If Only

Chapter Two: The Encounter

I searched my memory, trying to place his face in the context of my past experiences. And then it hit me, like a bolt of lightning. He was the guy from the store, the one I had bumped into earlier. The one I had dismissed as unimportant, inconsequential.

"It was you!" I exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You're the one who did this!"

He looked at me, his brow furrowed in confusion as he tried to remember where he had seen me before. And then, all at once, it clicked into place. His face lit up with recognition, and he grinned at me, like we were old friends.

"Shouldn't you be apologizing?" he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He shook the can of spray paint in his hand, making it rattle like a tin can with a stone inside.

"I did apologize!" I shot back, my breath coming in short, angry bursts. "But now I'm starting to think I shouldn't have bothered. You don't seem to care at all."

He only laughed, a humorless chuckle that grated on my nerves. It was like he was amused by my anger, like he was enjoying the way I squirmed under his gaze.

"What's so funny?" I demanded, my voice rising in pitch.

But he didn't answer, just stood there with that infuriating grin on his face, like he was daring me to do something. And as I stared at him, really looked at him, I realized something that made my blood run cold.

He was older than me, a lot older. Probably in his mid-twenties, at least. And yet, he seemed so much more experienced, so much more world-weary than I could ever hope to be. It was like he had seen things I could never even imagine, and it made me feel small and insignificant.

But I refused to let him intimidate me. I knew I was in the right, and I was determined to prove it. Even if it meant facing him head-on, even if it meant risking everything I had. I was stubborn like that, and I wasn't going to back down. Not now, not ever.

"You do realize that this is a private property and I can sue you for vandalizing my wall."

"Your wall?" he finally replied, catching me off guard, his voice full of mockery. He continued, 

"You're like what... fifteen? And I don't see a name carved on the thing so, might as well do it a little experiment"

Then he laughed, adding on to my annoyance even more and then he stopped and just stared at me like I'm the funniest little thing he's ever seen. His smug grin never leaving his face. A small dot of a dimple denting the left side of his cheek.

My eyes looked at him in disbelief and him calling me a few years younger than my actual age threw me off the cliff. I fume at him and step a little closer as the following words leave my mouth.

"I can press charges against you for vandalizing my wall. And I'm eighteen years old. This house belonged to my late grandfather and in a few years, this..." I motioned my hand towards the house, "...will be officially named on me. So you are technically vandalizing a private property, which happens to be mine" I was out of breath after that. But the same neutral-curious-fake innocent-look was on his face, totally and utterly unfazed, even a hint of humor casted off his strong features. He is starting to get into my nerves.

"You must be really dense if you don't understand the concept of private property," I retorted, my voice dripping with annoyance. "And I don't need to be proud of myself for understanding something so basic, unlike you apparently."

He scoffed, his eyes rolling as he leaned against the wall he had just vandalized. "Oh please, spare me the lecture. Your grandpa's dead, and this house isn't even legally yours yet. So technically, it's fair game for anyone to do whatever they want with it."