Trading Heartbeats
Chapter 23 - Change of Hair
During the course of Cody's and Layla's evening together in Ohio, in Chicago, a very excited bunch had just agreed on going out to a café to celebrate their bit of good news. Khaila and Punk sat together on the couch as they waited for Sonelle and Brittany to freshen up themselves. By now, Punk had extended an arm around Khaila. At this moment, she was far too tired to force him to move it; besides, why not let him have his bit of fun for now? "So," she heard Punk's voice speaking to her. As she looked up at the smirking man, he continued, "you don't forgive me, but you kissed me … twice." Khaila's cheeks reddened before looking back towards the T.V. that had been turned down very low.
"So," she asked casually. She could feel Punk's smirk grow a bit as he lowered his lips to her cheek giving it a small peck. Chills ran all through Khaila's body, and at this she was amazed. Even after all that had happened, Punk was still able to spike Khaila's blood. Punk, probably picking this up, gave a slight chuckle. Khaila could feel his warm breath trickle down her neck as he did so.
"So, it'd be okay if …" his voice trailed off as she felt his lips crash onto her neck. Every strand of hair on her body had stood up. Her eyes fluttered closed as she felt Punk's lips moving slowly up and down her neck. Suddenly, he'd felt his lips take on a new direction. Instead of proceeding down her neck once more, they'd travelled up and stopped at her lips. Just before they'd crashed onto hers, they simply lingered there brushing against them. Khaila looked into his eyes that seemed to have wandered up from her lips to her eyes. As much as she wanted to just have herself be kissed by Punk (who wouldn't?), she needed to show him that she was being serious about the entire situation between him and Amelia. He wouldn't get off that easily.
Just as Punk leaned in closer to plant his lips on hers, Khaila turned her head facing the T.V. once more as Punk's lips crashed onto her cheek. Punk looked at her confusedly. Khaila gave a comforting half-smile before whispering to him once more, "I like you, Punk, but I can't forgive you … not yet, anyways." As she muttered the last word of her sentence, a knocking sound had come from the door. Khaila rose to her feet and moved in the direction of the door whereas Punk sighed, relaxing himself back on the couch. As she pulled it open, the two girls they had been waiting for had stepped in.
"All ready," Brittany asked as she clutched her purse tighter to her and looking at Khaila. Khaila glanced back at Punk who reluctantly got to his feet and stood next to her. The group departed the apartment and headed out to the cars outside. Brittany and Sonelle saw it best that they ride in their own while Punk and Khaila rode in Punk's vehicle. The group split into twos and seated themselves into their own cars. Brittany and Sonelle were the first to speed off onto the road. As Khaila seated herself inside and was about to close the door, a hand stopped her. Khaila looked up at a smirking Punk.
"Yes," she asked. Punk shook his head still bearing a smug smirk on his lips. After a moment or two of just looking at her, Punk closed the door and seated himself in the driver's seat. Buckling himself in, both he and Khaila sped off onto the road. Khaila's brow furrowed as she thought about why he he'd done … whatever he did just then. "Punk," she asked sceptically. He merely made a side glance at her to let her know that he was listening. She continued on, "What was that all about?" Punk chuckled.
"What? I can't look at you now," Punk answered giving her another side glance. Khaila let out a slight 'humph' and stared out the window. She watched as the people and trees and buildings all seemed to pass by very fast. In its suddenness, Khaila had barely realized that Punk had taken her hand in his. She'd only noticed when he gave it a comforting squeeze. As she looked over at him, Punk looked as content as she'd ever seen him. Something was up (no sexual pun intended), she thought to herself. Finally getting the gist that Khaila wanted to talk to him, due to her staring, Punk finally said, "Yes?" Khaila smirked.
"What? I can't look at you now," she said, mocking Punk. Punk gave a slight chuckle.
"Hmm …" Khaila gave a slight smile, but it quickly faded as she prepared herself to ask Punk something that had been present in her mind ever since she'd seen him for the second time. Forgetting about Punk's staring, and his forward gestures, Khaila braced herself as she looked at Punk once more.
"Punk," she asked, feeling her fingers getting tense around his hand.
"Yes," he asked in return.
"What did you see in Amelia," she blurted out. Suddenly, the car seemed as if it were about to swerve off the road. Punk left Khaila's hand and grabbed onto the wheel with both, coming to a stop right in front of the pavement. The question had seemed to throw Punk way off his game.
