Chapter 3 #2
The thwack that came from behind him at that moment was a definite gift from above and a chance for me to breathe. The girl who’d been with him at the scarf shop had finally come over and slapped him on the back before shoving him out of the way.
I tensed and started bringing both hands up, ready to protest that I wasn’t hitting on her boyfriend, but I jolted and had to rush to control my facial expression.
The first thing you noticed when you looked at her was a huge scar cutting across her face from her right eyebrow, over her nose, and down to her left jawbone.
It was as if the rest of her face fell into that scar.
It wasn’t just one extended cut either. It seemed to twist and branch off in different directions, an angry red river of flesh carving a valley right there on the poor woman’s face.
How can she even afford the L-lift up to this floor with a face like that?
The guy grunted, and I glanced up to see him glaring down at me with his top lip in a snarl.
Pretty sure he caught the disgust on my face, and it wasn’t hard to pull off the shameful expression that washed over my features because having known my whole life what it was like for people to look at me in fear and repulsion made it embarrassing to pull that shit on someone else.
I turned back to the girl because she was less intimidating than the growling giant. She also didn’t light my skin on fire with a single glance. Then I licked my lips and tried for that pleasant tone that Nian’s had trained us to use on customers. I failed and full-on stuttered instead.
“C-can I help either of you ge-get some ice cream?”
“I’m sorry,” the girl said and smiled. She must have been about ten years older than me, and she looked even older when she smiled.
The scar only dug deeper into her face. “My friend here is a bit of a weirdo.” Her elbow dug into the guy’s hip.
He didn’t budge and only continued trying to obliterate me with his eyes.
“We would both like some Winter Sleeze. Just one scoop, please.”
I blinked and even dared to glance up at the guy one more time before nodding toward the girl.
My shoulders started to untense as I realized she wasn’t there to yell at me for talking to her gorgeous, eleven-thousand-foot-tall boyfriend.
Not that there had been much talking. But the talking that had been done was highly inappropriate at best if they were an item.
Maybe they aren’t.
A shiver found my spine, but I distracted myself by clumsily jamming my sweaty thumb onto the sensor three more times.
“Sure,” I smiled back at her, but my mouth didn’t seem to want to spread as wide as it should, which left me looking freaked out.
And it’s not your fault.
Ugh, please don’t think you freak me out.
But please do tell your scary boyfriend-maybe-not-boyfriend not to step on me.
Kept all that to myself and instead held out a clammy hand.
“I’ll need both your IDs.”
I pointed at the laminated sign by the register:
ALL Citizens must provide ID for financial transactions.
NO EXCEPTIONS
“Of course,” the girl said.
Then she proceeded to pull out an actual plastic ID card and hand it over, nudging him in the ribs with a scowl.
He grunted and pulled another shiny ID card from the pocket of his hoodie without taking his glare off me.
I resisted the urge to take a picture of them with my Visex and send it to Astrid and Zade because who in the world used real IDs anymore? I had no idea they even made them.
Maybe they don’t, and I’ll run these through the scanner only to set off a whole bunch of alarms.
I peeked up at the not-so-gentle giant to give him a chance to stop me because I was pretty sure they were both criminals and about to kidnap me.
I’d rather they steal the ice cream than make me an accomplice in whatever they were up to.
He just nodded.
I gulped.
Stop being dramatic, Eliana, and get them out of here.
I nodded and finally ran both cards through the scanner.
Marsha Walton - 800K+
Thaddeus Tsai - 800K+
The tiniest, smothered squeak slipped out during my inhale. They must have been on some weird trip, like when we went to the zoo as kids to stare at the monkeys.
Why else would someone from that high up come down here and order ice cream?
I’m definitely getting kidnapped.
But would it be so bad? He’s kinda h—
NOPE!
Not going there.
“Thanks,” I muttered and handed them back their IDs with an unsteady hand. “Sorry about that. Total will be three credits.”
“It’s fine,” Thaddeus Tsai responded.
“Three credits for one scoop?!” Marsha exploded. She looked as though she’d swallowed glass, rummaging through a wallet like someone from a millennium ago before pulling out her credits card.
Rich people are weird.
It made zero sense to me as to why they didn’t just scan their wrists.
Thaddeus continued staring the entire time I was scooping their ice cream into the cone, right up until I handed it to Marsha.
“Thank you, Eliana,” he said too slowly.
“You’re welcome?”
I winced at the quake in my voice and licked my lips. My exhale was too loud, but he should have been walking away by then anyway.
Instead, he took one step closer and leaned forward. One hand sprawled out on the counter, taking up any available space. The other was too fast, and cold fingers lifted my chin.
The muscles in my neck turned to putty at his touch, and I was brought to make eye contact again.
I clenched my fists at my side and physically refused my lungs the privilege of getting in the gasps of air they thought they needed to heave for.
And when he spoke, I’m pretty sure my whole cardiovascular system failed.
“I like it when you look at me,” he rasped, looking from one eye to the other. “Your eyes are so much greener than—”
Marsha grabbed him with both hands around his forearm and yanked him away from the counter, which was impressive because she was like half his weight and barely two-thirds his height.
“You can’t say stuff like that to her, you freak,” she hissed at him. Then she proceeded to drag him with her, but not without calling back over her shoulder with a tight smile, “Thanks for everything! Sorry again for his weirdness!”
Marsha marched Thaddeus away, her short legs swishing with fury in those cargo pants.
Air rushed back into my lungs, and I hunched forward with my hands white-knuckling the countertop. I watched them, but he didn’t turn around even once.
Apparently, this sort of interaction was nothing out of the ordinary for him.
Unlike me, his whole world hadn’t just shifted one degree from the center to tilt precariously on its axis and momentarily question every life-goal he’d set for himself up to this point.
Weird.