Page 80 of Time To Learn

16

Kristian

The driveback to New Beginnings is ripe with tension. I keep glancing at Laura, but it’s like she’s put up an invisible wall around her. Her hands are secured tightly around her middle as she looks out the window. No matter what I do, I can’t penetrateit.

Bloody complicated woman.

Finally, I’ve had enough with the silence between us, and the idea that, in order for her to open up to me, I reveal parts of my own past whips through my brain. The thought makes me feel vulnerable, and I tighten my hold on the steering wheel.

But I have to do this. I know that I have to give Laura a part of myself if I’m ever going to get a chance withher.

“You know,” I start softly, “you’re not the only one who has a past they want to keep hidden.”

I glance at her profile, but there’s still no reaction, so I continue.

“We don’t know much about each other, but in order for this friendship thing to work between us, I guess it’s time I told you a little bit about who Iam.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as she clenches her right hand into a fist, boring it into her flesh.

I guess that’s something, at least.

“My dad split up with my mum when I was thirteen,” I start, keeping my tone light. “He wasn’t much use to begin with, but after he left, it broke something inside her—it’s like the brightness of her soul was snuffed out. It didn’t happen overnight, but I watched her over the following months, and I could see it happening right before my eyes. Day by day, she shrank, became a shadow of her former self. I guess it’s true what they say—that some people never recover from a broken heart. It still makes me so fucking angry that I couldn’t stop it from happening.”

“You were just a child, Kristian.”

Laura’s soft whisper—the unveiled compassion in it—makes goose-bumps jump out on my arms, and I throw a wry smile her way. Seeing the cautious sympathy in her eyes settles the nerves in my gut a little.

“I know. It still doesn’t stop me regretting that I couldn’t helpher.”

Her posture relaxes a little as she frowns atme.

“What happened?” sheasks.

Pleased that she seems interested, I wet my lips as I look back to the road in front of me. It’s easier to continue the story if I’m not looking ather.

“Well, I didn’t turn wild and reckless if that’s what you’re wondering,” I muse. “But let’s just say that I became a little bit like her—aimless, not caring what my future would be like. School was boring to me, even though I found my classes easy—so easy, in fact, that I scored the highest in all my exams by the time I left high school, without putting too much effort intoit.”

“Really?”

I smirk as I nod, keeping my eyes on the road in front ofme.

“You don’t have to sound so surprised, though.” I wink at her and reach out my arm to trail my fingers softly down her cheek. “There’s a lot more to me than a fucking hot body and the ink painted on it, Laura,” I teaseher.

“I never said there wasn’t.”

Tongue in cheek, I turn my face so she can’t see how amused I am at how offended she sounds.

I shrug and try to keep my voice light.

“I know, but you didn’t have to. You see, people who look at me don’t see beneath the surface—they only see my tattoos, my hair, my clothes, and, in a matter of seconds, they’ve already made their mind up about me. It happens all thetime.”

I take a deep breath as I stop to gather my thoughts.

“Anyway, I didn’t want to go to a fancy university and study to become a doctor or a solicitor. I didn’t know what I wanted, actually. I loved to draw, though, and spent hours upon hours trying to become better all the time. The first time I met a tattoo artist and saw his work, it was like everything clicked into place. I just knew that I’d found what I’d been subconsciously looking for for a longtime.”

“How does it make you feel? Being a tattoo artist, Imean?”

I bite my lip as I take a moment, letting her question swirl around in my mind, before I answerher.