Chapter 3
“Tell me you’re not going out in that–” mom disapprovingly explored my tight chest-accentuating top and my favorite pair of short shorts, “piece of material.”
My words were coated with sickeningly sweet sugar, “Aren’t you too busy worshipping your timely boy toys to worry about what I’m wearing?” Mom’s body whirls around to face me; a deathly glare has replaced her typical cloudy eyes.
“What did you say?” It comes out as a cadaverous whisper.
“I said; I’m not changing.”
“We can argue about this for the rest of the day. You’re changing, or you’re not going to school.”
Calling a bluff, I plopped my body onto the couch, “No school? Perfect, I didn’t want to go anyway.” I whisked a glance at the rose gold watch that sat on my dainty wrist – 8:52. Shit, shit, shit! The test was in 8 minutes and I hadn’t even left the house. I devised a strategic escape route; it takes four minutes to walk to school, three if I ran, leaving me with five minutes to retreat.
“Whatever suits you.”
“I’m going to the mall with Kenzie,” I declared. This was my opportunity to get out of there. I take long strides to the back door, praying that mom wouldn’t keep me home. When the plump hand gripped at my wrist to disallow my hasty exit, it wasn’t my moms. My eyes dart from the so-close-yet-so-far-away rusty door knob, to the beast that stood before me. My nose wrinkled in disgust; his large round face, humongous nose, and salt and pepper hair reflected his unattractive demeanor. I continued my rant, “Wow! She has really demolished whatever she had left of her standards this time.” I wriggled my arms free from the hcubby hand and pushed past the man. I was not going to be late for school.
“Miss Reid–” a familiar, deep tone spoke in clear disappointment towards my poor attempt of taking a seat unnoticed, “so glad that you were able to join us.”
I glance up apologetically at the teacher, with the word ‘guilty’ plastered in bold letters over my forehead, “Sorry Mr Morgan, I was studying at the library.” I felt his narrowing eyes follow me to my desk until I slumped low into the seat.
Amidst the uproar of teenage chatter, I identified the familiar masculine tone instantly. The insult echoed in the auditorium, and my angered eyes instantly dashed to the infamous Austin Taylor and his arrogant friends. The teachers warning drew my attention back to the front of the room, “Don’t be late again.” Mr Morgan hushed the class quiet with a stubby finger to his lips. The test droned on without another muffled whisper.
The teacher ushered in my direction before I was able to slip out of the class, “Miss Reid.” I rolled my eyes in agitation at my second unsuccessful attempt of escaping his apprehensive glares.
“Yes, sir?” I feigned innocence and forced a tight smile as I watched my classmates dissolve in large groups out the door.
“I expect you are familiar with the high standards I anticipate for these exams,” he stated sternly. I manage a nod in response before my feet rapidly carried me from the classroom. God knows what I would have committed if I had spent another minute with that scumbag.
Mackenzie and I linked arms on the unusually chilly day, as we strolled towards Tom’s. Tom’s was a local café turned restaurant that stood a street from Washington Heights. Anything from scrumptious tacos to divine macaroons was served as Tom’s, and the best part? There was no menu, thus, everyday was a surprise.
“Drinks?”
“No thanks, just water.”
“Your meals are coming right up.”
I offered a dashing smile at the waitress, before returning my attention to Mackenzie. She sipped at her strawberry milkshake, looking rather wide-eyed. “What?” I mouthed. I hoped that I didn’t have anything on my face, or even worse, something stuck in my teeth.
Mackenzie returned her milkshake to the wooden table and closed the large space between us. “The waiter totally has the hots for you,” she giggled.
“What waiter?” My eyes strayed from Mackenzie’s as I searched for the waiter. My breath hitched when I met the luminous, alluring emerald tainted orbs that belonged to no other than; Xavier Hunter. I lowered my eyes to the table, my fingers fiddled nervously with one another.
“Cute, huh? His been staring at you since the moment you walked in.” I blushed a deep rose; what Mackenzie didn’t know, didn’t hurt her. “Oh my god, his coming over–“
“Your water?” An object was placed on the table.
“Thanks,” I barely mutter.
“Fancy seeing you here, tiger.” My emotions were in an outrage. How could he? My eyes flow up to meet his jades, glaring profusely. I fancy seeing you too, Greek god.
“I– uh, must go pee. Have… fun?” Mackenzie shot a ‘you’re-so-telling-me-what’s-going-on’ smile, before taking her leave.
“What do you want?” I hissed. My eyes freely indulged in his flawless features; the chiseled chin, sharp jaw line, sculpted cheekbones, sensuous lips and prominent biceps. Xavier’s hazel hair, sexily tousled to perfection lured and pleaded my fingers to run through it. If I could, I would stare at this hunk any day, all day. I restrained these unfamiliar emotions, placing them at bay.
“I need to take you out for a date.”
For a few seconds, I had forgotten the process of breathing. This man blew the definition of ‘beautiful’ out of water, and he wants to take me on a date? I was taken aback by the lack of acknowledgement that I had been admiring his beauty. Maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t just another one of those guys? No, don’t kid yourself. I refused to believe that this wasn’t set up; it must have been a dare. “There’s a fine line between a want, and a need.”
“Let me take you out for a date.”
“And why the hell would I do that?”
“Tell me you don’t want to go on a date with me.” I felt his warm, sweet breath caress every inch of my neck as he muttered every word. How can he put me in this position?
“I– I’m going to… the bathroom,” I stammered. Here it goes again, the difficulty to speak to this unusually attractive being.
“Do you really want to go to the bathroom?” As he gripped tightly on my wrist, an unexplainable force surged through my body. Sparks? No way. Did I really want to go to the bathroom? No. How could he make me question my actions this way? London Harper Reid cannot be questioned this way by a complete stranger. I couldn’t speak, but only nod vigorously. The warmth of his hands tragically fell from my wrist, and I scurried towards the bathroom.
“Spill the beans. Who is he? How did you meet him? Have you hooked up?” Mackenzie commenced the process of interrogation.
“We don’t really know each other–“
“Man, it was getting hot in there. I could literally see sparks flying between the two of you. Now tell me, where did you meet?”
“The party.”
“Hooked up?”
“Nope.”
“Good, I’m going to need a dose of him. Name?”
“Xavier.”
“Mm… attractive name, for an attractive guy.”
“You’re not really going to pursue him, are you?”
“Well, are you?”
I shrugged my shoulders in response.
“I’m just kidding girl, his all yours. Now, what did he want?”
“Xavier just wanted to take me on a date.”
Mackenzie enraged down a long, tiring road of squeaky, ear-splitting squeals of excitement. It was half an hour later when Mackenzie declared that the ‘conversation wasn’t over’, and proceeded to drag me out of the bathroom so that we could ‘finish our meal and talk about my upcoming date'.
A/T: This chapter has been edited due to my diverse imagination and expectations for this story. I hope you enjoy the edits as much as I do. This chapter provides more background 'history' for London, her relationship with her mother, etc. I hope your all picking this up. Please let me know what you think.