I really wanted one of his big bear hugs, just one last time.

"Please, Winter. Stay here with me." Rowan begged. I let my tears fall. I felt like I couldn't breathe. Seeing Rowan so broken killed me.

"I can't stay here. Who knows what Howlan would do next?" I replied in a sob. Just thinking about Howlan's next move made me shiver in discomfort.

"I will protect you! I will, I promise." Rowan attacked me with a hug. The problem here was that Rowan never took no for an answer, so that made everything a hundred times worse.

"I can't, Rowan." I shook my head and wiped away some of my tears, but new ones kept on coming. I had no control over them, but I still tried to wipe them away.

Rowan pulled away with a sudden force, and his eyes laced with disappointment, anger "Fine! Whatever, move away from me, and start a new, happy life without me in it! I don't care anyway, and I never did!" With that Rowan left the room, and little did I know, that I wouldn't see him again.

Thinking back on that specific day, I felt a sharp pain in my chest or just my heart. I hadn't heard from him since. I didn't know how he's doing, if he really meant what he claimed, or if he's sorry. I tried to contact him, but he blocked my number.

I shook my head as I strode into my writing class. A few students had turned up, but I saw Nadora sitting in the room's middle. I hurried over to her and sat down.

"Hi," I said quietly. Somehow thinking about Rowan made my mood drop to the floor, so I quickly tried to think about something else. I found the things in my bag as more students showed up, as well as Altin.

"Snowball!" He greeted happily, only then Nadora looked up at me. Her eyes widened for some reason.

"Winter, how long have you been sitting there?" She asked in surprise. I guess, she didn't hear me. I giggled lowly before responding, trying to make it believable.

"Five minutes, I even said hi," I replied, looking at her. Altin suddenly produced a noise, which caused both me and Nadora to look at him. He was pouting with his arm crossed over his chest.

"What now?" Nadora asked him in annoyance while raising a perfect eyebrow. Altin narrowed his eyes at her as he proceeded to pout.

"No one said hi to me!" He whined like a five-year-old. Nadora and I looked at each other. She burst out laughing, me on the other hand. I just giggled "It's not funny!" Altin went on. I put my palm over my mouth and continued to giggle as I shook my head.

"Hi, Altin," We both said in unison. I sounded polite, but Nadora just sounded like he bored her. Altin smiled at me but glared at Nadora with a fake, sour expression.

Not even two minutes later Mr Hendrix entered the classroom. He had an expressionless face as always. He closed the door and wrote on the blackboard. Mr Hendrix didn't even write a whole sentence before the door burst open. Theo walked in, he still had those sunglasses on. I wondered why he would be late since I saw him this morning. He looked presentable back then, but maybe he just had something to take care of.

"Mr Cohen, again?" Mr Hendrix acknowledged somewhat mockingly. Theo said nothing in return, he just stared at Mr Hendrix. I really wished that I could look at his eyes. So, I could understand his expression better, but then again, maybe I would end up being more intimidated than I already was.

"Yes, and you will not do anything about it." Theo declared harshly, turning his back to the rest of us. He took off his sunglasses once again...What was he even doing? The rest of us couldn't see anything besides Theo's back.

"Sit down, Mr Cohen." Mr Hendrix said in a monotone. Theo nodded in satisfaction and put on his sunglasses. He turned around, and his eyes landed on me. At least it looked like it. His lips tugged up in a small smile. It was almost unnoticeable, but I saw it and returned the smile shyly. I felt my cheeks heat up, they always did.

Nadora glanced between me and Theo for what seemed like a thousand times. Her expression showed confusion and shock. She continued to stare at me because Theo went to sit down, but I rapidly glanced down at my hands. Soon after, Mr Hendrix said to get on with our work.

I stood up only to get dragged out of the classroom by Nadora. We got glances from everywhere, but Nadora didn't seem to notice. I almost tripped over my own feet on the way out... How embarrassing.

"What was that all about?" She asked dramatically, her eyes wide. I looked around, we were the only ones in the hallway.

"What was what?" I questioned as if I didn't know already. I wasn't stupid, and neither was Nadora. I didn't know why I didn't tell her. Even though, I knew I didn't trust easily.

"Theo Cohen smiled at you and you smiled back!" I didn't understand the problem with a smile. Yes, Theo seemed to be someone who didn't care most of the time. However, there was something about him which told me differently.

"It was just a smile," I replied, shrugging my shoulders while playing with my hands. Nadora however, didn't seem to buy it.

"You were blushing, Winter. Please, don't tell me you fancy him," She suddenly sounded so desperate, I almost felt dreadful.

"We've talked a little, nothing more. Just a friend," I replied reassuringly.

"You don't understand, Winter," Nadora sighed "He's bad news. Nobody knows anything about him. There are so many rumours going around, that he's a gang leader, a murder. The list goes on!" Nadora's words were pointless, and so were the rumours.

Judging someone for how they look or act, was not something I liked doing. Theo's image might show someone who no one wanted to be around, but everyone had to be given a chance. Maybe he was just misunderstood.

"Don't worry, Nadora." I sighed while smiling "He's not a bad person, not from what I've seen." I tried to sound convincing just to get her off my back. I understood, she was just looking out for me, and I was grateful for it, but I wanted to get to know Theo a little better. To see what he was like, and not what the rumours told me about him.