Galya’s POV
They were exactly almost the same. Tall and tanned described them both; so did blond. But while the sister’s hair was long and fell in beautiful, natural waves over her bare shoulders, the brother’s was short. Strange choice given his brand attire; the latest fashion dictated the boys to have longer hair so how come he ignored that?
Another difference was in the way they smiled at me. The girl was doing that to be polite while the boy’s baby blue eyes – a color that his twin shared – were playfully seductive. Caden had had a good reason to warn me about Skyler Miller – I’d spent no more than two minutes with him and I could already feel the strength of his charm on me.
“Are we late?” Caden asked after introducing the last of his friends.
“No, I just came here too early,” I took a sip of the soda and berries non-alcoholic cocktail I’d ordered while I’d waited for them. It was a special at Alfredo’s – the pizza place the boys had chosen to celebrate at.
It had always been one of my favorite places to eat in Aberville. Once small and family-orientated, it had grown into two larger restaurants yet had preserved its original charm. The one where we were currently seated had huge windows overlooking the street and the park behind it; when there was no traffic, you could actually see couples cuddling on the benches there or parents pushing the swings back and forth to the enjoyment of their offspring. The tables in the restaurant were wooden and so were the chairs with their carvings on the back. It wasn’t anything fancy though – just a simple vine and grape motif. You could see the same pattern whittled on the bar or embroidered in green and violet at the edge of the table cloth. Even the menus and napkins had it printed on them; after all, Alfredo’s was famous for its wine as well as its crispy pizzas.
“You didn’t miss much,” I told the group. “Just that lovely lady over there – the brunette with the beige dress – asking if there were any eggs in the egg yolk. Apparently she doesn’t like eggs.”
Keegan’s hand stopped midway as it was reaching for the menu.
“She asked what?” He queried, his eyes just as large as those of his friends.
“If there were any eggs in the egg yolk,” I repeated calmly; I’d had plenty of time to laugh off her stupidity while I waited for this bunch to come. “She ordered a Jean Lafitte and…” I noticed their clueless gazes so I clarified: “It’s a gin-based cocktail with sugar and egg yolks in it. So, she ordered that and asked the waiter if the egg yolks contained eggs because she thought – and I quote – ‘that eggs are like so disgusting’. She didn’t clarify why though.”
The whole table erupted into laughter.
“She said that?” The male twin asked then nudged his roommate. “Kee, this one is too blond even for us.”
“You of all people are calling someone blond?” The other boy questioned.
“I didn’t mean it literally; I can see she’s a brunette,” Skyler replied. “I meant as in brain abilities. You know, the blonds are stupid stereotype.”
“Again: you of all people are calling her that?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Maybe you would’ve figured it out, Sky,” his friend grinned, “if you weren’t born blond.”
I smiled as I watched the two boys continue with their banter. Skyler was now pouting but he looked adorable that way. That was when I noticed it: even though both of them were attractive, they weren’t the same type of attractive.
Keegan was the bad boy-attractive: he smirked, he sneered and looked – well, rather dangerous. I didn’t know anything about this boy’s past but I was pretty sure he’d been arrested. He was the type to get drunk in a pub and then get into a fight. His demeanor made him look a few years older; maybe even a few inches taller. Funny how the way you acted could mess with the perception of the way you looked - Keegan was a bit shorter than his roommate, yet he was far more imposing.
Skyler was the club party type. He’d dress up, make sure his hair appeared naturally messy and then he’d go out to dance. He’d get a few drinks but I doubted he often went anywhere beyond tipsy. And he’d avoid a fight. I was sure he’d try to talk his way out of a quarrel, probably by trying to make the other person laugh. I didn’t see him as a coward though; just as someone who disapproved of violence. Boyish charms – that was the phrase that suited him best. A good-looking teen with child-like or maybe even childish behavior; yet it made him more attractive… if you were into that.
“How did you know what a Jean Lafitte was?” Beth asked and I turned to my left to where she was seated between me and her boyfriend. There was a glass of soda before her. Apparently Caden’s ‘gang’ as he called them had ordered drinks while I’d been busy enlisting the difference between the two single boys.
