14

Kian's POV

I woke up with an irritating feeling. I couldn't shake the hurt on Kira's face out of my head. I have hurt females in other sorts of ways, but never like that. I knew her parents died and yet I was being an asshole to her about it. I intended on apologising to her when I saw her in the kitchen. She looked happy, really happy. Not some fake bullshit vibes some people have around others.

Maybe she's used to people treating her like crap. Maybe she just didn't care about what I said. I spoke to Miguel last night. I would have spoken to Ryan about the problem but he's part of it, and plus, Miguel doesn't hide his honesty.

Me - I want to vent.

Miguel - You came to the right place.

Me - I did a shitty thing.

Miguel - You always do shitty things. What's different this time?

Me - Kira. I may have said some hurtful stuff to her.

Miguel - Go on...

Me - I told her that I don't want to be her friend she is some charity case she's less than me I don't want to get to know her she's bad luck she should make her own friends

Miguel - Is that it?

Me - and that she must not flirt with Ryan

Miguel - Thought so. Okay, first up, you know I cannot stand run-on sentences as much as I cannot stand double-spacing. But I'll let it pass for now. I wont ask what she did cause that's between you two. Knowing what Ryan would have done, I'm not surprised.

Miguel - You sure you don't want to be her friend? How is she some charity case? How on earth is she less than you? You're basically comparing birds and bees. If you don't want to get to know her, step aside; Ryan wants to, and you know he will. I don't believe in luck whatsoever. With looks like that, the only kind of friends she'll be making are the football and or basketball guys. I'm right, and you know I am.

I'm about to reply and deny when he sends another text.

Miguel - Don't you start typing, I wasn't done!

Miguel - You're afraid she'll be involved in your life. You're afraid of liking her more than you originally planned. You're more afraid of her being interested in Ryan than in you. You know Ryan will not take it far with her, so relax. I want you to get up your bum ass chair or bed or whatever you've sat on and go apologize to her.

Me - What if she doesn't forgive me?

Miguel - What-if-this-and-what-if-that. If she doesn't forgive you, you keep on apologizing until she gets tired of you doing so. Girls like flowers, chocolates, jewellery... Get her that each and every time you apologize. Now listen carefully, I'm not saying you must buy her forgiveness, but if it has to be done, then it must be done.

Me - I don't think she's the kind to fall for that.

Miguel - She's a geeky-nerdy type, right? What would she appreciate? A full album of a 90's band or a trilogy of some book. Get her that. She must see and feel that you desperately want her forgiveness.

Me - Even if I really don't?

Miguel - But you lowkey do.

Me - No, I don't.

Miguel - Then why'd you come to me?

Me - *__*

Miguel - I'm always right. Now let me get back to this waiting hottie back in my bedroom. Deuces.

And that's how I lost the loyalty of my friend to her. I was going to apologize, but how can I when that oaf is talking to her right now?

My mom comes into the kitchen the same time Kira returns. She looks happy. My mom, you douche. Well, yeah Kira too, but I was referring to my mom first.

"Are you excited to be starting school soon?" mom asks a smiling Kira. I eat the last piece of bread and go around to put my plate in the sink, slightly brushing my arm against Kira's.

"Nervous, more like. I already have a tour guide," she smiles. My curiosity compels me to ask who that is, but mom beats me to it.

"Yeah? And who's that?"

"Ryan."

"Uh-uh, Kian's oldest friend. You'll love him," mom says. Even though I know she means that in the most modest way, I can't help thinking that Kira might just end up doing so. I knew Ryan would beat me to it. He always does. Even if it's unintentional, I'm slowly getting tired of him always being a step ahead of me.

"Aren't we going shopping today?" I ask her. She turns and stares at me, before shaking her head.

"No. I have it sorted," she walks to the other side. Mom beams and looks up from her phone.

"He's close," she gasps. "Quick, go to the living room. Kira, if he asks, you're Kian's girlfriend," she says in a rush. I look at Kira and she's staring back at me. I sigh and walk to the living room and sit on the couch with one leg over the armrest. Kira soon enters and stands by the door.

"You can sit next to me," I offer. She nods and comes over. She sits next to me but leaves a gap between us.

"He's her fiancé," I say, trying to make small talk. She give me a tight smile and looks at her hands.

"Why do I have to pretend to be your girlfriend?"

"I lied to him that I have a girlfriend because his niece liked me and kept asking me out."

