© Amber Kalkes 2014
*Song Of The Chapter: "Vagabond" By Wolfmother
Ethan--------}
Chapter Two: Town’s People Aren’t My People…Unless They're Cute.
After my shower, which was amazing, I got dressed. Jeans, lace trimmed white camisole, a thin black sweater and my black and white flip-flops. My hair, a monster that probably deserved it’s own name, was piled in my head in a messy bun. I grabbed my purse and noticed my hands were shaking. Pathetic, I know. I mean who gets this much anxiety over a shopping trip into town? Obviously me.
People in the town of Longmire were normal tax paying folk. That was probably why they didn’t like me that much. I was by no means normal by their standards and part of me could not have given a shit. The other half, as I explained before, craved acknowledgment from them, even if they were narrow-minded shit factories. That day I decided to go with the former and not give a damn. By the way, yes, I know I curse like a sailor. Don’t blame me my grandmother was five times worse.
So, after leaving my house, which I didn’t bother to lock, I went for the driver’s side door of my beat up old ford truck. She was older than me by a decade but she still had life in her. She never didn’t start in the winter and only broke down in convenient areas. Of that I was thankful for my beautiful truck, Penny.
I climbed in and started her up. She wheezed in protest but then roared to life. I smiled and turned the radio up to hear “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson blasting from my speakers. I did my dumb car dancing like an idiot all the way to town while screeching the lyrics like a banshee. Finally, after about five minutes the song was done and the commercial kicked in as I rode into town. It was still pretty early in the morning at ten A.M. Okay, maybe it was just early for me.
Parking outside by Annie’s flower shop I knew this would be my last stop of the day. I didn’t bother locking my car doors either. With the house it would have been stupid. Hell, I did have the best security system ever! Hungry wolves were like a fat kid to the chocolate that would be the robber or whatever. The car was really more of a careless deal. Believe me if you saw Penny your last thought would be to steal her. Yes, she really is that bad.
My flip-flops clicked against the concrete sidewalk as I made my way to my first stop, the grocery store. Unluckily for me, I was a shit cook. So I made my way directly to the soups and noodles aisle with a basket in my hand. I pushed as much ramen noodle packets into my basket as I could fit. I got slightly distracted by my need to play it like Tetris so I could fit more in. Of course that was cut short by the sound of male chuckling coming from further down the aisle. As they're voices came closer I looked over my shoulder to see four guys looking at me and laughing.
Okay, I had to admit. I did look like a loser sitting in the middle of an aisle arranging then rearranging my ramen into the basket for optimum workable space. Yes, I admitted that but still…. talk about rude! What if I had a mental problem! Well that’s debatable. Anyway, it was still rude.
“Hey, sweetheart?” A male voice called.
Peeking over my shoulder again I see a burly dark haired guy looking at me with a mocking smile and glinting brown eyes. Two good-looking blondes joined him. One had brown eyes and looked more kind. The other had blue eyes which were cutting with the disgust in them. The fourth guy was another brunette but his eyes were blue too. He actually wasn't look at me at all, more interested at something down the aisle I couldn't make out.
“Hey!” the burly guy snapped. “Look at me when I speak to you.”
I did just that. I looked at him up from behind my lashes. His eyes hardened but his mocking smile was still in place when he kicked a pile of my ramen on the floor. Looking at the mess before me it didn't take long for the idea of homicide to begin trickling into my thoughts.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he said with venom
I shrugged lowering my gaze. “Shopping.”
He kicked my other ramen pile with his air Jordan clad monster feet with a sneer. “Yeah I can see that. But why are you in town? Can’t you see that you don’t belong here? Little wood freaks aren’t welcome down here.”
“I needed food, alright? So back the fuck off.” I hissed, glaring at him.
His face looked murderous. My face probably mirrored his. He came down and grabbed my arm roughly before he yanked me up until only one of my feet were touching the ground. He was tall so he had to hold me up so we were eye to eye. My gaze didn’t waver. Fuck him.
