Kale's POV
I watched the sculpture in front of me with close and deep scrutiny; since I got here, my gaze has been fixed on his face... The makeshift crown around his head, the blood cascading down his face, it's like for a moment I'm no longer looking at that sculpture, but I'm staring at Jesus on the cross... Turn lips, battered body, the pain and the humiliation, and all that dignity nailed to the cross, forgetting his divine nature as a God, offered to be clothed with sin... even more gruesome iniquity, even his father turned away from him at the sight of him on the cross.
And all he did was so we can have life, not just have life but have it in abundance.
That we might live for him…
Even now, I still don't understand this story.
When I continued looking and imagining the whole scene, I couldn't really explain it, but I just felt it deep within me... It's a warm feeling circling all around; I felt love and a kind of peace that I have been craving for some time now, peace.
I took a deep breath... When I woke up from the coma, I felt empty, too hollow; it was like a void nothing could fill, and after I moved to New York in a week or two, my mom forced me to go to church with her, and then for an hour I felt peace... For that only hour, it's like that void had disappeared; it was as if it was physically impossible. I even had to touch my heart a few times, and that is how I started coming here, which eventually led me to Jesus, and in my entire existence, nothing has ever been more filling than having a relationship with God.
I looked around the empty church, and I sighed. No one is here; it's not even Sunday, a day for mass service, but I had to come here, especially after my encounter with Amory that has once again put me in disarray.
I look at the altar again...
Lord, what's happening?
It's always been easy to avoid girls at school considering my friendship circle is just Elijah, but this one is just plain hard. I don't know how to avoid her; I can avoid her, but I'll be lying. If I say I'm not thinking of her, or what she wants from me, or what she will do next, she keeps popping into my head at unexpected times.
Now she even got the teacher to pair us together in a project, which definitely means I can no longer evade her.
Maybe you're not supposed to try to avoid her.
Really, then what am I supposed to do? I can't exactly become friends with her, and it's clear she isn't looking for friendship, and her intentions are definitely not genuine.
I breathed in and stood up from where I was sitting; this is not going to be easy... I know.
But just like that voice, maybe I'm not supposed to try to avoid her, but I definitely need to prepare myself if I'm going to face or engage her in any kind of activity, let alone work together.
I walked to the altar, made the sign of the cross, and prostrated before the altar before turning around to walk out, and lo and behold…
Amory stood before me, leaning on one chair, her legs crossed, her clothes... Oh my God, her clothes... Why does this girl do this?
I took a deep breath and subconsciously cleaned my sweaty hands on my trousers. I will get through this.
"What are you doing here?" I said simply, my gaze focused on her face rather than her scandalous clothes.
"What do you think? I had to find you somehow… Wait, why are you looking at me like that?"
"You didn't have to come here, at least not dressed like this," I said and stepped around her before walking past her.
"Well, we have a project to work on together, and you disappeared the other day without so much as saying a word to me."
I said nothing.
"We need to work together, and I don't really know your thoughts on art, but I think music... I like the idea of drawing, but I'm not really good at that, but then again, I also want to experience a symphony of poetry, but that still sounds odd..."
I started walking to my car. I didn't exactly know how to tell this girl to slow down with her plans, as she kept on raving about the project and her plans for it...
I stopped abruptly, and she crashed into my back.
Great...
"I need you to stop talking," I said with gritted teeth. I can still feel her lips smudged at my back.
Seriously, this girl...
I turn around to look at her, and all my frustration seems to simmer down; she is currently rubbing her forehead from where she hit my back.
"You don't get to be angry; I'm the one suffering here. You're built like bricks."
I felt my frustrations slowly sipping away, looking at the scene before me; she was pouting while rubbing her forehead, completely unaware of the state of her smudged red lipstick.
She looks almost adorable…
She seemed to notice the line of my gaze, because she stopped rubbing her forehead and mouthed 'what' to me before she turned to my car to see her face, and almost immediately, she gasped in horror at the sight of her face before closing her eyes. Seeming to berate herself, she used her hands to try to clean off the lipstick completely but ended up smudging it more. I couldn't see her face, as her back was turned to me, but I could see her face in the tinted glass of my car, and I can imagine she's making more of a mess of it.
She turned to me, and I couldn't hold it anymore; a chuckle caught in my throat, and I tried to cover it as a cough, but it was already clear. She shot me a look of annoyance, and I chuckled now freely.
The sound is foreign and unknown to me.
I cleared my throat, trying to get out of the awkward laugh...
I reached behind her to open my car, opened the pitch hole to take out the wipe I kept there,
It's a wet wipe and can easily remove makeup.
I stretched my hands to her, handing her the wipe. She was staring at it but not taking it.
And suddenly she stepped closer, which instantly
made me queasy... Almost about to step back
"What! Help me wipe it off."
"No," I said in an instant without even thinking twice; she just looked down before biting her lips.
"Why not?" she said, her voice now very low.
What the heck? "I... You... You can do it by yourself."
"I cannot; I can't see my face, and I don't have a mirror either."
I looked at her for a long time before taking a wipe from the pack I'm holding, moving close to her, and gently wiping her smudged lipstick on her upper lip and then down. My eyes were focused on the task, but because of the nature of her lips, it seemed like she kept moving back, frustrating my efforts to get her lips clean, and out of impulse, I pulled her head closer to get a steady balance before finally wiping it out completely.
I sighed, somewhat satisfied, before I looked up to her face entirely... Why is she looking at me like that...?
Did I do something? I looked at my hand that was still grabbing her hair, and I let go immediately, stepping back... Did I ruin her hair??
She immediately stepped back, clearing her throat. "Your place or mine?"
She said, almost breathless... I watched her face, still trying to gauge if she is alright...
"What"
" I asked if you would like your place or mine. Where do we meet to plan for our project?"
I looked at the glint in her eyes, her previous reaction gone.
I don't think I like the idea of going to where she lives, it's not sitting well with me.
But then her coming to mine is not an option either. I don't think I can handle her in my space, it's clear she doesn't know what it means not to step into someone's space or privacy; if she does, she doesn't care. I can barely stand Elijah sitting on my bed, but even he understands boundaries and knows not to cross them.
This brunette does not.
"Yours," I say tight-lipped. Both options are quite unfavorable; it's better to choose the one with the least trouble.
"Great, I'll see you tomorrow. I'll text you the address " she squealed, clearly excited by the arrangements. I shivered.
Squeal... Why did she have to squeal...?
I gulped and watched her walk to her car, but not before winking at me before driving off.
She will text me... When did she get my number?
I closed my eyes and leaned to my car...lord, I'm in trouble...what is this