"He found the colors to paint her
where the world had left her grey."
~Atticus
*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 6
Arabella parks her motorcycle before taking off her helmet and runs her fingers through her hair as she gets off the bike. She adjusts her bag so that it was only on one shoulder before she bends slightly to take Marco's jacket out from the saddle bag.
Her entire body breaks out with warmth and without realizing it, her lips tilt up into a fond smile before she lets out a small chuckle as she feels the texture of the jacket with her palm and fingers.
She hadn't had that much fun as she did with Marco yesterday in a very long time.
FLASHBACK
"I'm Marco, by the way." He flashes her a smile before he turns to the dance machine to throw tokens in.
Arabella smirks as he stands in the spot next to her, "I'm Bella Evans. But, mostly, everyone calls me Evans. I thought you should know that since I'm going to be kicking your ass."
Marco laughs with a shake of his head, "Well, I'd rather take it on this machine than around a field."
Arabella felt her entire body lit up with amusement as he mentions what she did to the poor boys on the field today, "Ooof, good one."
Her heart decided at that moment to beat even faster as their eyes meet and she wasn't that stupid to not realize the way he was looking at her. Or the way she was looking at him and she could stare at him all day if it meant that it felt like her entire surroundings had disappeared and the only thing that she could think about was her heart slamming against her chest and Marco in front of her.
Arabella clears her throat as she feels the vibrations of the machine zing her feet when it says 'ready' and it probably short circuited her brain to finally think properly.
"Get ready." Marco starts.
"To beat you? Oh, I already am." She throws back.
Marco liked the challenging gleam in her eyes as she shot him a look that said 'We will see who wins'. He looks back to the machine as he tries to get his body to function with his brain.
Her voice was strong and confident. Her posture was sure and graceful for a girl as tall as her. And her eyes were what attracted him the most. He wanted to get closer to see that slight specs of gold when the light meets it or see if the blue swirls with the green or if it changes colors and shapes because of her emotions.
Marco was knocked out of his thoughts as the music begin and he looks to his side to throw her a grin, only to see her grinning right back at him. Her light pink cheeks that made her freckles look as if it was glowing made him want to get closer to count it, to see if her cheeks would get darker, hoping her cheeks would get darker as the defined shape and softness of it seem to beg him to caress the swell of it.
Arabella had to control not letting her breath get stuck in her throat at the dazed smoldering way he was looking at her as she retorts, "If you're going to keep staring you're going to drill a hole in my face."
Marco feels his cheeks heat at Arabella calling him out on his staring as both of them move to the sound of the song and the arrows on the screen.
Arabella lets out a laugh as she twirls around to go to the other arrow and moves effortlessly to the beat; scoring 'perfect' on the machine.
Marco misses a step but shakes his head in both amusement and trying to clear his mind at how embarrassing it was to get caught staring at her.
"What can I say? I have a habit of looking too long at beautiful things."
It is Marco's turn to smirk as he keeps up with the machine's pace when Arabella misses a step.
"Flattery isn't going to get you anywhere other than my foot on your ass."
"If you wanted to touch my ass all you have to do is ask, no need for threats." He teases.
"Ah, a person who likes having his ass groped, I'll remember to spread the news. The girls will go crazy for that." She winks playfully.
Marco and Arabella don't continue speaking as the music goes faster, the arrows coming faster and their movements keeping up with the machine as much as they could before they stop when the last arrow pass by.
They were both sweating, hearts racing, chest heaving and mirth in their eyes as well as anticipation glinting through their pores as they wait for the machine to dictate the winner.
Arabella lets out a triumphant, "Yes!" as she sees her step accuracy is seventy-six percent while Marco's is seventy-four percent.
Marco groans with a shake of his head, "You blindsided me with your comment earlier, Arabella. That's the only reason why you won."
Arabella's triumph and grin slowly leave her body as she hears her name slip past his lips effortlessly; that growl like timbre in his voice made her name roll off his tongue with familiarity as if he has been using it for a long time. It crossed her mind instantly that she never gave him her full name. 'Bella' could stand for anything: Annabella, Isabella, Rosabella, Sarabella, Jazabella, Maribella etcetera, so, he couldn't have just guessed her full name.
"I see you have been asking around about me," she states blankly. Yes, her name sounded like melted chocolate drizzled over ice-cream when it left his lips but that doesn't mean that he could just call her that. She didn't like being called that except by her family and the Flynns —who barely uses it anyway— but she didn't mind it then. She grew a dislike to people not close to her calling her that when her Mother passed away saying her name on the tip of her tongue as if it was the only word/name that will bring her comfort. Since then, every time someone said her name, the thought of her mother's frail and sick body around her, warmth soaking into her side, as her mother whisper her name, always came to mind. The intimate mixture of that with the melancholy of her mother's passing made her lash out at anyone except the people closest to her.
"I'm sure you also heard that I hate being called by my full name."