"What," he asked incredulously. Khaila merely raised a brow.
"I asked, 'What did you see in Amelia,'" she told him. Punk chuckled a bit still astonished that Khaila would ask him such a question.
Looking at the road, he provided his answer, "Nothing." Khaila scoffed disbelievingly.
"Right," she added sarcastically. Punk looked at her curiously.
"What do you mean 'right'? Khaila, I saw nothing in her," Punk continued. "And if you're just going to ask me what I saw in Amelia, so as to find out why I came back, then allow me to tell you directly. I came back because of you, because I missed you, because I realized that I screwed up big time, and I wanted to make it right." Khaila didn't look at him. She hadn't known why this question had only popped up then, or why she wanted to make a big deal out of it.
"Why did you though … why'd you do it," she asked finally looking at him. Punk's face had looked confused more than ever as he too tried to decipher why this question had popped into Khaila's mind suddenly.
With a sigh, he answered, "I don't know. In all honesty, I don't. If I did, I'd tell both you and myself." Khaila gnawed on her lip and gave a slight nod. Although neither of the answers were quite what she'd wanted, she had to accept the fact that perhaps the incident between Amelia and Punk had aroused simply out of hormones rather than attraction. Even if she wanted to fight Punk against his word, she couldn't. She knew he was being genuinely truthful about everything. Punk leaned over and kissed her cheek gently. Khaila turned towards him only to find him a sole 2 inches away from her face. "Khaila, I love you, and I mean it. Love isn't a word I use or play around with much at all," he whispered to her. Khaila's cheeks reddened as she gave Punk a peck on his lips. As much as she wanted to tell him, she loved him back. She had to remember her promise to herself … she wouldn't let him off that easily.
"I'm hungry," she whispered with a half-smile. Punk chuckled and nodded before revving up the engine once more and proceeding down to the café. After arriving, Punk had taken note that it was the same café that Khaila and him had met at. The couple had walked in surveying the entire café for Brittany and Sonelle. Suddenly, two waving hands had caught their attention. At the booth, second to the last in the back, were two people already sipping their frozen coffees and waving at the couple that had just entered. Khaila gave a slight chuckle as both she and Punk made their way over to the booth. Punk offered Khaila the seat closest to the window, but she declined and sat on the edge of the booth. The restaurant was quite quiet, and it had its usual crowd … eight. The four talked rather nicely to each other before Khaila's stomach had growled at her. Punk gave a slight chuckle as he looked at her. Khaila's cheeks reddened. Just as she was about to excuse herself from the table to get something to drink, a loud shout had erupted over on the other side of the café. "Watch where you're going," a man in his 40s had shouted. The young girl with short, spiky, dark brown hair, covered by a blue beanie that seemed to match her jacket quickly, apologized before stumbling her way inside the café.
"Wow," Punk murmured under his breath. Khaila gave a slight chuckle.
"Do you want anything," Khaila asked Punk as she readily got up. Punk shook his head sliding himself to the end of booth in order to accompany Khaila. "No, that's okay," she quickly told him.
"Alright," he mumbled as he slid back over to his side. Khaila strolled over to the serving area. Directly beside her was the girl who'd been shouted at, Khaila gave her order to the employee and watched as he quickly jotted it down, proceeding to the back afterwards.
"Will that be all," the employee asked the girl beside her. She didn't speak, she simply nodded and grabbed hold of her warm cup of coffee. As she attempted to spin around on her heel and proceed to the booth behind Khaila's and her friends', she'd knocked into Khaila. Both girls crashed onto the floor as did the cup of coffee that had shattered completely. Both girls sat up at the same time; Khaila stood up and reached out a hand to the fallen stranger … only, as she'd taken a closer look, it hadn't been a stranger at all. With the beanie now soaking itself in the puddle of coffee that lay beside the girl, Khaila easily recognized her gray/green eyes.
"Amelia," she asked simply astonished. Amelia quickly grabbed her beanie from swimming anymore in the pool of coffee. Suddenly, the two girls had been surrounded by six other onlookers - three being Sonelle, Brittany and Punk and the other three being employees that quickly helped Amelia up and mopped and swept away the coffee and shattered pieces of the cup. Punk placed a hand on Khaila's shoulder pulling her towards him. Amelia simply stared at the four of them unable to say anything. "You're … here," Khaila asked once more.
