Page 47 of Follow My Voice
Kang’s cheeks flush; he looks away and releases my hand to scratch the back of his neck. “Damn, you’ve got such a nice smile.”
It’s my turn to blush, warmth creeping up my cheeks then settling in my stomach. “Thank you.”
Kang clears his throat and extends his arm for me to walk ahead of him. “Shall we go?”
“You go first. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Are you ashamed to be seen with me?” He gasps, as if in horror. “Am I your little secret, Klara?”
I play along. “Something like that.”
He places both hands over his heart as he walks backward down the hall. “That hurts, Klara, that hurts.”
“You’ll survive.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Of course. You’re Batman, after all.”
Kang stops and lowers his hands, but before he disappears around the corner, he flashes those adorable dimples.
I don’t know how long I stand there, staring at the spot where he stood, trying to process everything that just happened to me.
I met Kang.
I talked to him in person, just inches away.
He called me pretty—well, “hot,” technically—and said I have a beautiful smile.
I met his friend Erick and he wasn’t a jerk.
I chatted with my crush and I didn’t die!
I pat myself on the back.Good job, me. You did well today.
When I return to the Blue Ridge Health Sciences Center and sit back down next to Perla, I can’t help but notice the confusion on her face and the thousands of questions in her eyes. I don’t know what she’s thinking, but I do know that she saw me run away from Kang earlier. My eyes meet Diego’s, who’s staring at me with a smirk plastered on his face. I’m imagining things.
“What did I miss?” I ask, trying to make things normal between Perla and me.
“Nothing interesting,” she replies.
All of a sudden, the power comes back on and the building lights up. There is cheering and laughter all around as Ms. Romes appears at the end of the hallway.
“The storm has died down for now, so we’ll wait a bit for everyone to either go home or continue with your regular schedules.”
Diego frowns and raises his voice for everyone to hear. “Regular schedules? I think we should have the afternoon off.”
She gives him an annoyed look. “That’s for the dean to decide.”
Kang and Erick are sitting near Ms. Romes. Kang’s eyes meet mine and he subtly waves at me. I press my lips together to keep from smiling and wave back. I look down and when I look back up, Diego is watching me, again with that same smirk. Doesn’t he have anything better to do?
I spend the next few minutes chatting with Perla. Surprisingly, she doesn’t ask me about Kang. Maybe she doesn’t want to bring him up because she knows I have a lot of questions for her, too. I still want to know why she warned me about him.
One by one, the students begin to disperse. Perla sighs. “Well, this adventure was fun while it lasted. See you next class, Klara.”
“See you.”
Kamila texts to let me know it will still be a while before she or Andy will be able to get across town to pick me up, and I feel a little anxious as I watch the hallway emptying out. There’s no one seated nearby except for Diego, who is on his phone. A few other students linger around, including Kang, chatting with another guy now that Erick has left.
