When Our Worlds Collide (24 page)

“About last night…” Graham’s voice is low as if he’s telling
me a secret. I don’t care what he has to say. I drop my backpack at my feet. As
best as I’m capable of with a bum leg and crutches I make my way towards him.
He meets me halfway just as I drop the crutches to the side. Graham’s hands
find the side of my face. He runs his finger along my cheek making my blood
pump thickly through my veins.

That simple touch isn’t enough. I wrap my arms around his
neck jumping to wrap my legs around his waist. He eagerly follows my intentions
hoisting me up in his arms taking all of my weight on his strong capable
forearms. I play with the back of his hair refusing to look anywhere else but
into his honey shaded eyes. I want to make sure I still see the same person I
had the night of the accident.

Graham’s smile grows brighter with every second that ticks
by. I can breathe again.

He’s still in there.

Chapter Thirty-Six

-Graham-

I stayed up most of the night trying to work this mess out
in my head. I came to a few conclusions. This seems to happen a lot these days,
overthinking and analyzing moments that should be insignificant, but end up
being monumental. Staring at my ceiling has become a recreational sport for me.
I’m losing my god damn mind, I’m sure of it.

The first thing that I know is that Kennedy and I are
different. She’s all books and dance, and I’m all baseball and parties.
Something against our control keeps pushing us apart and maybe we are both at
fault for this happening. The most important and hardest epiphany is that I
just don’t really give a damn. I don’t care about any of the meaningless
bullshit because I love her. I know I said it to her just last night and I
meant every word when I let them slide out of my mouth, but something clicked
last night while I laid on my bed thinking about her. Nothing could keep me
away from Kennedy at this point and I’m not afraid to admit it.

“Kennedy…” I try again to get the words out but nothing
arrives at the tip of my tongue.

 Kennedy didn’t find a reason enough good to stay away from
me from last night until this morning. When she rounded the corner to see me
standing there my confidence level was at an all-time low. It could have gone
either way. I’d either be driving her to school or drowning my sorrows in a
bottle of tequila that I stole from my father’s den later tonight. I’m thankful
that it’s managed to go in my favor. Feeling her beneath my fingertips is the
closest I’ve felt to carefree in my entire life.

“Graham, I don’t care what you have to say because none of
it matters,” Kennedy fills in the silence when the words don’t come easily for
me. She grins down at me as I hold her in my arms.

“But I had a speech.” I plead with her, amusement evident in
my voice.

Kennedy jumps down from my arms being mindful of her hurt
leg.

“I was thinking you might want to kiss me, but if you have a
speech…” she peers up at me through her long thick eyelashes. The grin that’s
on her lips nearly stops my heart.

“I think the speech can wait, don’t you?” I lift her up onto
the hood of my car making her laugh uncontrollably. My lips quickly find hers.
Subconsciously I’m drawn to her. That alone causes our kiss to deepen to the
point where I would be willing to take her right here in her parent’s driveway.
Something I doubt they would appreciate.

A moan escapes Kennedy’s lips and I can’t help myself. I
kiss along her jawline until I hit the softest of skin behind her ear. I know
what’s coming before I feel it below my own skin. She physically shudders as my
lips release from her. She smacks me on the chest feeling embarrassed as she
always does. I can see her eyes dilating in excitement. She can say what she
wants, but she loves when I do that.

“You ready to go to school?” I help her off of the hood of
my car opening the passenger side door for her. She quickly gets in getting
comfortable. I run to grab her backpack and crutches from the sidewalk. Mrs.
Conrad’s standing on the front step smiling at me. She knew I had been here the
whole time. I called this morning to explain that I would be picking Kennedy up
instead of Violet. She made the arrangement for me. I smiled back and she
nodded approvingly.

Kennedy’s scanning through my iPod looking for something to
listen to when I get into the car. I love the way her lips move as she reads
through the songs. She’d stop every few songs as if her life depending on
choosing the right one. When she decides on a song I smile over at her once the
music comes through the speakers.

