King of Freaks ✔

Chapter 18

Bryn Atkinson's POV

I woke up to Eliazer shaking me awake. I felt lightheaded, and my eyes were swollen due to crying. Confusion was the first thing that struck me.

"C'mon." Eliazer softly said, gesturing with his hand. I nodded, getting out of his old car. I recognized it as a black 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner, Nikolai's ultimate favorite. Nikolai has a thing for vehicles, new or old big or small, he loved them either way. As we walked, Eliazer put a hand on the small of my back, leading me towards a store.

Loui's Ice Cream House

It was a small, neighborhood ice cream store. It was the type of ice cream store where people knew each other all the time. Eliazer went up to the counter, where a man in his early thirties was. "Vanilla in a cup," Eliazer ordered before turning to me.

"Can I get a lemon flavored Popsicle?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure." The man said warily, looking at Eliazer. It was pretty obvious, it's hard to notice his pearly white eye. The man kept on staring, and I was starting to think it was going a bit overboard. The man had no shame.

"Is there a problem?" I asked, annoyed. Eliazer put a hand on my forearm, but I continued. "See something?" I dared.

The mans face turned into a scowl. "Listen girly, do yourself a favor, and stop hanging around with freaks, you'll become a fricking demon too." He said in a mocking tone. This time, the scowl formed on Eliazer's face. Before I had time to slap the counter man, an old woman came through the back.

"Oh my goodness, I'm terribly sorry. Please, forgive my son. He doesn't know when to shut his damn mouth." She said, glaring at whom she identified as her son. "Now get on there with you, I should be the one at the counter."

She seemed genuinely sorry.

Forgive and forget, right?

Edna, the name that was imprinted on her shirt. "I'm so sorry, don't believe anything he says, that's boys a darn idiot I'll say. My father was blind, so I was always bashed with questions as to why he looked that way. Again, I'm very, terribly sorry." She said, handing us our orders.

Eliazer hummed, placing the money on the counter while I smiled softly at her apologetic face. We sat at a table on the side, by the wall. It was silent, but I knew deep down he was doing this to cheer me up.

Strange isn't it?

I looked at Eliazer, giving him a soft smile. I didn't expect for him to give me one back, but what a surprise it was when I saw one side of his mouth slowly twitch up for a split second. I tried shutting my mouth closed, not wanting it to fall to the ground. I was surprised as ever.

Eliazer silently scooped a spoon of vanilla ice cream before placing it inside his mouth. I looked at him, he looked at me. We didn't bother looking away, but it wasn't awkward either. It was surprisingly comforting. Eliazer is the type of person to have a natural awkward aura or a scary one. I'm guessing at times, it can be comfortable.

I let out a frustrated sigh as the lemon juice started sliding down my hand. I angrily wiped my hand with a napkin, knowing that it's going to feel sticky. The vibration of my phone caught my attention. I pulled it out of my pocket, only to see that I got a message from River.

We heard about Kegan. R u ok?

I pondered on my reply. If my friends knew, then the whole school knew.

Yea, I'm ok. Thx.

I placed my phone down, satisfied with my reply. I didn't think it sounded salty, more like I needed space. I was with Eliazer after all, I don't know how the guys would react to that.  The only one that knows is Bruce. From what I could tell, it looked like the guys didn't know I hanged out with Eliazer and Jared, but of course, Bruce found out on the day of the shooting.