If Looks Could Kill, I'd Be Dead

Theta

Oh my God! Camden is the cutest kid ever! And he’s sixteen years old?! He looked like he was thirteen! He’s so small and thin; his introverted and shy nature make him seem much younger than he really is.

I tried to be friendly. I wanted him to feel comfortable around Sascha and I. He kept shying away from us and hiding behind his big brother. And, when I tried to talk to him, he was a few inches shorter than me, so I had to stoop down a bit. And I’m five foot three!

“God, Sasch, he was so cute!” Sascha is walking me to first period. Loren was going to walk Camden to class, so Sascha and I walk together. I’m glad that Loren and I have first period together.

“I know, right! He was so adorable! I just wanted to run over and hug him.” Sascha gushes. “He’s so shy. Maybe we should invite the brothers over this weekend? We could all walk around the city or something.”

“That would be so much fun!” I reply. If that means getting to spend more time with Loren, I’m so in.

“Mhm!” Sascha says with an enthusiastic nod, the fringe of his hair falling in his pretty eyes. We’re at the door to the art rooms, so I brush his hair away from his eyes and off his forehead, only to have it fall right back into place. I sigh, and with a smile, I give Sascha a hug. He returns the gesture, squeezing me tightly with his skinny arms.

“I’ll see you in English.” I say into his chest.

“Yep.” I pull away.

“Buhbye!” he says as he walks away. I watch his skinny hips sway as he struts down the hall. I open the door to the art rooms and see Loren sitting in the back where we were yesterday. He looks stunning in his plaid shirt and khakis today. He smiles when he sees me walk in. I grin and walk over to him.

“Hello.” He greets me with a warm hug, pulling me between his legs. I wrap my arms around his torso, loving the feeling of our bodies touching.

“Hi.” I say against his neck. Reluctantly, I pull away and take a step back, hoping he doesn’t see me blushing from his touch. I blurt out, “Loren, your brother is adorable!” Once I’m going, I can’t stop. “He’s just the cutest thing ever! I wanted to hug him so badly, but I didn’t want to scare him off. He looked so young.” I giggle, and blush because I can’t stop my superfluous speech.

“Mos’ people don’t really talk tah him very much. They’re almost afraid tah get too close tah him because he’s so quiet.” He ruffles the hair at the nape of his neck. Hey, Loren. Next time, can I do that for you? “ He’s a very… strange boy. He looks up tah me, yeah? Not tah, like, brag or nofing…” he smirks. I laugh.

“Well, Sascha and I will be sure to include him when we hang out.” Loren’s face grows dark. “And you too.” I add, a bit confused.

“Theta, I saw Sascha checking him out.” He says with disdain.

“Oh…” I nervously laugh. “Uh, that’s just who Sascha is… he didn’t mean anything by it. He checks everybody out.” It’s not a lie. He does check out people he thinks are good looking… which is a lot of people.

“He better not have meant anyfing.” Loren says, but with a little less anger. “I jus’ don’t want anyone tah hurt Camden, yeah? He’s such a fragile laddie… And after that whole fing with Collin…” He looks away, clearly not wanting to elaborate.

“Mhm…” I walk a few steps to my stool and sit down. Not knowing what to say, I just stare at the blank canvas in front of me. It became quite uncomfortable. “Wellum, I’ll be right back.” I mumble. I’ll go and look at some paints in the cabinet. Hopefully things will be back to before when I get back. I really didn’t mean to upset him.

After a moment, I feel a hand on my shoulder blade.

“Theta.” I turn my head, though I know who it is by the lovely accent, and the effect his touch has on me. “I’m sorreh. I didn’t mean tah be all weird like that. It’s jus’…” he looks away.

“Hey. It’s okay.” His hand is burning a pleasant hole through my back. “Loren.” I touch his neck, my hand gently resting on his collarbone. I don’t know how to explain it. Even though I’ve only known the guy for a day, this physicality, this contact with him just feels so right. And hey, he doesn't seem to care either. His kaleidoscope green-blue eyes meet mine. I offer a small smile and repeat, “It’s okay.” His seductive lips form a beautiful grin. I want to feel his snakebites on my lips. I mentally shake my head, ridding my mind of these thoughts. “You’re just protective of him because he’s your little brother.” I say, my body temperature lowering.

“Yeah. I suppose.” He’s still smiling, but when he looks down at my hand, I look at his arm that’s touching my back. I quickly look around the room. A few heads whip around, like they weren’t looking at our whole exchange. I blush furiously and mutter a C’mon to Loren before walking speedily back to our easels and stools.

The girls that were watching us, I meet one of their eyes. It’s one of those damn hipsters. The really fake ones that wear the “hippie” headbands around their forehead and hair. She’s the kind of girl that will try to like something different to be original, but as soon as someone else likes it, she’ll stop liking it because someone else does. She’s the type of person that would like coffee just because it’s cool to. She’d put, like, three packets of sugar in her coffee and a lot of cream, so that she could tolerate it. I know her type. I know I’m kind of being a judgmental bitch… I think her name is Tiffany? Yes, Tiffany, I believe.

While Loren picks out his paints, I grab a container of gel medium for us to share, and two palettes as well. I also get two palette knives and a few paintbrushes for each of us: smaller flat brushes for the details and a few larger flat brushes for the background and such. I meet Loren back at our easels and hand him his set of brushes and palette.

“Oh! Well thank you…” he looks up at me in surprise.

“You’re welcome?” I reply. It’s not really a big deal. I was just trying to be nice. He smiles at me and I smile back at him. His smile is so contagious.

We mix different colours, not feeling the need to talk; it’s a comfortable silence. There’s a small table in between our easels. On it are a few choice paint rubes along with the gel medium and a couple of other brushes that aren’t being used at the moment. I decide to break the silence.

“So Loren, would you want to come to a party with Sascha and I this weekend? Sascha’s friend is having one at his house Friday night.” Today is Wednesday, so I figure it’d give him enough time to see what’s up.

“A party? Yeah, that’d be ace!” he says.

“You can even bring Camden if you’d like.” I add, remembering to include him.

“Well, Camden isn’t really the party type of person…” he thinks for a moment. “Eh, I’ll ask ‘im, but he might not even want tah come, so…” he shrugs.

“Yeah, true. But make sure he knows that I want him to be there.” Loren smiles.

“A’wright Theta, I will.” I grin too, happy that Loren will be coming to this party with Sascha and I. And hey, Camden might be there as well.

I’m just really angry with myself… I don’t even know; it’s so trivial, really. I’ve known Loren for two days, and yet I’m falling for him hard already.