“What’s with the obnoxious smile, Black?” Kennedy asks
staring over at me waiting for my answer. I love it when she calls me by my
last name. It sounds natural coming from her. Not forced like the rest of the
girls who do it flirtatiously trying to catch my attention. Kennedy already has
my attention without much effort.

“This song reminds me of you,” I confess nervously. Maybe I
gave too much this time.

“I’ve never heard it.” she grabs my hand holding it in her
lap. This is when I used to recoil from Amanda. Not today. There would be no
holding back anymore.

“Fix You by Coldplay. I’m sure you’ve heard it before.”

“Why does it remind you of me though?”

“Listen.” I squeeze her hand in reassurance.

I know my life isn’t perfect although everyone else seems to
believe that it is just that---perfect. My father makes it his mission to beat
the shit out of me whenever he gets the opportunity since I was a defenseless
kid. Instead of fighting back like I desperately want to, I take every blow and
every slap because that’s what my mother wants, what she needs. She doesn’t
have the courage to stand up to him or to walk away. I take the brunt of the
punishment for her. No one knows this reality except Kennedy. She never asks
any questions or gives me a pitying look. She fixes me when I’m broken before I
even realize I need it.

The song comes to an end. The car is bone chilling silent.
Kennedy looks out the window staying silent still holding on tightly to my
hand. I don’t know what she’s thinking. I wait until she’s ready to talk.

“That’s how you really feel about me?” Kennedy turns to face
me once we pull into the parking lot of the high school. The place is littered
with our classmates busy talking about what happened over the weekend or some
other mundane subject. I don’t pay any attention to anyone as I pull into my
parking spot until I turned to face her. She turns her body towards mine. I
can’t resist reaching up and brushing the fleck of hair that’s always weaseling
its way onto her face.

“God, you’re beautiful Kennedy. It never gets old looking at
you,” I smile at her as she leans into me resting her cheek perfectly in my
hand. “And that song is exactly how I feel about you.”

She thinks about what I said for a minute. Her gaze scans
the parking lot several times, but her glance always lands back on me. We catch
the attention of a handful of people who are leaning against different cars
nearby. Kennedy and I haven’t had the chance to discuss what was going to
happen once we left the shelter of her bedroom. We just sort of just ended up
here anyways.

“I guess we should get this over with then, huh?” she says
letting out an over dramatic sigh.

“Get what over with?” I ask turning the car off and pulling
the keys out of the ignition.

“Don’t think that I’m not going to walk into this school
without you by my side. I don’t care what anyone has to say and quite frankly
what else could possibly get in our way that already hasn’t tried?” She reaches
in the backseat for her backpack with confidence. I scoop it out of her reach
before she can lay a hand on it.

“I can carry it for you,” I offer returning her smile with
eagerness. She’s right. It’s no one’s damn business what’s happening. The only
thing that matters is the two of us.

Took you long enough to realize that, dumbass.

Kennedy swings her door open. I run around to her side to
help her out. I can feel the eyes turn on us as if they are watching a train
wreck occur. No one could turn away. The ones that have enough tact to ignore
us only last a split second. Their eyes are back on us quickly.

I focus only on Kennedy placing a hand on the small of her
back allowing it to go a bit farther down than is necessary. This catches the
attention of a group of girls standing two rows back from where we are. I hear
their dramatic intake of breaths. They all whisper and glare in Kennedy’s
direction. As if on cue the group parts and Amanda, the ring leader and my
latest mistake, steps forward squinting her eyes as if she’s trying to focus in
on the picture she can’t believe she’s seeing.

Everyone will have an opinion about Kennedy and me. Before I
would have cared, now as I’m guiding her through the parking lot I can only
focus on the way she smells. Coconut and vanilla. Every time the wind blows it
assaults my senses and I forget everything else around me. What the hell has
gotten into me? I’m such a chick.

Everyone’s eyes stay on us as we make our way into the
school. The sea of students practically parts to make room for us. I hear a
handful of whispers. It’s safe to say the rumor mill is running rampant already
after five minutes of our arrival.

