I'm Bad. You're Worse.

Seventeen: Mysteries of Nature

~~~~~~~~~~~~~17~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wow," I breathe out excitedly, all thoughts on my new iPhone completely gone for the moment.

Jake leads me further into the large tent, calmly reaching for my hand as he does so.

I decide to give it to him, seeing as he's just given me an iPhone and taken me to a circus.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Witness the mysteries of nature!" The ringmaster calls from the center of the tent, standing on a small, circular stage.

"This is amazing." I say, squeezing Jake's hand gently. We stop at a stall near the stage to buy cotton candy and continue on our way to the front.

Jake plops me down smack in front of the stage, pulling me up onto his lap.

I wriggle out of his grasp and scowl. "Don't push your luck, buddy." Jake simply chuckles in response, slipping his muscular, incredibly drool-worthy arm around me.

I nearly swoon, but stop myself by focusing my eyes onto the stage.

Trapeze is the first act, followed by a strong man and then a lion tamer. Yes, with a real lion.

I'm talking full-blown foreign traveling circus, the kind you never even see around anymore.

How Jake even managed to find a show like this is beyond me, but I'm enjoying every amazing second of it.

Once the show is finished, Jake pulls me up, rushing me through a small door on the left of the stage and through a narrow passage-way containing more rooms.

"Alexander, my man!" Jake says, laughing and hugging the strong man, who is the first person we see upon entering what I assume is the circus caravan.

It's surprisingly modern, considering that it houses something so old-fashioned.

"Jacob! How have you been, little boy?" The strong man replies, booming out a laugh, making his slick, neatly trimmed and shaped black mustache quiver.

"Absolutely excellent." Jake replies, stepping back and throwing his arm around me.

I give him a look and carefully peel it off.

"Who's this?" Alexander asks, smiling kindly down at me, considerately over-looking my ridiculous outfit.

I almost gulp aloud, he's absolutely massive. He could crush me with his pinky finger if he wanted to, I suppose.

"This is my girlfriend, Lily." Jake says, smirking down at me.

I scoff. "Um...he's not my boyfriend. We go to the same school." I say in return, giving Jake a murderous glare in the process.

Alexander chuckles, holding out a hand for me to shake. "Pleasure, young Lily."

I slowly grasp his hand, surprised at the lightness of his grip. Considering how huge he is, I would've thought my hand would be broken by now. But his hold is perfectly light, with only a tiny amount of firmness.

We stay and talk to Alexander for a few more minutes before another man comes up to us.

"Who's she? And who dressed her?" The man asks, sniggering and gesturing towards me.

"SHE is Lily Evans, and she happens to have perfect hearing, thank you very much, so stop talking about her like she's not here. And I wore this outfit for a reason, so piss off." I retort, glaring at the man in question.

"Lily, this is Luccio. My brother." Alexander introduces, smiling softly. We shake hands briefly, but this time it's more brutal.

By the way Luccio was clutching onto my hand, you would've thought he was trying to break it off.

Luccio is nothing like his brother.

He has messily cropped sandy blonde hair (Alexander's is long, neatly combed and jet black) and instead of the kind, warm brown orbs that Alexander possesses, Luccio has dull blue eyes, cold and calculating.

I decide immediately that I don't like Alexander's brother at all.

After socializing with everyone else, as well as viewing various circus acts up close, (as in right in front of their face, how much closer can you get) Jake and I decide to leave and go get some food.

***

"If Leo gets close again, don't hesitate," Jake instructs, handing me a small bottle of pepper spray.

I sigh and grab it, stuffing it into the Mac bag along with my new phone.

"If you would just tell me-" "I will." Jake says, cutting me off. I grin, pleased.

"So what happened?" I ask, raising an eyebrow and turning around in my seat to face him.

"I never said I'd tell you today." He answers, eyes still glued to the road. I sigh and turn back around, facing forward instead.

Suddenly, I feel a warm hand land on my bare thigh and yelp in surprise, shooting up and hitting my head on the car's ceiling.

Jake chuckles and withdraws his hand before I can snap off one of its fingers. "Sorry, babe. Are you hurt?" He coos, earning a harsh smack against the side of his face.

Jake stomps on the break and the car lurches forward severely before coming to a stop in front of my house.

"Get out." He growls, leaning over me to open the door. "Thanks. I had SO much fun today." I snap sarcastically in return, staring him down.

For a moment, I think I see some sort of emotion flicker through his eyes, maybe hurt, but as quick as it appeared, it's gone.

"And I'm not following your stupid safety measures." I snap again, shoving the bag with the iPhone and pepper spray at him.

I quickly unbuckle my seatbelt and shoot out of the car before he can react, running to my front door and unlocking it, slipping safely inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, Lily. Why are you always so angry? :P

Oh, Jake. Why do you always manage to irritate Lily? :|

Hahaha. Oh wait, that's my fault.

Sorry it took so long for me to update. I was just feeling quite lazy for awhile. :c

Anyway! Please vote for this for the Watty Awards, 2013! :) I'm counting on ya'll.

That's all for now. Comment, VOTE, Share, Fan. :>

❤❤❤-Sofi