CHAPTER 28

Genesis's POV

                  I walked into class a zombie and came out still one, staggering and stumbling through the long, crowded halls. I was so tired. My brain kept on going as though it was some Olympian over thinking sprint. My mind was on a whole different level, different thoughts and possibilities springing up and buried at once and in between my thighs felt like it must have taken a pounding. Precisely, it had. It did remind me of the slight pain in my loins each time I took a step. In result, forgetting who had been there in a hurry was impossible.

His side of the bed was warm, giving me insights to the time of his leaving. I must have fallen asleep while trying to stay awake and he had woken up and had thought it right to just leave. I was deeply worried for him. Every thought of where he could possibly be, hurting and in pain with no one to help him left a bitter taste in my mouth. Trying to keep my eyes dry and my mind focused throughout each class was a hard task.

My eyes scoured through the faces of people as I passed by, each time hoping that the next face I see would be his. Disappointment twisted my guts as the seconds slowed, each one like a puncture in my lungs, making me unable to breathe. The anxiety was like an electrical storm in my brain that quite honestly was painful. It was different from a headache and it felt the same as intense sorrow, perhaps as a sort of frozen panic with nowhere to go.

               "Aren't you going to tell me what happened to you?" Just as I thought she would ask. Our series of lectures had delayed the bullets I knew she had been waiting to propel.

I sighed, not bothering to look at her. "I'm fine, Amelia."

               "Okay. I'm just asking because I don't like the way you are walking, Gen. Do you even know I have been holding you up since we left the lecture hall?" My brows scrunched up. I looked down at our arms and sure, they were linked. I glanced up at her.

               "I didn't...I'm fine...It's just...I'm just not feeling so well, I guess. Slight headache and all. It's nothing you should be worried about."

                "You're sure?"

I smiled at her. A smile which she returned. "Yes I am."

                "Guys." I stumbled on my two feet when Michael playfully appeared from no where and pulled the two of us apart, choosing to insert his body at our sides instead of just walking along with us like every other normal human. I recoiled at the unpleasant smell of the sweat that soaked my flesh when he spread his arms across our necks.

                "Jeez, what the hell? Go take a shower. You stink."

My heart lurched. For the first time, I turned to look at Amelia. She was on Michael, bickering with him. I closed my eyes, willing my heart to stop beating.

Go take a shower. You stink.

Christ!

Dario, where exactly are you?

              "Hello. I was on the gridiron if you must know."

              "The what?"

              "The gridiron?"

              "Gridiron? What the hell's a gridiron?

              "A pitch. A football pitch."

              "Oh my God! Michael, are you serious? It's a pitch. A fucking pitch. That's what you would have just told me. Not a grid....you know what..you need a brain check."

              "If only you start using your head more often, maybe things will begin to get a bit more precise."

              "Oh really? Let's see who's gonna be explaining Prof. Lucas's lectures to you from now on."

              "That's why I've got Genesis. Right, Genesis? Genesis? What the....Genesis!"

My heart skipped.

              "Are you...okay Genesis? You look..."

              "I'm fine Michael. I'm just not feeling so good." Far off in the distance, under the bright rays of the sun and on the hood of a blue-coloured maserati sat Keegan. "I...I have to go." I rushed. "I'll see you too later. Maybe...maybe tomorrow I guess?"

Unnerved, I hurried my legs away, hearing their muffled voices behind me.

               "What's wrong with her?"

               "I don't know. She's been that way all day."

I crossed the road over to where Keegan was parked. Up close, I noticed he was speaking with someone on the phone. My nerves sparked immediately. I came up behind him and tapped his shoulder.

                "Hey." He turned.

                "Hey. Hey, how are..." His body left his car the moment he hopped from it and instantly, I feel the warmth of his skin on mine as he hugged me. Breathing into his natural scent, I fluttered my lids till they closed above my eyes.

                "Where have you been Genny?"

                "In...in school. Why?"

                "I have been looking for you."

                "Oh..." I sucked on the insides of my cheek. "Well, I'm here now. Seems like you were talking to someone?"

He glanced down at the phone in his palms and up at me.

                "Yeah. Dario."

                "Really? Did he...did he tell you anything?"

                "Anything like what?"

                "Uhm...nothing." I gulped. Blood rushed to my ears. "But he's okay, right?"

                "Yeah. He's with my mum. Why?"

A bit of relief overwhelmed me.

