Page 9 of Between the Blue
And, because this seems to be her thing, even her skin mesmerizes me. Smooth and nearly porcelain. But freckles cover the bridge of her nose and cheeks.
They make me wanna knock out whoever decided freckles were an imperfection.
My eyes meet the ponds again.
She’s squinting at me.
“So, do you have a name?”
I don’t respond right away.
I never do.
She takes the extra few seconds to take another puff from her cigarette. When she does, the light catches something dangling from her wrist.
I glance at it. See she’s wearing some sort of bracelet. One with a charm.
Tilt my head.
Looks kinda like a curved teardrop shape.
I register right as she lowers it that it’s half of a Yin-Yang symbol.
I look at her face again. She has her brows raised. Still waiting for me to respond.
“Bennett,” I tell her.
“Bennett James,” she recites back.
My turn to raise my brows.
“You know me?”
“I knowofyou,” she replies. “I go to school with Sutty. You’re his teammate.”
I shrug. “Sometimes.”
She looks me up and down. Puts a hand on her hip.
I watch her do it. And wonder how she could possibly be out here alone.
“And you’re known as pretty hot shit around here,” she adds, her lips tilting to the side. “But, of course, you already know that.”
Never really think of myself that way. It’s not like that. I just like to win. And I’m good at it. But I won’t stop her from thinking of me that way.
I roll my lips into my mouth. Take a step closer to her.
“And what are you known for around here?”
She takes a step to match mine. Raises her chin to meet my gaze. Kinda sends a weird shiver down my spine when she does it.
“Nothing that concerns you.”
She takes the final drag she can from her cigarette. Blows the minty cloud in my face. Then gives me an ear to ear grin as she drops the filter at her feet, stomping it out with her little white sneaker.
I open my mouth, but she steps around me before I can say anything else. Figure she’s heading back in the house, but I only hear the door open. Then nothing.
Until her voice sounds again.
