22

"How are you?" he stares at the elevator ceiling as he asks me. That was not what I expected him to ask me given that he's so mad right now.

"I'm-"

"Where were you?" he asks me in the same flat manner he used before. I clear my throat to answer as I cross my legs and lean against the side.

"I was just-"

"Do you have any idea how freaked out I was?" his voice rises as he hits the wall behind him. I open my mouth to speak, but he interrupts me again.

"I was so ready to call the cops and report you missing. I waited for you after school, you didn't come. I thought maybe you went home without me," he shoots me a glare, "but I didn't find you at home either. Why weren't you picking up my calls?" he sighs as he runs a frustrated hand through his hair.

"Can I speak?" I ask him and he raises his eyebrow unbelievingly.

"I was at school the entire day but you didn't notice me because you were with your 'clique'. You left me as soon as you met your friends, Kian. What was I supposed to do?"

"What? I didn't le-"

"Am I done?" I feel my own anger rising. "Frankly, I couldn't care less how troubled you were. Thank goodness Laura was there when you weren't," I snap and watch him blink a few times.

"I'm just gonna ignore he whole clique part," he makes air quotes, "because I care about you."

"You don't. Don't lie to me," I shake my head before resting it against the cold metal. The air in here feels stale and I can already feel my head becoming heavy.

"I don't care? Me? Last time I checked, I was the one that looked for you," he says, his tone clearly sounds offended.

I begin to feel dizzy and my skin becomes sweaty. Thank goodness I went to school wearing dyed pastel jeans shorts, a light pink pastel sleeveless blouse and silver wedge sandals; I don't feel trapped in my clothes as I did last time I experienced this.

I look at Kian and see that his lips are still moving as he throws his arms in different directions. Is he seriously still talking? The lose strands from my ponytail start to stick to my forehead and I clutch my stomach firmly.

"I'm sorry Kira," I hear him say. My eyelids feel heavy and it's becoming difficult to breathe. My nose is burning with each shallow intake of breath - I can't believe I'm suffocating in air. I slid against the side and sit on the floor, leaning deeper into the corner I'm in.

"Kian," I can barely hear myself. He has his back turned to me as he grips the railing.

"Promise me you won't disappear like that ever again," he says, still not turning to me. The sweat from my forehead slides down my face and close to my lips.

"Open," I whisper and he turns to me, standing still as he stares at me. My palms are sweating, making it difficult for me to stand up. My throat feels sun-dried and my frigging nose burns when I inhale. Gosh!

I watch him come by my side after what felt like hours. He bends down and lifts my face from the ground. At this point, I'm finding it highly impossible to keep my eyes open.

"Are you having a panic attack or something?" his terrified voice rings in my ears. I am too weak to reply and I feel numb all over.

"Claustro-" my voice trails off. I hear him curse as he presses a button on the wall of the elevator and then I feel a breeze on my forehead. I begin to feel my legs again. They feel like 12 kilogram sacks are dumped on them. I refuse to keep my eyes closed for long.

It's always a struggle opening them again. I no longer feel the ground beneath me and I attempt to inhale again through my mouth this time. I immediately long for my inhaler. I don't know when last I used it, but I always carry it around with me. It's even in my bag right now.

Kian's POV

I don't know what to think or feel. She's sweating and struggling for air. I have never seen someone reacting the way she is. I instantly regret making her get into that elevator. She's also either really light or I just gained more muscles.

Not to brag but I do work out more often now. This is not the time. Right, got it. I look at her before walking around the corner and approaching the others. Jaiwan and Miguel aren't here, only Ryan and another girl are seated at the table chatting.

"Uh, guys," I say and they turn their attention to me, taking notice of an unconscious Kira in my arms.

"My goodness," the blond immediately gets up from next to Ryan. Ryan gets up and rushes to me as well.

"What? How? What did you do?" she asks as she bites her lip violently.

"I don't know," I shake my head impatiently. Ryan looks around quickly and I can already hear the thinking wheels turning in his head.

"Get her into H&M's fitting room," he ushers me into the clothing shop nearby. "Lyha, get a glass of water from this coffee shop." It all happens so quickly as Ryan gets paper bags and meets me in the open fitting room. I lay Kira on the floor and Ryan puts his arm under her neck.

"Give her CPR," he orders as he pulls my head down. I look at him and he raises his eyebrow for me to get on with it. He could easily jump at the opportunity himself.

"It will unblock her nasal passage," he quickly explains and I nod. I lean in and hover my face above Kira's as I close my eyes and breathe air into Kira. Ryan slowly removes his arms from under her neck. Her lips feel so soft and numb against my own.

"Here," the blond rushes into the cubicle and kneels down next to Ryan with a long foam cup of water in her hands. She wets Kira's face and frowns when Kira doesn't move. Then she turns the cup and pours the entire liquid onto Kira's face, wetting Kira's hair and shirt in the process. To this, Kira gasps as she opens her eyes and flexes her back to sit up straight.

"The fuck?!" she screams breathlessly as she looks at herself. Ryan hands her a brown paper bag and she grabs it. She puts the opening to her nose and inhales slowly while looking between Ryan, blondie and me. Her chest is rising and falling slowly and the thin material is clinging against her chest.

"Well," Ryan says as he smirks at blondie.

"You're welcome," blondie bites her lip and holds Ryan's arm like she's on life support. I wonder where she came from because Ryan never goes around with girls he met at the mall.

She and Ryan rise to their feet and I stand too, pulling a drenched Kira up as well. The brown paper bag is still in her hand. We walk out the cubicle and head to the main exit.

"Wait," Kira says, making us stop and turn. "I fainted?" she asks uncertainly but I think she wants to confirm it herself. I nod to her question and she glances at blondie before turning to me. "Did I say anything while I was out?" I put my hands in my pockets and shake my head.

She visibly relaxes and tosses the paper bag and foam cup in the trash bin. Blondie lets go of Ryan's arm - who frowns- and gives Kira a side hug. I hear her whisper something along the lines of, "It's okay sweetie."

"Kissed Kira, huh?" Ryan teases as he smacks my back. I feel something knot in my stomach, but I ignore it and smirk at him. Why is he happy that I laid my lips on Kira's first? Shouldn't he be giving me the cold shoulder?

"Not precisely," I whisper back, noticing that the girls are a few steps behind us. "What's with the blond?" I ask him and he glances behind him quickly before turning back to me.

"Her name's Lyha. She's a friend of a friend," he simply says. I won't push it further. Ryan has had only one real relationship for as long as I've known him.

She was a sweet girl with whitish grey hair and dark-grey highlights. She had blue eyes and wore brown-eye contacts once in a while. She and Ryan were together for 3 years. Her mom succumbed to cervical cancer when she was 13 and her dad overdosed days after her mom's passing.

She was depressed and wouldn't come to school. Ryan stayed committed to her and would often miss school just to spend days with her. But even then, she committed suicide six months after she was orphaned and left a note that said she didn't want to leave Ryan alone and that she loved him, but she also didn't want to live without her parents.

Till to this day, he doesn't speak of her. He skips school on her birthday and death anniversary and goes to the river they used to go to together. He says he feels closer to her when he does that.