Christina

After experiencing what I had last night, I avoided Race the best I could. I didn't want to tell him that I didn't really like him in that way.

I was headed down the stairs of the orphanage when I saw Blink, the guy with the eyepatch, laughing at me.

"Aye, Chrissy! Kiss this!" he then turned around, bent over, and stuck his butt high in the air. He even smacked it.

"I wouldn't kiss you even if we were the last thing on earth." I was pretty content with that comeback. I ran down and kicked the door open before he could say anything back. A wall of chilly air slapped me in the face when I reached the outside. It almost felt like winter. I rubbed my arms with my hands to warm them. I shivered as I checked to see if the coast was clear--from him.

I didn't see him anywhere so I began walking towards the Distribution Center.

"Chrissy!"

I recognized the voice. I turned my head to see that it was Racetrack. He was walking hurriedly towards me. There was no escaping.

"Dammit," I muttered to myself as I waited for him to reach me.

"Hiya, Chrissy. How are you doing?" he asked, looking deeply into my eyes. I quickly let my gaze drop away from his. "Is something wrong?" his voice was shaking.

"Nothing. I'm just tired." I lied, scratching the back of my neck uncomfortably.

There was a brief pause before he blurted out, "Look if this is about last night, I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me. I just really, really like you, Chris."

"Yeah about that..." My voice trailed off. I hated that I had to tell Race this. "I'm not sure I like you back. Not in that way, at least."

I waited patiently for him to be upset, but he was instead silent.

A couple of seconds passed, I spoke again. "Are you okay?"

Racetrack somberly nodded.

"Please don't hate me, Race." I pleaded.

"No, I don't hate ya. I'm just a little..." he looked at me deeply in the eyes again. "Can I at least hug you again?"

"Sure."

We both reached out to each other and hugged tightly. I had to admit, hugging Race was really comforting. His body was warm and I loved how he had good intentions.

"Thank you," he whispered sweetly into my ear.

Sorry for this super short filler chapter!

Thanks for reading!!