“You’re barking up the wrong tree, Bitch.” He spat.
“Newman, just let her go, dude.” The brown-eyed blonde said from over Newman’s shoulder. “She doesn’t know, alright.”
“Shut up, Ethan.” Newman snapped. “Bitch needs to learn her place.”
“Dude, this is getting boring.” The brunette with blue eyes yawned. “Can’t we go down to the Dairy Queen and hit on girl’s or something? She’s barely worth the effort.”
Newman smiled a cruel smile before flinging me down onto the hard linoleum floor. I felt something crack in my wrist as I landed but It didn't seem very serious. Real women only cried in the shower or in the rain. I wasn’t going to give them that satisfaction of seeing me cry. No way in hell would I do that. They didn’t deserve it.
“See around, Bitch.” Newman threw over his shoulder as he began walking back down the aisle. The Aryan looking one and the other brunette followed him. The blonde with the brown eyes did too before seeming to forget something. He jogged back to me as the other three left. Wasn’t his name Ethan or something?
I flinched as he came to halt by my ramen-covered mess. I really looked at him then. He was handsome. I noted a Broad chest and shoulders, messy slightly curly blonde hair that brushed his eyebrows in length, A wide yet pouty mouth. Yeah, I could say he was handsome in a puppy dog kind of way. Nothing gorgeous but not something not to drool over. He kind of reminded me of something from a high school movie about jocks.
“Hey, are you alright?” he asked kneeling on one knee before me.
I nodded but I was suspicious.
“I’m not going to hurt you okay? So just calm down.” He sighed, “Newman is a dick, I know that. He just doesn’t get the whole human decency thing.”
“And you do?”
He shrugged with a crooked smile. “My mom raised me better than that I suppose.”
“Well tell her thank you from me.” I said raising myself to my knees to begin putting the ramen back into my basket. “And thank you too, I guess.”
His smile this time was a mega watt of a grin. “Your most welcome.”
We began collecting the ramen packets for a minute more, god I had a lot of them, before he spoke again. His tone this time was reluctant like it was a big secret or something.
“I’m Ethan Glenn by the way.”
I looked up to see him studying me, apparently waiting for an answer.
“I’m Sylvie.” I grumbled.
“No last name?” he pressed.
I shook my head, “Not today, I’m afraid.”
He chuckled. “Well okay, just Sylvie it is.”
I shot him a small smile. “Thanks again.”
He shrugged, grin again in place. “I’d do it for anyone.”
“You're better then most then.” I blurted, the sighed standing up. “Well, I have more errands to run so I gotta go.”
“Where else are you going?”
I debated for a minute before answering. “Post office, Tegan’s Tags, and then Annie’s flower shop. I only come down here once a month so I have to stock up.”
“Only once a month? “ he asked, disbelief clear on his face. “Where do you live?”
“Up the way.” I answered, purposely vague. For all I knew he could be buttering me up for his hulk like friend, Newman.
“Near the woods right?”
“I believe your friends mentioned that, yes.”
He rubbed a hand down his face while he thought about something. “Well,” he huffed then looked at me a moment. “Fuck it. Do you mind having company on your errands? The guys are probably down at the Dairy Queen anyway.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, well I’m bored and I think you owe me one.” Ethan said but his smile told me he was teasing. “Besides, I make an awesome body guard.”
I laughed at that. “Alright then. Just don’t get too attached to me.”
He chuckled. “I will make it my personal mission.”
“It’s a deal.”
Ethan followed me to all my errands. We joked around a lot of the time and I actually laughed so hard I snorted while we were at Tegan’s Tags. Tegan’s Tag’s was a local clothing shop where I got a lot of my stuff. It was a mix between a thrift shop and a boutique. Tegan, the owner, was always nice to me. She helped me pick out things that were flattering since I had zero knowledge of that kind of thing. I just wasn’t vain enough to care about my clothes. I figured people could take me or leave me. Tegan didn’t get my philosophy so she often manhandled me into being fashionable.
