Chapter four

"You did what?"

I didn't know when I took a step away from Clara until she grabbed my jacket and yanked our bodies together. The closeness of our bodies was really testing my self-restraint. Her boobs were literally rubbing all over my chest! But I doubt my intentions would please her, especially with the anger she had written all over her face.

A heavy sigh left my lips, and I dropped my head. Some of the strands of my hair fell above my eyes, but I didn't bother to push them away. I looked at her with a gentleness that I hoped would ease her a bit, and it did because her grip on my jacket loosened and there was a faint hint of red on her cheeks.

"I gave Mira a ride yesterday." I repeated my earlier statement, and the two siblings groaned.

Raphael stepped forward as his sister took one back. Clara was shaking and grasping her head in disbelief, like she couldn't believe how stupid I was. Raphael placed a hand on his chest and one on my shoulder before saying, "Look man, I don't know you that well. But just because you are not happy with life doesn't mean you should end it."

What the fuck was he saying?

Dropping my hand on his, I pushed it away from my shoulder before meeting his gaze. "I am very happy with my life, thank you." I said with a roll of my eyes, and Clara turned to face me with a hint of insanity in her eyes.

"Then why?" She asked, stalking back up to me before stopping right in front of me. I had to suppress my urge to aww at the sight of her tilted neck. She looked so cute when she tried to glare at me seriously. Ah, short people. But there was nothing cute about her anger, though.

"Why what?" I asked, pretending to be clueless, and that only agitated her more.

"Why are you getting so damn close to her when we specifically told you to stay away?" She snapped, and even though I didn't show it, I was starting to get really annoyed by this topic.

A huff escaped my lips and I said, "I saw a girl standing under the rain with no way home! What is so bad about me giving her a ride?! because she acts weird and people just so happen to die when they interact with her? Well, news flash, I am still alive, and I will continue to be alive no matter how fucking close I get to her. Now stop with all the drama."

Silence.

I could've sworn I saw Clara's eyes glaze over, and I immediately regretted the tone I had used to speak to her. I was about to apologise when she said, with a small but serious voice, "Mira Simpson is a being you will never understand. I just hope that when you do, it isn't too late." With that said, she was marching down the hallway, not bothering to spare me another glance. It was then that I noticed there was a bit of a crowd that had been watching the scene like it was a movie.

This is just embarrassing.

My eyes fell on Raphael, who was already looking at me with a disapproving frown on his face. No words were exchanged between us before he followed after his sister. I watched them go until they were completely out of sight, but then something else caught my eye. A girl with the darkest of hair, to be precise.

Mira.

She was hidden away, standing at the far back of the crowd, watching me. Because of the way it beat against my ribcage, my heart felt like it had been transformed into a drummer. Before I could think about what I was doing next, my feet were moving towards her.

She seemed to have caught my actions because her eyes widened by barely a fraction. She turned away and proceeded to walk down the hall, but my legs were faster.

I didn't know what had gotten into me when I grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. A series of gasps erupted, and I could not help but roll my eyes. Could these people stop being dramatic? Or better yet, could they stop watching and get on with their own lives?

Mira's wrist was soft, incredibly soft, cloud-like soft. It was so tiny and cold in my large, rough hands, I felt as though my touch would snap her delicate bones. But I couldn't let go.

"Hi," I decided to say, but I received no response. Her eyes were focused ahead of her, and I could feel my throat become a bit dry. My eyes seemed to have gotten a mind of their own because they were seriously checking her out. The last two times I had seen her, she was sitting down and soaking under the pouring rain, so I hadn't taken the time to get a good look at her body.

She was skinny.

But t not in a sick way.

Mira was at least three inches taller than Clara. Her legs were long and straight. They were covered by a dark pair of jeans. Her torso, however, could not be seen due to the enormously large grey hoodie she had on. Her black and white Nike Air Force made me admire her sense of style.

Such a pretty girl.

"How are you?" I decided to ask. A moment passed when she made no indication of responding. It clawed at my heart that she was so reticent. I wondered what was going through her mind.

I almost missed it because her voice was the smallest I've ever heard, but when she said, "I'm fine," I have never smiled so brightly before in my entire life.

"That's great! So what class do you have now?" I probed because I have no idea when it suddenly became my life's mission to make her my friend.

Maybe I wanted to prove to everyone that she was harmless.

Or maybe I liked her and was way too attracted to her for my own good.

"English." She answered, and my smile widened.

"Really? So do I," I said enthusiastically. Even though I couldn't see her face completely, something told me there was a ghost of a smile on her face.

She started walking, and I followed her. My eyes fell to my hand, still wrapped around her wrist. I sucked in my bottom lip before doing something that I hoped would not make her uncomfortable. My hand slid down her wrist and met her small hand, intertwining our fingers.

I watched her closely for any reaction, and I noticed that there was a brief pause in her step when my hand moved. I was still holding onto her hand, and even though I knew it should have appeared weird to me, it didn't.

I knew it looked as though I was forcing myself on her, but something about her made me feel like this was something mutual, even though she wasn't holding my hand back.

I could feel the numerous eyes that followed us as we walked, and I wanted to snap at them so bad. I didn't know what type of attention Mira usually got; did people ignore her? Or did they always watch her like a criminal that had just escaped prison?

It was a good thing we arrived at our class soon. Mira walked to the back of the class, and I followed her; I was basically acting like a dog at this point. But I was a happy dog.

Eventually, I had to let go of her hand, and when I did, I was immediately washed with the feeling that something was missing. I twisted my body to face her, and she had her head on the desk with her arms wrapped around it.

Cute.

When the teacher arrived, I noticed that he didn't bother to ask whether Mira was awake or well. It made me so furious to see how everyone treated her. No matter what creepy things happened around her, she was still a human being and needed to be treated as such.

English took two periods, so once we were done, everyone headed out for a break. I slung my bag over my shoulder before walking towards Mira's desk, where she had sat with her head down for the past two hours. I tapped on her arm, but she didn't move.

Okay, that was a bit creepy.

"Are you okay?" I asked, not bothering to hide my worry. Relief washed over me when she nodded affirmatively. "Come on, let's go eat." I said before taking the liberty to perch her bag on my other shoulder.

She got up from her seat and made her way towards the cafeteria. I followed behind her closely. When we got to the cafeteria, all eyes were on us. Including Raphael and Clara's.

I made sure to avoid eye contact with them as Mira and I sat on a table. I noticed that she sat at the same table every day, which probably saves her the stress of asking for a spot all the time.

I could feel the eyes of the entire school on my back as I handed Mira her bag. She took out a sandwich from it, and I did the same. We sat together in silence, and I suddenly found the need to ask, "Do you get this a lot?" I asked, referring to having the eyes of the whole school on us.

Silently, she shook her head negatively.

Oh.

It was because of me.

There was more silence as we ate, but it was not just between us but in the whole cafeteria. "Am I making you uncomfortable?" I blurted out, but I didn't regret it.

The smile on my face when she shook her head again set my heart free. It was amazing how many times I've smiled because of her, and she wasn't even doing anything.

Eventually, everyone went back to their business, and the rest of the day went by in a blur.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to give Mira a ride like last time. But something else happened that was way better than giving her a ride.

"Can I get your number?" I asked as we stood out in the school parking lot. From my peripheral vision I could see Clara and Raphael walking out of the school building and entering a car that I assumed must be one of their parent's.

As always, when I asked Mira a question that required a verbal response, she took a while. But instead of receiving a response like I had hoped, she took out a burner phone that I didn't know still existed and handed it over to me.

I guess I will be the one waiting for her tonight.