                "No...nothing." I swallowed, craning my neck up at him.

                "What about you?"

                "What...what about me?"

                "Are you okay?"

                "Of course."

He sighed. "Genny, I lost you last night. Was looking for you all over. I got back and couldn't find you. I didn't know where you were. You weren't with your friends or up in my room. I was worried. I hit your phone and got voicemails. We were supposed to get back together."

                 "I took a cab along with Lana. We haven't spent time with each other for a while so we decided to. I wanted to tell you prior but I didn't have a network. I'm sorry."

Not a word left his lips. He stared at me long and unblinking. A suffocating, heavy feeling began to throb painfully in my heart. Like a thorny prick in snow clad silence, the guilt I felt restricted the energy flow in my body, contorting my stomach into painful cramps.

He said nothing for long before nodding his head. Crossing over to the passenger seat, he pulled open the door. I climbed in and quickly fastened the seat belt. In a matter of seconds, the car was put in motion.

The atmosphere in the car was enveloped in pin-drop silence. I could hear the sound of my own heart beating from within. I felt the chill in my blood, coldness bringing the synapses of my brain to a stand still. I looked at him. His focus was dead set on the road and his fingers clutched over the wheels so tight.

I decided to speak first. "How was your day?"

               "Good." He responded but never reciprocated.

               "Mine was good too." He said nothing to that.

               "Okay. Uh...did you fall asleep after your lectures?"

               "No."          

               "Oh, you studied?"

               "Yes."

I frowned. "Okay... so what are you going to do now?"

               "Nothing."

               "Really? It's 4:23. C'mon, we should do something together." I enthusiastically suggested.

               "You're not saying anything." He took a right turn, pressing hard on the brakes.

               "Keegan?"

Abruptly, the car came to a stop right in front of my dorm building.

               "Get down."

               "Huh?"

               "Get down."

               "You didn't answer me."

               "I will be occupied."

               "Okay. Maybe tomorrow?"

               "Occupied."

               "Oh. Later then?" He said nothing. I leaned in to kiss him and was taken aback when he tilted his head to the side, causing me to only peck his cheek.

I stepped down, quite shaken by his unpredicted attitude. Is he mad at me? That could be the only reason he was on a one-word reply during our conversation. If it could even be termed as one. He was adamantly refusing to look me in the eyes and dodging my lips. Surely, he is. My heart sank as I watched his tyres shriek loudly against the concrete as he sped off, completely leaving the dorm, leaving me standing alone on the side walk. The memories of the times he'd drop me off and escort me to my room and still stay over till the day ended replayed time and time again in my head and an unsettling feeling began to prick around the chambers of my abdomen. I nudged my bag across my shoulders and began the walk to my dorm room...alone.

The rest of the day was complete torture for me. Here I was on my bed, tossing and turning and unable to understand why he was cold with me. He has never been that way. I sighed and left my bed, crossing over to the restroom. This was like the tenth time I had visited the convenience. I was so nervous. My thoughts were jumping from one scandalous possibility to the other and the ache in my legs was still ever present.

               "You know the last time I was peeing like this every five minutes...."

               "Not now Lana."

               "Wait up...would you? I realized later on it was only because I hadn't had sex in like months." I shot her an incredulous look.

               "Yeah yeah, I know. Unbelievable, right? But on a more serious note, it just means that you, my dear need to lose your v-card like ASAP. Girl, taste the power of a dick and I promise you...you would love it and not just any dick. A long, fat one that would make you see the stars and touch the moon. Why haven't you let Keegan hit it yet? Time is ticking, you know?"

Is she being serious?

              "I'm so not discussing this with you. Nah-uh."

She guffawed. "Okay okay, you know I'm only kidding, right? Alright. Fine. What's up? I can smell your anxiety from a mile away."

I sighed and dropped heavily on my bed. "I think Keegan is upset with me."

               "Wait, what?"

I shrugged, not knowing what else to say.

               "Why? You too...are like the hottest couple on campus." She stated, emphasising more on the adjective. "What the heck happened?"

               "I don't know."

              "Have you tried calling him?"

I chuckled. "He's not even picking up."

              "A text maybe?"

              "Clearly read and ignored."

              "Fuck." She stood up and began pacing the room with her palm resting on her forehead. "You know you two can't break up, right? You and Keegan, Genesis can not break up. No. Not now."