Tegan was in her mid-thirties with dyed platinum blonde hair perfectly styled in a pixie cut. Her bright green eyes and tiny figure made her look like Tinkerbelle. Her nails were always acrylic and painted baby girl pink. She often wore elaborate earrings and smoked pink cigarettes she rolled herself. Her smile was contagious and I liked her.
Anyway, I was laughing so hard because when he got there Ethan decided to try on the hats on. His best choice was the bright neon pink turban Tegan had on display. He then added these cat eye sunglasses with rhinestones and a pair of turquoise fingerless gloves, which luckily for him stretched. He looked so ridiculous that I burst into a laughing fit. Then I snorted.
“Did you just snort?” he accused with amused eyes peeking over the sunglasses.
I couldn’t speak because I was laughing so hard so I nodded.
“Do I look that stupid?” Ethan asked Tegan who was trying not to laugh but failing.
“Yes.” She nodded, herself bursting into laughter. “You look like my grandmother!”
Ethan crossed his arms over his chest. “I do not. I look fabulous!”
That sent us into another fit of the giggles while Ethan simply smiled. Eventually he took it all off which was good because my cheeks were hurting from all the laughing. After buying a few things Ethan and I left with a dainty wave from Tegan. We walked to the flower shop where I got my weekly order of white daises. Annie gave me a coy smile as she looked over at Ethan; I got exactly what she was saying but ignored it. I was allowed to have guy friends with sexual tension despite whatever Annie was thinking.
I paid for my order and then turned to see a smirking Ethan. I shot up a questioning eyebrow but he just shook his head with a smile. I didn’t care enough to read into the look. So I walked out ahead and opened the passenger side to chuck all my purchases in. After I did that I turned around to see Ethan rubbing the back of his neck in what looked like nervousness.
“What’s with the neck rub?” I asked him.
His eyebrows shot up in confusion then he realized what his hand was doing. Ethan chuckled softly before lowering his hand into his jean pocket.
“Listen, Sylvie, what do you think about hanging out more?”
I blinked before answering. “Um, like as in…”
“Well I’d prefer a date but I’ll honestly take anything I can get.”
I raised an eyebrow and then sighed. “I thought you weren’t going to get attached?”
He chuckled awkwardly. “Um…whoops?”
I laughed then bit my lip smiling at him. “Forgiven.”
He sighed and relaxed in relief.
“Yes, by the way.” I murmured.
“Yes to what?” he asked quickly
“I’ll…hang out with you, again.”
“Like a date or….”
“Friends first then we’ll see, okay?” I said suddenly feeling a little shy.
His answering smile was the mega watt one again. “As I said, I’ll take what I can get.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, Ethan. Well, I’m heading home. I’ll see you around.”
“Wait!” he called just before I crawled into the driver’s seat.
“Yes?”
“Do you have a phone?”
“Yes.”
“Can I have the number, maybe?” he asked, probably a little annoyed with my answers.
“I suppose.”
I reached into my glove compartment and pulled out a notepad and a pen. I wrote down my number and then ripped the page off. I turned to see Ethan standing by the tail end of my truck with a smile. Something told me he was looking at my ass while I was writing the number. I blushed a little then sighed. I was not five for god’s sakes. Men checked women out all the time.
“Here” I said handing the paper to Ethan.
He examined it and smiled. “It looks like a real number.”
“Well yeah, it’s the number to Marco’s Pizzeria.” I lied.
His eyebrows shot up.
“Relax, Ethan. It was a joke. It’s my real number.”
He relaxed and chuckled.
“Now use it wisely,” I warned with a smile. “If you call me all the time I’ll just put it off the hook. Desperate won’t suit you anyway.”
He laughed again before shrugging. “You’d be surprised.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Bye, Ethan.”
“Later Sylvie.”
I gave a wave and went back to start Penny. I drove away and saw Ethan standing there waving with a smile. Then the reality hit me. Holy shit! I have a date!