Gawking isn't enough to describe how I look right now. He wasn't just gorgeous; he was Mr. Make-Me-Sin-Gorgeous.
Ocean blue eyes that looked full of life yet so uncertain greeted me, and I drowned in them before I had the chance to breathe. His rich dark brown hair brought warmth and softness to his sharp features, the gush of wind making his strands move freely like autumn leaves dancing around in a forest.
I sucked in a sharp breath. Mr. Make-Me-Sin-Gorgeous was a living work of art - every step he took flaunted his muscles under his tight sweater, showing off his tall, lean body, giving away his strength. I was stunned by how sinfully gorgeous he looked, his physique and facial features being something I'd never seen in my life. I'm not drooling, am I?
His perfect lips were set into a scowl, his impassive blue eyes giving nothing away. I wanted him to notice me so badly.
Mr. Make-Me-Sin-Gorgeous must have some telepathic powers because he slowly turned his gaze towards me. The calmness in his ocean eyes turned into a storm, his scowl deepening as he immediately turned his gaze away from me. He walked back inside the house with an empty box from the garage, making me frown.
He left way too early for my liking.
I'm snapped out of my drooling trance when Clarice grabs my arm and makes me face her. Her brown eyes were glaring at me or at least trying to. She looked like a monkey throwing a tantrum. "Are you paying attention to what I'm saying, Em?" I blink at her. Was she talking to me while I was undressing Mr. Make-Me-Sin-Gorgeous with my eyes?
"Why? What happened?" I stammer, my voice coming out higher than usual. I blame Mr. Make-Me-Sin-Gorgeous for the distraction.
Clarice rolls her eyes. "Mom went back inside the car. She was mumbling something, and it sounded like she was singing a song to the statue." This gets my attention as I narrow my eyes at her. "How did she carry a three-foot statue back to the car? And did you see that black smoke?" Clarice sighs in frustration, tucking a strand of black hair behind her ear. "I don't know. I wasn't paying attention. I'm going to talk to her since you're too busy visualizing a hundred ways to sin for that guy."
If I was drinking water, I would've choked at what Clarice just said. Where's the water when you need it?
I roll my eyes at Clarice and say, "It's not like that. I was going to ask those two boys about the statue." Clarice nods in understanding, "Okay, you do that. I need to keep an eye on mom." Clarice brushes past me and goes towards our car, and I sigh as mom's strange behaviour keeps replaying in my mind. Did I imagine her red eyes and pale face? Was it just me who saw the black smoke?
I frown, not knowing what to think of mom's behaviour and turn my gaze towards Mason and Ethan, who were arguing over something dumb. The crowd had mostly cleared from their driveway, so there was just another family and me standing a few feet away. I take advantage of this opportunity to talk to the two boys and walk up to their table.
Just then, Mr. Make-Me-Sin-Gorgeous steps outside once again, stealing my breath away again. He walks over to Mason and Ethan, his impassive gaze fixed on me, studying me. I send him a closed-lipped smile as I unconsciously brush off the dust from my jeans and straighten my posture. "H-hi," I stammer.
Mr. Make-Me-Sin-Gorgeous just grunts in response, taking me off guard. Wow, Mr. Make-Me-Sin-Gorgeous is rude. He turns to Ethan, "It's getting late. Start cleaning up." His deep, honey-laid voice was like music to my ears.
Ethan ignores Mr. Make-Me-Sin-Gorgeous and smiles, "Emma, that's our friend, Josh Price. Josh, this is Emma. Her mom bought the angel statue." Mr. Make-Me-Sin-Gorgeous, who I now know as Josh, looks at me with an intensity in his blue eyes, his lips curling into a frown, almost as if he felt guilty for letting the statue go to my family.
I couldn't help myself from asking. "Why are you selling such a valuable statue? Where did you get it from?" I looked at Josh questioningly when I asked my second question, but he decided to avoid my gaze.
I notice both his and Mason's expression turning grim as unspoken words pass between them. The awkward tension was there, but Ethan laughed it off, snapping the two boys out of their thoughts. Mason smiles a smile that doesn't reach his eyes, and Josh's glare was burning a hole through Mason's head.
