Under the Texas Sky

CHAPTER 5

KIAN

16 years old

My palms are sweaty as I approach Trent. He’s sitting on the hood of his car, basking in the heat before it’s gone for winter, his skin reddening into the lightest shade of pink, like a freshly bloomed flower. His dark hair is splayed behind him, creating a halo effect with the thick strands.

Oh god, why am I doing this again?

Because you’ve had a crush on him since you were assigned as lab partners at the beginning of the year.

Oh right, that.

So, yes. I followed him after school to the park, and I’ve spent thirty minutes walking in circles out of his line of sight, building the courage to talk to him. To actually talk to him. Not the fumbling mess that always comes out of my mouth when he asks me a question about a lab experiment, and I have no idea what’s going on because I was too busy staring at his side profile and wondering how someone could be so… pretty. Pretty isn’t a good enough word, but no word ever would be when it comes to Trent.

“Are you going to keep walking in circles or?”

I freeze, and my stomach clenches in panic. Can he see me? He can see me. Great. This isn’t going to be awkward at all.

I pull up my big boy pants and walk toward him, staring down at my feet the whole time and watching the rocks disappear under the soles of my shoes.

“Hey,” I mumble when I reach the side of the car. It’s a nice one, black and not run down, and I wonder if he bought it himself. He works a lot down at the grocery store. Not that I’m stalking him or anything, but I just need a snack every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Between 4:15 PM and 8:30 PM. But never at 6:30, because that’s when he takes a break.

Okay, maybe I am a little psycho.

“What’s up?” His eyes crack open, and I’m graced with brown irises, rich like melted chocolate.

I must be drunk on the half-lidded look he gives me, because the next words out of my mouth come easily.

“You’re so beautiful.”

“Beautiful, huh? Can boys be beautiful?” His smile is wide, showing off white teeth and a small gap between the top two.

“I don’t know,” I answer truthfully, because I’ve never looked at another boy. I’ve never thought of another boy the way I do Trent. Wondering what his lips would feel like pressed against mine, how I can see the vein in his neck pumping blood every time he tilts his head to the side when he doesn’t understand something. His berry-colored lips, chapped on the bottom right side, because that’s the side he always nibbles on when he’s thinking.

Trent makes a noise in the back of his throat, not one I’ve heard from him before, and then he’s sitting up on the car. Staring at me, his eyes reaching into the depths of me and trying to pull out all the words I can’t say. “I think you’re beautiful too.”

My cheeks flame red, and there’s no way he doesn’t see. I probably look like a cherub staring at him with hearts in my eyes. He thinks I’m beautiful? I don’t need to look down at my body to know what he’s seeing. Scrawny, barely there muscles that only come from the forced sports activities at school. Brown curly hair that can’t be tamed no matter how much gel I put in it. I’m… average.

But there’s something about the way he says it. The way his lips form the words and speak them into the air has me believing that maybe, just maybe, he is telling the truth.