34

~Aria

Malik was out of the car in less than a second.

My heart almost broke as I looked at him. His face was ashen, his eyes clouded with dark shadows beneath. Those electric blue eyes that constantly danced with life were dull and bland, as if someone has sucked the life right out of them. He looked sick, almost, yet still as stunningly handsome as he had a few weeks ago.

He was dressed nicely, in a dark suit with the sleeves that came down past the edge of his gloves. Even his hair is styled precisely, however, the weather doesn't seem to care, dousing the dark strands with the powder.

"Aria, what are you doing here?" he questions, shoes crunching deep into the snow as he advances on me.

Suddenly, I couldn't really remember.

I made the mistake of looking over his shoulder and into the car. Macie sat in the backseat, looking out after Malik at me. We met gazes, her grey eyes cloudy like the sky above. She looks troubled. I can imagine why. She is competing against two other girls f