At The End Of The Tunnel

2) Bad Parenting

I don't know how long I was staring at Damien but by the time I realised it, he had also realised as well. He was staring straight back at me before I quickly lowered my head in embarrassment.

I quickly finished eating and started on my way out of the cafeteria to head to the library.

As soon as I exited the cafeteria, I heard a voice behind me.

"Hey, wait up." The voice called out.

I turned around to see that the voice was coming from Damien. I froze in place. There was no way that someone of his status was talking to someone like me.

"I saw you looking at me back there in the cafeteria. What was that about?" He asked as he started slowly approaching me.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I wasn't watching you." I said so soft that I was not even sure that he heard me.

But apparently he did because he answered me. "No need to act like you wasn't. It's ok." He said shoving his hands in his jeans pocket.

Oh my god, he just said it was ok for me to look at him. I don't know what he meant by that but right now I was so happy that I could pop.

I nodded in response. "I was looking at you." I shyly said.

He chuckled. "I know, that's what I just said. What's wrong with your face?" He asked pointing to my black eye.

"Oh," I said quickly moving my hand to touch my eye. "I uhhh...I walked into a wall." I said and almost facepalmed at my horrible and embarrassing excuse.

Damien laughed at my expense. "That's so silly. But you should put some ice on that so the swelling goes down."

I nodded. "Yeah I planned on doing that." I told him.

"That's good." He said. "I don't think i've introduced myself. I'm Damien Beckett."

I chuckled lightly. "I'm sure everyone knows who you are."

"You're probably right." He said scratching the back of his neck.

There was silence for a brief moment before he spoke up again. "You didn't tell me your name."

"Oh," I said nervously playing with my fingers. "I-I'm Kai...Kai Carter."

"Kai Carter." He echoed my response.
"Cute name. It has a ring to it." He said slightly smirking causing my heart to flutter.

"Hey Beckett." A voice from behind called, disrupting our conversation. "Come over here."

He groaned loudly then slapped his hand down on my shoulder. The same shoulder that got dislocated last night when I received that massive beating from my father.

I hissed in pain and took a couple of steps back. Damien had a panicked expression on his face when I looked back at him.

"Dude, seriously are you ok? You just jumped five feet back because of a simple touch." He said with that same worried look still on his face.

"I told you I walked into a wall and my eye and my shoulder got messed up." I lied.

"Shit, that's some wall you walked into. You need to seriously not walk into a wall again, and maybe you should get your shoulder and eye checked out. Okay."

I nodded. "I will." I mumbled.

"Good, and don't forget ice. Put some ice on your face, it will help."

I smiled at him and nodded again. He smiled back and turned away to walk towards his friends.

"I'll see you around Kai." He said turning towards me and walking backwards before turning his body once again and disappearing into the cafeteria.

I stood frozen in place. I couldn't believe it. I even physically pinched myself to see if I was dreaming. But no, this was no dream, it was all real. I had just been talking to Damien Beckett.

God he must think I'm such an idiot. Like who the hell walks into a wall?Was I really so bad at lying that I couldn't think of a cooler way to say I hurt myself? Uhhh I'm so stupid.

Well I guess that's one good thing that happened today. With all that I'm going through, every little thing counts.

I just shrugged and continue making my way to the library.

***
Thank you so much for reading please let me know what you thought about this chapter.

Also what do you think of the song choices so far? Tell me what you think.

Love you ♥

-JAY