Amelia gave a slight nod. She didn't know what to say to either of them, more so Khaila. From the time she'd left to this point, she'd recollected every bit of the night of the affair, and every moment had made her even more ashamed of herself. She'd betrayed and wounded her friends and Cody, and she'd utterly humiliated herself. Amelia clutched onto her beanie so tightly that it appeared as if she were wringing it out in her hands. Amelia glanced at each one of their faces besides Punk and Khaila's. She looked at Brittany who bore a look of astonishment as well as annoyed. She then looked to Sonelle who had been in utter shock and amazement that they'd finally been able to see Amelia again. "Why don't you come and have coffee with us," Khaila invited.
"Khaila," she heard Punk mutter under his breath. Khaila dismissed it.
"Really, Amelia, we want to talk to you. We haven't seen you in what? Two weeks," Sonelle spoke. A small smile had come onto Amelia's face. Although it was very kind of them to invite her, she could tell that she wasn't wanted. Just as she'd opened her mouth to decline the invitation, Sonelle had grabbed onto her wrist and dragged her off to the table they had previously sat at. Sonelle slid in, followed by Amelia, and then Brittany who made sure she kept a certain distance between herself and Amelia. Khaila and Punk were the last two to reach the table. Bringing a warm cup of coffee for Amelia, Khaila slid in first this time followed by Punk. Amelia gave a half-smile of gratitude and sipped the coffee from its cup. "So, what did you do to your hair," Sonelle asked as the fact that not only had the length of her hair changed, but the colour had as well began to settle in. Amelia put down her cup of coffee so careful as to not spill any of it.
"I, um, dyed it and cut it," she told them in a low voice. There was no doubt that after all the time that had passed Amelia felt very awkward amongst her used-to-be friends. Brittany, who had merely muttered an 'oh' or 'mhm', had picked up her phone and began texting once more. Amelia stole a glance at Punk who seemed to be eyeing her curiously. Quickly turning her eyes away, she stared up at the menu board that hug above the serving area.
"So um," Khaila began once more, "where are you staying?" Amelia looked towards Khaila still astonished that she'd actually been talking quite nicely to her.
"Oh," Amelia paused still trying to process all of this, "well, there's this bit of a motel just a few blocks down from the supermarket." Khaila gave a small, polite smile. She hadn't trusted Amelia, nor could she forgive her after what had happened with Punk, but nonetheless, there was a part of Khaila that cared about her. Amelia, as well as Brittany and Sonelle, were family to her, and just the thought of Amelia living in a rat-filled motel with torn wallpaper and creaky floorboards made Khaila's heart just a bit more compassionate towards her.
"Well, you could always come back to the apartment if you wanted to," Sonelle offered. Khaila held her breath a bit at Sonelle's question. She cared about Amelia, yes, but by no means did she want to be living with her so soon. Amelia, who had taken another sip of her coffee, gently put it down and shook her head. Khaila gently exhaled her withheld breath.
"No, no thanks. I'm fine where I am," Amelia politely declined with a small smile. Sonelle merely shrugged.
"Still, just so you know, there's a place there for you," Sonelle continued. Amelia gave a small nod and a thank-you sort of smile. Brittany closed her phone and set it back down on the table. Amelia glanced at the time on Brittany's phone; it read 1:30pm. Amelia's heart thumped. It had nearly been time for her appointment. She needed to leave now.
"Um," she said as she looked around at everyone, except Punk. "So, thanks for the coffee and the talk and everything," she said with a smile, "but I really have to go now." Each of them had nodded their head, except Punk. Brittany slid out of the booth allowing Amelia to pass. Amelia gave a small smile before she left the table. Proceeding back outside to her car, Amelia flung open the door. Just as she was about seat herself into her car, however, a hand had grabbed her elbow. Amelia turned around suddenly. To her surprise, it was Khaila again.
"Hey, um, we thought it'd be nice if we could get your number again. Every time we tried your old one it-" Khaila began before being interrupted.
"Oh, yeah. I-I changed, sorry, here," Amelia responded after scribbling her new cell phone number down onto a piece of paper and handing it to her. Khaila took it with a smile and waved goodbye allowing Amelia to crawl into her car and drive off. With her windows rolled down, Amelia allowed the wind to tangle her hair as she drove mindlessly through the streets of Chicago contemplating what had just happened - change. Change of hair, change of mind and … change of heart.