Page 18 of Violent Attraction
“You look very pretty today, Camila.” Leo says to his sister before leaning in and planting a kiss on her cheek.
Camila huffs and I have to fight to hold in a laugh. “I look pretty all the time.”
The laugh that I was holding in finally escapes and Leo is laughing right next to me.
Our laughing earns us a narrow stare from our little companion. She looks like she’s about to say something, but she is stopped by the start of the graduation music.
The graduates start walking into the stadium, and even though she is surrounded by other students, my eyes land on her right away.
Even when I separated myself from her for two years, I still have the ability to pick out Isabella from anywhere she might be. I have this type of awareness when it comes to her, and it gets stronger and stronger as time goes by.
The way I feel about her also gets stronger as time goes by.
For the past two years, I have kept my distance but have kept an eye on her in some way. If I had thought she was beautiful at sixteen, I was blown away as I saw how that beauty grew these last few years. Not only is she beautiful, but everything about her is radiating and seems to captivate me more every single day.
Every time I see a smile that isn’t meant for me.
Every laugh that I hear.
Everything about this girl, this woman, has me wishing even more that she was mine.
But she can’t be.
For the next three hours, we hear so many speeches that I’m positive my ears bled at some point. Also it’s hot as fucking balls, which makes me agree with Camila that such a fancy school should have had this crap inside.
When they finally get to the student names, I want to jump up for joy because the torture of sitting in the Texas heat is almost over.
Every single family yells loudly when their student’s name is called and when they get to Isabella, the three of us try to be as loud as we possibly can. We may not be a big group of people, but hey, we can make our presence known.
Once all the names have been called and the graduates throw their caps in the air, the event is over. The three of us make our way down to the ground level to find Isabella and get out of here.
The less time we have to spend at this god-awful school, the better.
“I need to find a bathroom.” Camila says, tugging on both Leo and mine’s arm.
“Can you hold it?” Leo asks his sister, looking at the crowd surrounding us and possibly trying to figure out how to get to Bella and take Camila to the bathroom at the same time.
“I’ll grab Bella. You take her.” With a nod in my direction, Leo grabs Camila and walks her over to where the restrooms are.
I try to make it through the crowds as best I can until I finally reach the field and look around for the brunette that has captivated my mind for years.
Like earlier, I’m able to find her without difficulty. She’s looking around for a familiar face, a bright smile on her lips until she meets my stare. When our eyes meet the smile she’s wearing is still prominent until it isn’t.
That has been the one tall tale sign that I have that tells me that Isabella hates me, her smile easily disappears when I’m around.
I give her a small wave and make my way over to her.
Her eyes don’t leave me as I close the distance between us. As I get closer, I see her take deep breath after deep breath as if she were trying to compose herself to face me.
I get a small smile, one that I’ve come to expect when it comes to Isabella, when I’m only about a foot or two away from her.
“You are officially done with high school,” I give her a nod. Not really knowing what else to do or say.
This has been the process when it has come to communicating with her these last couple years. Everything that we say or even the way we interact with each other has felt awkward to the point where we just don’t do it.
It’s a little painful.
Isabella awards me with another small smile. “I am, and now out to the real world I go.”