Josh sighs and turns around, walking to the house's front porch, but pauses in his steps. He pulls out his phone from his pocket and brings it up to his ear, talking distinctively to someone on the other line. Ethan sighs and says, "Josh's parents received the statue as a gift two years ago from some shop-" Mason finishes Ethan's sentence with a mumble. "Treasure's Creek. It's on Fifth Lane. The shop was running well back then, selling all these antique items before it shut down shortly after."
Feeling like there's more to their story, I ask, "Why did they shut down the shop around when your friend got the statue?"
Ethan rubs the back of his neck with his hand. "You could say it's a strange coincidence. It shut down weeks later, around the time where there were two back-to-back deaths. The customers claim the shop was selling cursed objects, so they all got together and filed complaints against the shop and its products."
This was getting unbelievably weird. "What happened to the owner after the shop shut down?"
This time, Mason answers my question. "There have been rumours about that. Some say she died after her only source of income shut down. Others say she secretly lives in the basement of the shop."
Ethan nods. "People around here think the basement door is hidden, and if the owner lives there, they can't find her or charge her for anything."
I fold my arms over my chest, feeling the shivers go down my spine. I am officially creeped out about this shop and everything to do with it. No wonder mom's acting so weird - she's probably freaked out the same way Clarice and I are.
My eyes subconsciously wander over to where Josh was standing, and I nearly gasp. He was staring right at me with his ocean eyes and irritatingly gorgeous face. His facial expression was stoic, giving nothing away except his annoyance that was present in his scowl. What's his problem? Just because he was breathtakingly handsome, it didn't mean he'd treat others like the gum he'd scrape off his shoes.
Wait. Why am I so fixated on him?
Ethan's hands waving in front of my face snaps me out of my thoughts. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I was saying how I've never seen you around here before," Ethan tells me as Mason stands beside him.
Mason raises an eyebrow, smirking cockily. "You're definitely new here; otherwise, I'd know a pretty girl like you."
I snorted. He was trying to flirt with me. "Ding, ding! We have a lucky winner." Mason and Ethan both chuckle at me. "I'm going to Silverside High, so try your luck with me then." I smirk, and Ethan scoffs, "Nice try, man."
Mason's smirk deepens, his chocolate brown eyes lighting up with mischief. "Considering we go there, sure." Stupid Emma. "I'm getting a strong feeling that you and I will be napping together the next time I see you."
Is this guy for real? I keep a straight face to suppress the smirk that was threatening to escape my lips. "Really? You must be awfully tired then. I drink coffee every day, so I'm good. You're free to nap on your own, though."
Mason blinks at me. I blink back.
The two boys then burst into fits of laughter. I couldn't contain my smile any longer as I felt my lips stretch from ear-to-ear. Ethan was glowing with pride, and Mason was utterly taken aback by my response, but he took no offence to it.
Through small chuckles, Mason says, "You're good." I laugh and thank him. Just as I was about to say that I would see them around our school, I hear someone call out my name behind me. I turn around to see Clarice speed-walking towards me, a look of annoyance on her face.
Clarice greets Mason and Ethan, who smile in response before she mutters, "We need to go. I'm trying so hard to not drive myself to the mental hospital or bash my head with the steering wheel right now." I chuckle at her, throwing a goodbye over my shoulders to the boys who wave back at me. I noticed that Mr. Make-Me-Sin-Gorgeous- I mean, Josh, was nowhere to be found.
Clarice grabs my arm and drags me with her to our car. Once we get in the back seat, I notice mom still staring at the statue in her hands. Clarice huffs, stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest. I roll my eyes at her. "Mom, how are you not creeped out with that thing?" Mom doesn't answer, but she gently places the statue on the passenger seat before buckling up. I look at Clarice, who just shrugs. I raise a questioning eyebrow as I turn back to mom. "Are you listening to me?"
Mom steps on the gas and drives away from the garage sale. "Buckle up. We're going home." Huh? I wasn't sure if mom was purposely ignoring me, or she genuinely didn't hear me. Clarice and I buckle up, but after a few minutes, we call out to her again but get no response.
I lean closer to Clarice and whisper, "What the hell is wrong with her, Claire?"
"I told you, I tried talking to her, but she didn't even look at me! She looked like she found her long lost friend and forgot that she has two daughters." Clarice whispers back. I roll my eyes, not in the mood for her stupid comments.
"Let's wait until we get home," I tell Clarice, who simply nods in response.