A rustling in the bushes next to me makes me jump out of my skin and delve into my bag for the pepper spray Dad bought me; but a pair of eyes as blue as a summer sky greet me in the moonlight.
“Nick.”
His name escapes my lips quietly, as if my body were giving in to some sort of virus. First my muscles, my nerves, my bones. Then my blood, carrying the infection to every corner of my being. My organs fail: kidneys, liver, lungs. And, last to go is my heart.
It’s a flame, licking at my body, but stopping before it reaches my mind. For now, it’s still intact, but soon it’ll join the rest; it’s lost the strength to fight alone.
There’s no vaccine. There’s no cure.
And I’m not immune.
Sometimes, you just have to accept what’s happening to you, and hope that it hurts as little as possible.
There’s no way of surviving Nick O’Connor.
He always wins.
He approaches me, his hands in his pockets. His guilty expression tells me that he’s been spying on me.
“What were you doing in the hedge?”
“I just wanted to make sure you got home safely.”
“How did you know I…? Actually, no. Don’t tell me.”
Nick shrugs.
“What are you trying to do?”
“He kissed you,” he says, ignoring my question. “He kissed you, Casey.”
“He…I…”
He steps dangerously close to me. “You let him kiss you.”
“I didn’t let him do anything, Nick.He’sthe guy I’m going out with, he has every right to kiss me. Unlike you.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
“Jesus, Nick! You’re…impossible!”
“Impossible to forget?”
“Impossible not to wrap my hands around your neck!” I lift my hands, to show him what they’re capable of, but Nick grabs my wrists and pulls me towards him.
“Do you know what’s really impossible?”
I shake my head.
“It’s impossible not to imagine how good you’d look in my bed, with me on top of you.”
A shiver runs along my spine.
“Don’t you ever think about it?”
“Absolutely not,” I say, but the shakiness of my voice betrays me.
Nick slowly loosens his grip on my wrists, and I lower my arms. He steps away, but I still can’t breathe: his heat is suffocating, sitting heavily on my chest.