“I used to work as a bartender,” I replied, taking a sip of my own drink. “Isn’t it time to order some food as well?”
They all nodded and re-examined the menus before them while I quietly sighed in relied. I hoped they didn’t notice my attempt to change the topic; my memories of bartending days were not always pleasant due to a certain guy who could not take no for an answer.
Once I’d made my choice about the food, I glanced up to get our waiter’s attention. As I did so, a man, perhaps around thirty, passed me by and sat on the empty bar stool next to the brunette with the beige dress. She smiled radiantly at him before they kissed.
So that’s who you’d been waiting for, I silently mused, remembering how often she’d been checking the time on her phone. He’d made you wait, no doubt about that; you’d been here longer than me and you’d already looked agitated when I arrived.
The woman’s eyes turned to her drink and her companion – also a brunet but in a black suit with a white shirt – took this opportunity to aim his gaze my way.
I rolled my eyes as he smirked and nodded.
He’d not only made his date wait for him but now he was flirting with a total stranger!
I waved at the waiter to come and we placed our orders while I did my best to avoid the gaze of the guy in the fancy suit. I was pleasantly surprised to see Beth with her slim figure order a large amount of food.
I’d never approved of diets. Exercise, and exercise alone, was the only healthy way to lose the extra pounds.
“That dude at the bar keeps looking at you,” she murmured through a bite soon after we got our pizzas.
“I know; I try to avoid him though,” I replied without bothering to hide my irritation.
“His chick seems pretty pissed,” the blonde went on.
“What?”
I turned around and sure enough the girl with the beige dress was throwing death glares at me.
How was it my fault that her man found me attractive?
I had not attempted anything to get his attention. Quite the opposite: I was giving him the cold shoulder ever since he entered.
I turned my back to them and grabbed my pizza.
“Stupid bitch,” I muttered before I could help myself.
“Yeah. It’s pretty ridiculous of her to be glaring at you when he’s the one thinking about cheating,” Beth agreed and I felt grateful for her support.
“Exactly what I was thinking,” I said, keeping my voice low. Everyone at our table was chatting and had not noticed the conversation between me and the female twin. They seemed to be having fun, mostly talking about what they’d buy with the money from their job.
I didn’t want to include them in what I felt would turn into a rant.
“I would understand her if you were flirting with her man,” she went on just as quietly.
She probably doesn’t want to disturb the rest of the group either.
“I mean,” she slowed a bite, “if you were after my man, I’d kick your ass. Not that I doubt my Asher,” she quickly added, “I know he wouldn’t cheat on me. I’d still be pretty pissed though. But in her case,” she nodded at the girl at the bar but did not look that way, “I just don’t get it. Here you are, sitting quietly, trying to ignore that dude and she gets angry at you? What the Hell for?”
“Because she sees me as a threat,” I replied.
“It’s just not fair,” Beth’s voice rose enough to get her boyfriend’s attention. “I’ve been in your shoes. I know what it is like for boys to stare at you, maybe even flirt with you or ask you out even though they have girlfriends. And then those girlfriends get mad at me. As if it is my fault I have good genes. What am I supposed to do? Try to look uglier so that they wouldn’t feel insecure?”
“If it is not you, it will be someone else,” I stated, now everyone on our table listening to the two of us. “Guys like that one at the bar are always looking for something on the side. Girls should just learn that they would never change, dump their asses and find someone better.”
“Can’t really agree there,” Alice intervened, surprising me with her words. “I believe that people could change if you give them a chance. And if they want to; that is mandatory for turning a new page, of course.”
Caden’s face was unreadable as he kissed her forehead. It was as I he was trying to hide some powerful emotion so that the rest of us wouldn’t see it.
Had Alice been talking about them?
Had Caden gone through some dramatic change for the better because she was there to give him a chance?
I wouldn’t be surprised if that had been the case – she was the type of person who needed to help others and Caden had told me how…
Darn it!
He’d once mentioned how he used to hook up all the time before he’d met Alice.
Did she think my words applied to him?
It was a different case all together and I wanted to clarify that… without implying I had them in mind.