We walk in silence together. Kennedy is absolutely frigid
next to me. I refuse to drop my hand from her back giving me notice that her
spine is stiffened beneath my touch. We make it into the hallway where our
lockers are when she speaks up.

“Everyone’s watching us, aren’t they?” she asks shyly
handing me her crutches giving her access to turn the nob on her lock.

“They’re all probably watching you. You look gorgeous,” I
bend down to whisper in her ear. She stops in her tracks to look at me dropping
her books back into the bottom of her locker.

“That must be it,” she laughs at my accusation like it’s the
most ridiculous thing she’s ever heard. “Or it could have something to do with
their star baseball player slumming it in public?”

“I’m hardly slumming for one and I don’t think you quite
grasp where you lie in the food chain of this high school.” Kennedy’s
constantly saying things like this. If she only knew the way most of the guys
in school spoke about her she’d realize that she’s the one who’s slumming.

“I’d love to see that chart. Maybe you can come over once
you’re done with practice and lay it out for me?” She winks at me trying to
seem relaxed when I know she’s nervous as hell.

“Are you flirting with me, Ms. Conrad?” I sandwich her in
between me and her locker placing a hand on each side of her head. She leans
forward leaving a few inches between our lips. I can practically feel her
against my chest as we forget where we are at and that we have an audience.

Our world is jolted back to reality by an unwanted
distraction.

“That didn’t take long, Kennedy. I see you cozied right up
to Graham after you were done with me,” Craig shouts loud enough for the others
around us to hear. His assault is received with a few snickers from a few
people.

His smirk’s filled with menace and he rubs his fingers down
Kennedy’s arm. The minute they make contact I feel my teeth clenching. Craig’s
asking for a fight and I’m more than ready to start and finish it before he
even sees me coming.

“Excuse me?” Kennedy’s voice is immediately in defense of
herself. I suppose of me as well. I’m proud of her for speaking up, but I know
nothing good will come from this. It’s the look in Craig’s eyes that angers me
most. He acts as if Friday night never happened, as if it was just a nightmare
for Kennedy and me. The bruises on his face should be a good reminder that it
was in fact real.

“You heard me, slut.” Craig’s voice snarls with his insult.

That was all I needed to hear before I made the decision. I
turn around punching him landing my fist perfectly across his face. He stumbles
back a few steps falling against the bank of lockers across from us. We have
the attention of everyone who’s in earshot. A group of girls have to back away
from getting in the way of Craig’s fall causing a sort of panicked mania in the
small area. Girls are screeching and a few guys are helping Craig up from the
floor. I scan the hallway hoping no teachers are around. No one will say
anything. My secret is safe with them all.

“If you ever lay a finger on her again,” I point back at a
wide eyed Kennedy. “Or utter her name I swear to you I will break your fucking
legs to the point where going to play baseball at whatever little league
college you plan on attending will no longer want you on their team.
Understood?”

I grab Kennedy’s hand leading her down the hallway away from
him.

“God, Kennedy,” I shake my head trying to calm my frantic
nerves. “I should go back and kill him.”

“His harsh words were worth watching you lay him out,” Kennedy
reaches down to grab my hand inspecting it to make sure I didn’t cause any
damage. This girl’s fixing me even when she should be a wreck herself.

“Don’t worry about me. Are you okay?” I cup her face in my
hands inspecting her eyes for the tears that I expect to see.

“I’m okay. Now give me a kiss and go to class,” she demands.
We are still holding an audience in the hallway. I glance at the spying eyes
and turn to look at her. “Are you going to kiss me or not?” Kennedy’s grin
grows larger. She knows what she’s doing. Kennedy has a way of surprising me
every chance she gets.

“I’m going to kiss you. Remember…until you tell me to stop.”
My arms wrap around her lifting her off the floor before placing my lips
against hers as if kissing her is second nature. It feels like we’ve been doing
it for years by the way our bodies mesh together as if they just might’ve been
made for this exact reason, if only to be with each other.