Calling Carter.

This was… awesome. Perfect. Everything I ever wanted. I wished it would last for a very, very long time, but it didn’t. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the moment anyway.

“Silah,” Carter said softly, “what did you say about my eyes?” I heard the smile in his voice and realised he had gone back to making fun of me, but this time in a cute teasing way.

Still, I felt my cheeks turn pink and I hid my face in his shoulder. It was quiet for a second. “I think your eyes are freaking fantastic,” I finally blurted out, unable to think of any other way to say it. He laughed, a quiet, happy sound. I loved that laugh. “Hey,” I said very slowly, “are you ticklish?”

“No,” he answered way too quickly. His eyes widened just a little.

I grinned evilly. “Oh yes you are,” I nearly giggled with glee. Poking him in the ribs and making him yelp, the giggle turned into an evil ‘muahahahaha’ laugh of triumph. The triumph quickly faded, however, as he soon realised he was faster and stronger than me and I was way more ticklish than he was.

Crap.

He was MERCILESS.
I ended up on the ground, squirming like a worm and trying not to squeal. I couldn’t control my laughter as it was. We finished our little war breathless and thoroughly entertained, and my sides hurt from it all.

He sat up, leaning against the nearby wall to catch his breath. He looked over at me with a mischievous glint in his eye. “Remind me that I really should introduce you to my friends one time,” he chuckled. “But don’t let them know you’re that ticklish.”

I laughed and nodded. “Oh yeah,” I said, remembering something. “Did Kala set you up for this?”

He studied me. It was quiet for a long time. “No,” he finally answered. “She wants us together but this was all my idea. She hasn’t even seen this picture yet.” He quickly corrected himself, “that is, if you want her to see it.”

I considered it. “Of course,” I said a split second later. “She’ll be so proud of herself, even if it was your idea. Haha, she did tell you to show me.”

“Yeah,” he agreed with a smile. I shivered as there was a sudden drop in temperature. He looked up at the sky, noticing that the sun had disappeared. “C’mon, he said, rising and then helping me up. “Lunch will be over soon, and I think it’s gonna rain.”

I took his hand and stood, then rubbed my arms. “Yeah,” I agreed, “we better run.” The sky was still darkening as I spoke, and a raindrop fell on my nose as we turned to leave. We hurried down the stairs and into the grey room, which made me blind again. Carter put a hand on my arm and told me to wait while he checked if the coast was clear. I almost felt like… I decided to do it anyway.

I snuck up behind him, making sure he didn’t see me. “Is anyone there?” I whispered really loudly (making sure only he would hear me), making him jump.

I felt him laughing silently. “No,” he whispered just as loudly. Just as he said that, someone DID come into the corridor, and Carter quickly pushed me back against a wall to avoid us being seen. He followed the movement of his arm and ended up very close to me by the wall. As I said. It was a SMALL room.

I started laughing. “Almost,” I breathed, “that was so close!”

Carter laughed too. “Let’s go,” he said after checking the hall again. “You first.”

I quickly slipped out of the room and into the hall, deciding to make my way back to where my bag – and Kala – were waiting.

But I was interrupted.

Kala was not at our usual hangout. She was not with my bag. She was leaning against a wall of lockers, looking more than a little tiny beside Caidan and a small group of his friends. I froze when I saw him talking to her, hunched over slightly because of his HOPEFULLY (die bastard) broken ribs. But when I saw him stroking her cheek, I got angry.