And there it was, thought Marco. The person that many in the school feared. Gone was the soft blush on her cheeks, the youthful tint in her laugh, and her stunning smile vanished only to be replaced with a blank stare, her lips pierced, her jaw clenched and her muscles tight with anger and the soft glaze of mesmerization in her sky-blue-forest-green mixture eyes were now wild with an icy dark blue and the green tinge in her eyes turned that of a viper ready to spring.
Marco could understand now why some were frightened of her. She was a sight to behold when she is angered. But, Marco was even more attracted to her than frightened.
"I have," he wades through the tense air cautiously before shrugging, his eyes light as they gaze at her the same as they have been since he collided with her, "But, why should I call you by anything else when your name gives you justice?"
He raises a brow as he takes a step closer to the frozen rage of a person that she had become, "A beautiful lion. Fierce, beautiful, majestic, strong, and what I hear, utterly loyal. Whoever gave you that name must have hoped that you will live up to it, even surpass it. I will not do you the disservice of reckoning you a shortening of your name that does you an injustice, Arabella." He allows her eyes to hold him hostage as he whispers her name between the air of two feet between them.
Arabella didn't allow him to see how his words have affected her. No-one has ever said something so beautiful, heart-wrenching, thought revoking, or home-welcoming to her before. He was right. Her mom, who gave her that name, always told her that Arabella was her 'little lion', and every day as she grew her mom knew that she had chosen the perfect name for her.
His words reminded her of her mom but it wasn't with melancholy this time nor pain but with that familiar fragrance of her mother's scent wrapping around her as she thinks about how her mother would joke about her name, laugh about how she resembled her meaning far too accurately. It brought back good memories, memories that warmed her, embraced her. And reminded her that her name was a gift from her mom. A gift... yet she made it seem like a curse.
And, not to mention, her heart warmed with that breathtaking feeling of seeing the naked honesty in his eyes that he believed every word he said. And for the first time in a long time, she felt flattered and she accepted the compliment —internally, of course.
"Whatever, Valentin."
Marco lets out an unexpected laugh at that. She was unpredictable as hell. He could barely read her until that moment when her body relaxes and her eyes turns to that soft tint and she teasingly called him by his second name. The tension between them melted away and an unspoken agreement went between them. Although, Marco has to admit that he was curious as to why she didn't like to be called by her first name and, he has to admit that he might have been slightly worried that she would punch him —he would not admit that out loud.
"I see you have been asking around about me," he throws her words back at her teasingly making her smirk, her eyes shining once more as she shrugs, "I might have heard a thing or two," she adds slyly.
"Tell me about it over a game of pool?"
She pretends to stroke her imaginary beard, "Hmm, depends."
FLASHBACK ENDS
That game of pool turned out to be three games of pool that consisted of them getting to know each other. Whenever one of them shot a ball in the hole they could ask the other a question and the person should answer honestly. And after the first game that had been insightful and fun, they couldn't help but get lost in it until both of their phones were ringing incessantly; their parents wondering where they were because it was already dark out.
Arabella is shaken out of her thoughts by the guys on the football team.
Jared slaps her back in greeting, "Evans!" He laughs, "Yesterday was funny as hell."
"Yeah, what did they do to get 'Evans the Menace' anyway?" Kenny asks with a wide grin.
Arabella grins while rolling her eyes as she takes Kenny's hand firmly before slapping him on the shoulder. 'Evans the Menace' is the name she had gotten from the guys when she joined the team and made them run laps around the field and do extra training exercises because she wanted them to eat their words of Coach never allowing a girl to be part of the team (assistant Coach). And the Coach is a sucker for her because she had tutored/babysat his son a few years back, allowed her to take control of the training that day when she used her sugary sweet voice and puppy dog eyes on him. And, of course, 'Evans the Bitch' was not an option seeing as Harry had gotten a broken nose from Noah for that one.
"Eh, you know, the usual when new meat wants to join the team." She adds as Jeff and Ben greet her with fist bumps, making all of them nod in understanding with mirth in their eyes. The new boys who wants to join the team always talk crap about Arabella; their biggest mistake. They don't ask further questions but after Arabella man-hugs Aaron and slaps Erik on the back, she tells them, "I gotta go. See you guys in class."
"Where you're going?" Jared frowns in confusion.
Arabella refuses to allow the heat to spread to her cheeks or the smile that was trying to break free show on her lips as she says with a straight face, "Going to drop something."
She doesn't give them the chance to say anything as she leaves promptly, turning her back to them, finally allowing her lips to break out into a smile as she thinks about Marco and the sound of her heart beating against her chest made her realize how nervous she was to see him again.
___________________________________________
Heeey guys!
I will be using the rest of Marco and Arabella's time together at the Arcade as flashbacks.
Sooo, what do you guys think of the chapter??
Please vote and comment :)
I would love to hear what you guys think.
I hope you all enjoyed it!