Chapter 14 Fourteen

"What school do you attend?" I ask when my body functions have returned to a small semblance of normal (unfortunately, my body forgets how to work normally around Malik).

"Apex State University," he says with a ghost of a smile on his lips. He seems amused that I have finally found my voice after a sip of energising coffee.

"That is nice." I sip my coffee and wait for him to show an interest in my life and ask me a question about my existence (even though I doubt that I will have the right answers). When it becomes clear that he will not ask me a question, after a full minute of total silence punctuated by his shuffling feet, biting into his scone after offering to share with me and slurping of coffee from the mug, I give in and ask him another question. "Do you live with your parents?"

He shakes his head slowly from side to side. "No." After a beat, he adds, "they both died in a car accident when I was fourteen."