"And your mom went along with it?"

"She was mad. Pissed off that I lied to him. But understood that I didn't have mutual feelings, so," I glance at her and she nods, looking in the other direction. "Do you have," I pause and she looks at me, "a boyfriend?"

"No, I don't," she looks straight into my eyes, "who wants bad luck?"

Ouch. Apologize, right now!

"Listen, I'm-"

"Here is Kira, Kian's girlfriend," mom says as she walks in with Matthew. He smiles at her as she gets up and gives him a handshake.

"I see Kian isn't lacking any taste," he says as he looks at me before turning to Kira.

"Nice to meet you, dear," he says, shaking her hand.

"Matt, how have you been?" I stand up and snake my arm around Kira's waist, ignoring her side glance as I do so.

"Been good. More than better," he winks at my mom and she smiles.

"Shall we?" she asks him.

"Lets," he nods at us and takes her hand as they leave. As soon as they are out of sight, Kira slaps my arm away and frowns.

"I'm sorry for what I said yesterday," I quickly say.

"Why would you be?" she crosses her arms against her chest and stares at me.

"It was wrong of me," I say but she doesn't seem fazed. "How can I make it up to you?" She gives me a sarcastic laugh and shakes her head.

"Don't be sorry for being honest." This wont be easy.

"Kira, I really want to make this work. Can we just start over?" You sound like a lovesick kitten. Tell me something I don't know. Honestly, I don't even know why I'm doing this at all. I have never had to apologise to anyone but my mom about what I did.

"Okay, let me start. I'm Kira. I detest self-absorbed, self-opinionated assholes like yourself," she says, smiling as she tried to mask her anger.

"If it makes you feel-" I start, but she puts her hand up to stop me.

"I thought you were going to introduce yourself," two dimples pop on her cheeks. Oh my god, she has dimples! Kill me now!

"Can I just speak without you interrupting me?" I ask her and she shrugs. "Yes, I admit I am those two adjectives," I say.

"And more," she murmurs and I shot her a glare. She may be pretty, but I like my respect.

"As I was saying," I raise my eyebrows, "I am that and more. I apologize for what I said last night and if I could I would take back what I said but that's obviously impossible. I would appreciate it if we could at least get along because we'll be under the same roof for a year," I plead.

"All I said was out of spite; out of anger. I didn't mean most of what said," I say as I rub the back of my neck and I wait for her to look at me. "Of course we can be friends and we can hang out together and talk and do whatever it is that you'd like." Run-on sentences, seriously? I don't know how this works, so I have every right to.

"And come on, don't tell me you took that bad luck part to heart," I say and she rolls her eyes. I guess she did.

"Are you done?" she asks and I crease my eyebrows in confusion. "With the big apology speech. Are you done?" she stares blankly at me. That's it. I'm done. I tried. I don't know how else to ask her to forgive me without sounding like someone else. And Miguel's idea of me to keep apologising doesn't stand a chance.

"Okay, one," she lifts her index, "I'm quite impressed. You must have rehearsed that for a while. Two," she lifts her middle finger, "I'm fine not mingling with you and your little friends. I'll just ask Ryan to show me around and then you can keep him after that," she tilts her head and raises her ring finger, "three, I don't want my clean self to be tainted by you, so no, we won't be friends," she hisses.

Ouch, that hurt. More than it should have. I guess that's how she felt when I said it to her last night.

"You bet your ass I took that bad luck part to heart because not only did I feel like you hurt me, but I also felt like you hurt my parents' memory. Kian, when we spoke online, I honestly thought I could connect with you. But I guess I was wrong. I don't want anything to do with you. I'm living here, yes," she pauses and I bite my inner cheek, "but we don't know each other. Can you respect that?" she leans back and I nod, feeling quite disappointed in myself.

"Will that make you forgive me?" I ask, sounding desperate. Miguel was probably right, I'll need to earn her forgiveness.

"We'll see about that," she nods and walks towards the door.

"Oh, and one last thing," she turns to me, "I don't need your sympathy, so give it to someone else that would actually use it." That's the last I hear from her before the door shuts close.

I fall back on the couch and hold my face between my hands. Can I at least get a plus for trying? She downright refused my apology. I know I shouldn't care because once you involve your heart, everything seems to start going south. And her words hurt a little. I'm sure I will be in trouble with mom if she finds out what's happened between us. She'll be a challenge, alright.