Landreia had taken me shopping Thursday night and bought me a bunch of items, but she’d gotten me all black so that I wouldn’t have to worry about matching colors. It was a solid strategy but now I wanted to test things out. See what I liked.
So today, I’d put on a little black thing called a crop top with a high-waisted red plaid skirt that was extremely short. Both were Savannah’s from middle school that she’d outgrown. Luckily she’d given me a pair of black tights and these big black stretchy socks that came up all the way to my knees so most of my legs were covered for warmth. The black combat boots – which I didn’t understand the name for, I didn’t think we were headed for battle – were not as warm and comfy as the Uggs I’d had on all weekend but they looked cute with the outfit.
My hag stone necklace and Mark’s crystal necklace matched perfectly.
Though I had to admit, only to myself, that I’d thought of Riah this morning when I was getting dressed. He always wore a hoodie under his leather jacket so I’d done the same today. I wasn’t sure if I liked the short skirt and crop top yet, but I definitely liked the jacket combo.
Okay, Saffie, you can’t just stand here waiting for someone to come out. I turned right and headed down the hallway, then turned left at the fork – and ran into a dead end. I cursed. I had no idea how I’d gotten so turned around. I was going to have—
“You look lost,” Riah’s warm, deep voiced rumbled right behind me.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood tall. I spun around and plastered a smile on my face to try and not look the least bit scared. Confidence is key. “What gave it away?”
He took a few steps toward me and I drank in the sight of him. My heart fluttered with every inch he got closer. I took a deep breath but that burning ember scent of his made my chest grow hot and tight. It took a lot more effort that it should have, but I forced myself to look away from his beautiful face. My gaze landed on his amethyst ring on his left middle finger. But then he lifted that hand and scratched his jaw and I was sucked right back in.
Except he wasn’t looking at my face. His gaze slid down the length of my body like it held the key to a puzzle. Those golden eyes were sharp and intense. I made my heart skip beats.
I swallowed a rush of nerves and tucked my fiery red hair behind my ears. “What?”
“You look…” he cleared his throat. His gaze crawled back up to my face. “Tall.”
I stepped up close to him so that our bodies almost touched, then craned my neck back to see his face. “Riah, I’m the same height as your legs. I doubt I look tall.”
A wide grin spread across his face, making his cheeks dimple slightly. He chuckled. “Come on, let’s go back to class.”
He reached out and gently touched the back of my arm, then spun me around until we were facing the same direction. I looked up at him to say something witty but his eyes locked on mine and my words dried on my tongue. His smile was gone but his expression was captivating. He was too much, too close. His scent was intoxicating. For a moment we stood there, side-by-side, just staring at each other, and I thought I was going to pass out if I didn’t start breathing.
And then his hand pressed into the small of my back and I gasped. He gently urged me forward and I realized he was waiting for me to walk. My cheeks warmed. Way to be weird, Saffie. I cleared my throat and forced myself to start moving. One foot after the other, there you go. We walked for a few moments in silence but I was hanging on his every breath, waiting for him to say anything at all.
“Dangerous.”
I jumped and stopped walking. “What?”
He stopped and turned back to face me. His golden gaze slid down my body then slowly back up. Very slowly. “You look…dangerous today.”
“Dangerous? How?” I said in far too soft of a voice than I wanted to use with him.
He smiled a crooked grin that did weird things to my insides. Then he shrugged and spun back around. “Maybe it’s the tights,” he said as he started walking again.
My eyes widened. The tights? I frowned and hurried after him. When I finally caught up to his long stride, I hissed, “what does that mean?”
He chuckled again and it sounded like music, but he just shook his head.
“Riah.”
“I do like your outfit, though,” he said while completely ignoring my question.
“Thank you.” I had no idea what had come over me, but found myself reaching out and tugging on the zipper of his black hoodie that he wore under his black leather jacket. I stared up into his eyes. “I had inspiration.”
His lips parted and I had the sudden urge to kiss him. If he wasn’t so much taller than me, I might have actually tried.
“You’re a good girl, Saraphina, and I want to treat you as such. However, that outfit makes it difficult to do.” His eyes flashed bright. Then he leaned down closer to me, and whispered, “hence…dangerous.”
I stopped breathing. My pulse thundered through my body. I swallowed roughly and licked my lips. His eyes tracked the movement. “T-t-th-thank y-you?”
That wicked grin spread across his face again as he laughed. “You’re welcome. Now…after you?”
He reached out and yanked a door open. Bright light spilled into the hallway and that already familiar chemical stench hit my nose. We were back at class. And I hadn’t paid any attention to how we got there. Again. I sighed and glanced up at him. He winked then sauntered into the class like he owned the place.
I groaned. My head was a mess but my heart was nearing on not-functioning. That boy was going to kill me. I shook myself then looked up – and found Savannah and Gigi staring at me with wide eyes and jaws dropped. Great. They saw that.
“Safferella!” Savannah hissed and pointed to the stool beside her.
I hurried over and sat down. “Hey. Sorry, I got lost. I don’t know, either.”
“And Riah brought you back?” Savannah hissed under her breath.
My cheeks warmed and I knew I was blushing. I shrugged in hopes of looking nonchalant. “Yeah, he found me in the hallway.”
Gigi shook her head. “Girrrrrl. He’s like your knight in shining armor.”
Savannah tugged on my jacket sleeve. “Spill it, ma’am! What did he say? I saw the way he was looking at you. He’s smitten. I know it. And that wink, oh my god.”
“Yeah, girl. Start talking.”
“All right, class. Happy Monday,” Ms. Kelly yelled over the noisy classroom. Once they quieted, she lifted her hand in the air. “If you’re still taking pictures, go on and get out. If you’ve finished your roll and are ready to load your film, then come with me.”
I jumped up even though I hadn’t actually finished my roll of film, but I was desperate to get away from this conversation by any means necessary. I wasn’t ready to talk about him or how I felt about him. It was still too confusing. I needed to process it more.
Savannah rolled her eyes and handed me the roll of film out of my camera. “We both know you didn’t finish this and are avoiding us. That’s cool. We’re patient.”
Gigi nodded with a devious looking smile. “We’ve got all the time in the world to talk about him.”
I groaned and grabbed the film out of Savannah’s hand then raced after Ms. Kelly. Two other girls, whom I hadn’t learned the names of yet, followed her in there as well. I had no idea where we were going or what we were doing, so I let them walk in front of me. Ms. Kelly led us into the darkroom, which was actually not that dark at all but lit with a red light, then she walked over to a door on the side wall and opened it up. The two girls bounced right in after her so I hurried in — and froze.