King and Commoner

23. Afraid

Chapter 23

Jeremy VII

"What do you want Jello?" Jeremy asked, making sure to keep his back to the girl.

"It's Gela! Gela!" She huffed.

Jeremy sighed. "Does it matter? We're not going to be meeting too much in the future."

It was silent. Jeremy was almost tempted to turn around to see if the girl had secretly snuck off.

Of course, though, that wasn't Gela's way. She would make a dramatic entrance, and a dramatic exit. That was just her way. That's what kept him still.

Finally, "What's so special about that Commoner."

"Huh?" Jeremy asked, the question shocked him enough to turn around and look at the girl he'd previously dated.

She raised an eyebrow and folded her arms. "Don't "huh?" me! What's so special about that girl?" She had her hands clenched in front of her, and she was shaking in anger. "I'm better looking than her! I'm richer than her! So why isn't it me?"

Jeremy sighed again. The girl was exhausting. The reason he'd gone out with her in the first place was because…well, they looked good together. But that was freshman year. He looked at Gela and said, "I don't like redheads." And walked away, leaving Gela looking at his back, a look she'd never show him adorned on her face as she clutched her heart.

Mary POV

The limo was waiting in the front of the school like Jeremy had said. Lucia and Cal walked me to it, making sure I was in the car before they waved goodbye. Jeremy was already seated in the seat across from me, his arms folded as he regarded me. He looked like he was angry.

Wait…not quite…it was as though he was holding back.

From what?

I shook my head and looked out the window of the car.

A few minutes later, when all I could see was the green, Jeremy cleared his throat. "Mary. Are you going to go to the Dance?" He asked.

So of course the question had me off guard. That and the fact that I was a little reluctant to tell him I'm going with Elijah.

But wait! Why would I be?

I turned to him. "Yeah. One of my friends asked me to go with him, so I-"

"What?" Jeremy went from looking mildly interested to enraged in less than a second. "Who?"

"Why do I have to tell you?" Haha. Was it obvious that I didn't want him to know?

"Tell me." He demanded.

"No." I crossed my arms.

"I said. Tell. Me." He commanded in a more frightening tone than when he was yelling.

I couldn't get any kind of words out of my mouth, fear suddenly holding me in a trance. There was a deathly glare in those copper orbs that paralyzed me. It was like he was about to kill.

"Damn you Mary, talk!" His fist came down on the armrest, and I involuntarily flinched.

Suddenly, his expression started changing, as if he was starting seeing how scary he was being. "Mary…" For some reason, I flinched again. Horror took over his face. "Mary, I wouldn't hurt you…" I kept close to my door. He sighed, a look of utter sadness filled his face. But I couldn't change it. Those flashing angry copper orbs just kept popping into my mind. He had been so terrifying.

He used a button on the top of the limo to roll down the soundproof black glass that separated the driver from the passengers. "Pull over." He told the driver. When the car stopped, Jeremy climbed out. I heard the passenger door in the front up with the driver open and I saw Jeremy climb in up there. A few seconds later, that black glass went up, blocking the sound of Jeremy's voice, and the sight of him altogether.

I sighed and put my feet up on the seat, wrapping my arms around them as my eyes looked out the window…yet I didn't register anything they saw.

I'd never been that afraid of anyone like that. Why it frightened me, I had no idea. It just did. It almost looked like he would've pulled a gun out and shot something. That unmerciful anger…I never wanted it directed at me again.

But why had he gotten angry? I'd just told him that someone had asked me to…was he about to ask me to the Dance? Is that why he was angry? Or did he not like the fact that I was going with someone? Did he want me to suffer going to a dance with no one? Did someone ruin his plans?

Ugh. I rubbed my temple. Too many questions, no one to answer them. Up above me, the sound of a mechanism working caught my attention. When I looked up, the sky roof was opening.

I smiled. A lot of movies taught me what I could do at this moment. I stood up and stuck my head out the window. I gasped at the wind that slapped my face and cleared my head. Gosh! It felt so awesome! The sudden happiness that had appeared bubbled up inside me and spilled over from my mouth in laughter. "Whoooo!" I yelled to the wind. My hands went up and I embraced letting the wind twirl around the upper half of my body sticking out of the car.

I knew it had to be Jeremy who opened it for me. Was this his apology? Even if it wasn't, I already forgave him when I saw the sky up above. And I believed his words. "Mary…I wouldn't hurt you." I believed it from this point on and forgave the past.

My phone vibrated in my skirt pocket a few minutes later, and I had to sit down to take it. "Hello?"

"Hey stranger!" The person who spoke to me in Spanish was…

"Mamma! Are you going to be at the dinner tonight at Caroline's?" It was so good to hear mamma's voice. And only then did I realize how much I missed her.

"No, I have work tonight. I wasn't able to get this day off."

"Aw mamma. Will I be able to see you before I leave back to school?" I asked, hoping I could…

"No, I don't think so. But no worry. Enjoy it at Caroline's. Have fun for me, okay mamasita?"

I sighed. "Okay. I will."

"I just wanted to hear my daughter's voice again. I have to get ready for work now, so I'll talk to you later, okay?" She said. I missed talking to her.

"Okay."

"Adios, mija. Te amo!" Roughly translated: Bye my little girl, I love you!

"Te amo, mama." I love you, mama.

She hung up first. I cradled the phone to my ear a few seconds longer, feeling the warmth I felt talking to mamma fade away with each second since I last heard her voice.

This was when my homesickness started kicking in. I missed home.

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So? It's kind of interesting that Mary is scared of Jeremy. Especially when it's like this...she usually gets mad back at him, but she didn't. Maybe it's because she doesn't understand his anger? Ahhhh! So confusing!

Now vote, and comment! Now! Please? Now! Pretty Please?  

~Kye~