Nothing's Guaranteed

Chapter 2

"You weren't supposed to hear that." I never let people know that I can sing. I sit back up on the bench and pull one of my earbuds out. When I look up at him he has a smile stuck on his face and it gives me the sudden feeling to smile back. Almost like a contagion.

"Well I enjoyed the little part that I heard." He makes himself comfortable on the opposite end of the bench turning a little towards me.

"Are you stalking us or something?" The small smile is still on my face, but I can also feel the confusion I must be portraying as well.

"Um, no. Sometimes I just like to walk down to the pier...for air." I give him a quizzical look because he sounds unsure. He sees my face and laughs nervously while shaking his head. I release a laugh as well to let him see I am only messing with him and his posture relaxes. "Okay okay, I admit it. I followed you two down here, but only because I wanted to get to know you."

"Well, I don't know whether to find that flattering or creepy. What if I turned out to be crazy, or a psycho killer?" He laughs at me and an eyebrow raises as he tries to read my face to see if I am serious. He seems very nice but I am not in the mood to make a new friend right now. Deep deep down, I really want to ask him politely to leave me alone, but I am still trying not to give off the "rude girl" impression so soon. It has really just been a long day and I want to get my mind off this upcoming year and what to expect from it.

"You don't even look dangerous. If I was walking down the street and I had the choice to walk towards you on one side, or some grown ass man in a black trench coat holding a hammer, I would be on your side in a heartbeat." The smirk that appeared on my face was too hard to conceal so I just let it show. "Oh, I finally get a smile from her."

"Only because your scenario was horrible."

"But it made sense, so I think it was successful." I roll my eyes at him still smirking. "So you have a name or are we still too much of strangers?" Should I tell him my name? Or should I keep acting weird? Something is very calming about him though. I feel at ease and I barely know this guy at all. When he sees me pause he speaks again. "My name is Kyle, and yours?" I hear the hint of hope hanging on the end of his sentence and I go ahead and give in.

"Sydney."

"Kidney?" I know he heard me. I roll my eyes even though I am still smirking.

"I know you heard me the first time." He starts chuckling and shakes his head.

"You are a piece of work." I roll my eyes and turn to check on China. What does that even mean? "No, wait, I didn't mean it in a bad way. I just meant that here I am trying to make you laugh and all I can get is a smirk out of you."

"It's not really that easy to make me laugh." I say it nonchalantly. It is the truth. Life is not that funny to me.

"Wow, well we are going to have to change that. When I am around people I like for them to laugh and be happy. I feel it is my job. I want people to always feel comfortable in my presence." I don't say anything, I just look away from him and check on China again. When he realizes that I am not going to respond, he moves on. "So, you live in my building now?"

"Yes, I do. With my sister, Chasity. You know her?"

"You mean that fine ass woman that lives on the second floor? THAT'S your sister! No wonder you are so cute. You look just like her!" Now he is all excited and grinning. I am stuck on the fact that he just called me cute. I mentally smile at the thought but then shake it off. I look nothing like my sister though. She's so beautiful and she turns heads as she walks down the street. When she lived with us, before she went off to college, guys would always leave her gifts on the doorstep, she would always be on the phone talking to guys, and one guy had to have a restraining order put out against him. He was probably pretty harmless but my parents wanted to take all precautions even though all he did was follow her everywhere.