My brows scrunched together as I gazed up at her in confusion. "Well...I don't want that to happen Lana. I really don't want that."

               "You know what? Go see him. Try to make things work."

               "Okay."

               "Now."

               "Oh...now?"

               "Yes now. Right this second."

               "But he said he would be busy."

               "Really? Look, Keegan is at his house right now doing absolutely nothing, okay so go see your boyfriend and please you two should fuck already."

***

I drew air from my surroundings into my respiratory organ before slightly tapping on his door. I got pure silence from within but I knew he was in. His car was parked right in his garage. I breathed out and knocked again.

                "Keegan? Please I know you're in there."

As silent as a graveyard.

                "Keegan, please open up or I would."

                "I am coming in Keegan. I know you are in there and you're not doing anything serious."

I retrieved the swipe card he had given me from my pocket and immediately, a ding sound came through. The door unlocked. Pushing it all the way, I saw him on the floor and in front of his bed. Cross legged and staring at his phone.

                 "Keegan?"

                 "What are you doing here?"

                 "What? I - I came to see you."

His eyes were frozen on his phone screen. Crouching down in front of him, I took a quick glance at his subject of attention. One of the series of messages I had sent to him earlier was opened.

                 "So you got my message." I noticed.

                 "I told you I would be busy."

                 "Too busy for me? I know you are mad at me Keegan? Please, let's talk it out."

                 "I'm not mad at you."

                 "Really?"

He sighed and lifted his chin to meet my eyes. "I took Lana back to campus this morning. Did you know that?"

I paled.

               "Did you know that Genesis?"

Oh God.

I breathed. "No."

He chuckled and shook his head, causing the locks on his head to wave graciously at the ceiling.

              "Genesis, you have no freaking idea how tight you got me wrapped around your fingers. I'm not asking you to reciprocate my feelings. I'm only asking you to respect what I feel because falling for you wasn't what I planned to do but here I am, loving you anyway and then you look me in the eyes and feel it right to lie to my face? You got it wrong. I'm not mad at you. I'm disappointed." His words stabbed me hard in the heart as hot, shameful tears stroked my cheeks.

              "I'm..."

              "No." He cut me. "I'm not done. I have been truthful to you since the start. Since the start of this thing blooming between us. Since the very start of this relationship, I have never lied to you. Not ducking once. It's not fair to me. It's not fair that this is one-sided. You don't know how much I want us to work. I want us to work so bad. If complete honesty ain't gonna be shared, then I don't know what we are doing. I think..."

             "No, no. Don't do that. Don't break up with me please."

             "I wasn't gonna. I can't even if I tried. I love you. I love you so much It's hard to breathe sometimes. You weren't up for telling me shit about last night? Cool. It's up to you but you were with Lana when you knew you ain't? That hurt."

I cried, ashamed of myself.

              "Look. I'm sorry if I was harsh. I didn't mean to."

I lunged at him immediately, pulling my arms around his neck. "I'm sorry. I'm so so so sorry."

             "It's okay."

             "No, I'm sorry Keegan. I've been a bad girlfriend. I've been so so bad. Oh God, you have no idea. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me." I sobbed into his chest.

             "Don't cry please."

             "I'm sorry."

             "It's alright."

             "No." I wailed. "It's not."

             "Do you want to talk about it?"

I shook my head immediately. My heart constricted painfully.

             "Okay but you are soaking my shirt though." Abruptly, I jerked away, frowning below his chin.

             "You're not even wearing a shirt."

The sound of his laughter sooted me. I clunged to him again, listening to his heart beat.

             "About what you wanted to do with me? The Flash Season 7 just came out. Had been planning on catching up with it."

            "What's that?"

            "You kidding right? Wait...you're not. You really haven't watched the series?"

            "No. I..."

He shrieked. "GENNY! WHAT EXACTLY HAVE YOU BEEN DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?"

            "I-I don't know. I don't really know about things like that. But I do watch some sermons on the television and cooking shows on the internet."

            "Not bad but we are definitely hitting it off from the first season STAT." He got up from the floor and retrieved his laptop from a drawer beside his bed.

            "You ready?"

            "Yes." I nodded.

            "Hop into bed then but first, I've got to kiss you."

***

Quick one, Keegan and Genesis? Or....Dario and Genesis? Which duo is your fav?

Any ship names?

Pretty please, tap the vote button and tell me what you think about the chapter in the comment section. 

Chapter 29 coming right away.