Saving Neba

𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈: The Whoosh of The Breeze

I sat there, not knowing what or how I was supposed to react. Somehow, I found the mouth to say, "Shop was just about to close."

"Didn't seem like it," he stared at the glass in my hand as if judging my choice. "I didn't know you loved coffee. That explains your amazing smell, I guess."

"What are you doing here?" Now that was not the right way to answer a compliment but at this stage, I didn't care. Sure, he hadn't been a backstabber in the way Sandra had put it. But he was a backstabber anyway, telling me things about Sandra I was sure he hadn't told her.

He took off his jacket and hung it on the chair opposite me, then he grabbed the chair and sat down. "I figured it's weird you miss school so I thought maybe it's your leg, but apparently you're here. Care to explain?"

I chewed the last little of my doughnut, stood and turned around. "Welcome to Mister Pat's, what can I get you?"

He chuckled and shook his head. I kept my lips pressed not stifling at least a laugh. He stood up and walked toward me and I took in his orange scent. "I didn't come here to be served by you, Emery. Just wanted us to talk."

"If you don't want anything, please leave. I need to close and go see my mum." I turned off the light in the coffee shop as well as the main switch that controlled the three fans on three sides of the room. Now it was just the jalousie providing the right source of air. I proceeded to close them too.

He grabbed my hand and spun me. I flinched my hands away. "Emery, what's with the attitude lately?" There was a dirt stain on his sweatshirt. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No. I'm sorry if you think I'm acting weird. I didn't mean that." There was a noise outside, and a chilly breeze rushed in. The hem of my dress blew and so did King's jacket, resting against the chair.

"We should get out of here before it begins to rain," I said and close the door.

"We could stay and chat. There's no escaping the rain in any way," he countered. "Listen can we talk, please? What happened there in the corridor, I really don't understand why you reacted that way."

"I said I'm sorry, okay?" I could hear the spattering of rain on wood, the breeze was even more chilling. I stared at my shoe, a bit embarrassed to explain myself. "I thought you had lied to me about the whole part event, and all, I don't know. I guess... I guess I just got mad because-"

"Because we're getting close?"

I looked at him. "Excuse me?"

"Please tell me I'm not the only one feeling this, Em. I like you. Like, like-like you." He inched forward and took my hands in his. My dress followed the direction of the wind, dancing around.

There it was - things that I had thought of, something I had imagined doing with King. Slowly, he'd take my hands in his or tuck my hair behind my ears, he'd tell me how much he loved me and then we'd kiss.

Now? It all felt wrong. Kimberly's words were floating around: King and Sandra are the closest things I've seen... Everyone knew that. They were together, most times, pretty.

Of course, I'd lied to Kimberly when I said I didn't know what Sandra was getting all jealous about. She liked him, for a long time now, breezily expecting King to throw her the 'will you be my girlfriend?' question.

Yet, here he was, telling me he liked-liked and holding my hands in his. King stepped forward and leaned down slightly so that our faces were on the same level.

"Do you feel the same way?"

His eyes stared at my lips pleadingly. I stared at him, I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. It was erratic. The rain splattered even heavier.