“Alice,” I addressed her carefully. “There are guys who flirt a lot but at a certain point… or at a certain girl, if you will… they stop. I realize that is a change and I agree that it is possible but the man over there,” I nodded towards the bar, “isn’t that type. He will flirt and go further no matter who he is with because – well, he just doesn’t give a damn about the girl. With him, it’s not just a ‘let’s have some fun while I am young and before I find my special someone’; with him it’s ‘let’s have some fun no matter how old I am and who I am with’. He’s a selfish bastard. Not like the boys here,” I couldn’t help but add just to point out what set Caden and his friends apart from the guy in the black suit. “I bet even Sky and Keegan don’t want to die alone.”
“Single doesn’t mean alone,” the brunet protested but his blond roommate had subconsciously nodded in agreement to my words.
“Then what are you going to do?” Beth asked. “Live with my brother for the rest of your life?”
Keegan looked the boy next to him up and down as if assessing him.
“Nah,” he replied teasingly. “Leaving with your brother is like living with a chick anyway.”
“Hey!” Skyler shouted. “I don’t…” he hesitated.
What made him different from a stereotypical girly-girl?
Paying attention to his looks: check.
Dressing up in his best attire: check.
Being overly dramatic: double check.
“I don’t wear makeup,” he finally concluded and we all laughed at his comment. “And I don’t have tits.”
Like many on our table, I shook my head, unintentionally looking towards the bar. The guy in the suit sent me an air kiss and the girl next to him glared again.
I’d had enough of this!
I took what was left of my pizza, tore a small piece and rolled it between my fingers to make it into a ball. Some of the dough got under my fingernails but I didn’t care; I had a purpose. Before the girl in the beige dress could react, I threw that ball at her as hard as I could.
“You bitch!” She shouted, jumping off her stool once the pizza hit her.
I didn’t wait to hear the rest of her words; I made another ball and hurled it, this time targeting the guy.
Another followed, Beth skillfully hitting the dude right on his forehead.
“I hate that sleezebag,” she explained with a shrug and I laughed.
Not before long, Alice and the boys had joined our war and were throwing whatever food they could get their hands on at the now speedily retreating through the exit couple. But they were not the only ones.
Apparently, the costumers at Alfredo’s had decided tonight would be a good time as any to start a food fight. Even the staff was torn between the temptation to test their aim and the knowledge that they would be the ones that would have to clean all the mess later on.
“Hey, do you…” I ducked to avoid a piece of carrot hitting me in the face, “Would you guys mind if I stay here to help the staff instead of coming to you to the movies like we’d agreed? I started this anyway.”
“Movies?” Beth repeated, throwing a cucumber at some teen with dirty blond hair.
She has a really good aim, I thought as the vegetable bounced off the teen’s head and hit his friend in the shoulder.
“Do you seriously think we’d go to the movies like this?” Sky asked, pointing at the cake stains on his white silk shirt.
“These would take a while to wash,” his roommate commented.
“Oh, I’ll do it!” Skyler jumped up enthusiastically only to be struck by more cake from his arch enemy in this battle – a pre-teen girl with exceedingly large blue eyes who seemed to have made it her personal mission to cover the male twin in pastries.
“Galya is right,” Alice pointed out. “It will be good of us to stay and help the staff.”
Asher and Beth silently nodded, Caden and Keegan voiced their protest through a groan and Skyler started hopping around again.
“Great! I’ll get to test out my theory that a vacuum machine can give you a hickey.”
I almost choked on a bean as it flew in my mouth once I’d opened it to laugh. Beth patted me on the back until I coughed it out.
“Thanks,” I murmured and smiled.
Guess all of us were staying here.
*****
A/N: So, did I finally manage to change your opinion on Galya or do you still think she’s a bitch?
If you still don’t like her, does that mean you also didn’t enjoy the chapter? I guess I’ll find out from your votes and comments.
Last question: do you guys have a taste for fairytales?
If you do, look out for my newest update of Upcoming Projects ‘cause the summary I’ll post there this Saturday will be about a fairytale… but not your typical one ;)