10 #2
He was the one who appeared in those images worthy of a porn account, but even so, everyone focused their mockery on me.
They insinuated I was a prude and that his actions were more than justified because I didn’t want to give myself to him.
A man has needs. He wasn’t going to wait for you forever.
It was a comment from a girl in his class.
I was afraid of what he would think of me after discovering my peculiar tastes. That was one reason the rest of them didn’t know. No one gives me the confidence I need to open up like that. At least not someone who would notice me and want me alive.
“But it wasn’t what you think,” he says, making those blue eyes disappear from my head in the blink of an eye.
“I will not argue the same thing with you again,” I retort, turning away.
“No, wait,” he murmurs in a pleading tone as he holds my arm. “Let me explain what happened. I swear it’s not what it looks like.”
“Yeah, right, typical bullshit excuse.”
“No…” I pull my arm hard, releasing it from his grip with a sharp pain in my shoulder and a scowl on his face.
“Piss off,” I hiss through gritted teeth, leaving him hanging.
I’m so irritated that I barely notice the nearly bare trees and the fading, dry bushes.
I stop at a lake with crystal-clear water that contrasts with the insects and lifeless flowers floating on the surface.
The garden isn’t badly kept. It’s almost as if someone wanted it to be that way on purpose, surrounded by death in which you can find some beauty.
I let out a long breath, allowing the air and the views to calm me down a little, until I notice someone else a few meters to my left. It takes less than a second for my wildly beating heart to recognize him before my own eyes do.
I bite my lower lip, trying not to stare at his half-naked body like a pervert.
Everything I had planned to say to him goes out the window when I notice how he angrily flings the ashes from his cigarette onto the grass.
Unaware of my presence. When I want to turn around and leave, my lips have already started to move by themselves.
“You shouldn’t throw ashes on the ground. Besides, smoking is bad for your health.” He just turns his head and gives me a sidelong glance before fixing his gaze back in front of him, paying no attention to me. “No wonder all the plants are dead if you keep poisoning them with your cigarettes.”
“Excuse me?” The words get stuck in my throat as his angry eyes lock onto mine. “I’ll do whatever the hell I want. I’m in my own fucking house.”
“You don’t have to be so rude. I’m just trying to be nice,” I mutter through clenched teeth and with my arms crossed. My nails dig into my forearms as the rage in his eyes makes them darken. I look away, not wanting him to notice how uncomfortable I feel being alone with him.
“I haven’t gone to where you are to tell you what not to do. Maybe you’re the rude one.” He throws the rest of his cigarette onto the grass. “And I haven’t asked you to be nice to me. So save it for yourself.”
That hurts, but even though I feel strangely uncomfortable inside, my tongue seems to have a mind of its own.
“Don’t throw that there. Don’t you have a bin? Or an ashtray?” His sudden closeness keeps my muscles tense, but my state of alarm doesn’t last long because my attention is drawn to his well-defined abdominal muscles.
The playful snort, laden with irony, that he lets out afterwards makes me focus on his face again. Is that a piercing on his tongue? It should be illegal to pierce a tongue as beauti— I mean, it’s not right. My aunt says piercings are the devil’s work.
“What do you want from me, Lena?” he pronounces my name in a strange way that I don’t like because of the feelings it should not cause in me.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You haven’t stopped looking for me since you arrived, and you’re always staring at me. Do you think I don’t notice?” My cheeks flush intensely. Instead of answering, I prefer to let him crush my heart once and for all.
“Why do you dislike me so much?” My voice is lower than I intended, but from his sharp smile, I know he heard me.
“I don’t know.” He shrugs one shoulder. “Why do birds fly?”
“It’s what they do,” I say with a frown. I don’t know. That’s not even a bloody answer. He’s just being a prick. “And you’re lying. I haven’t looked for you or even glanced at you once,” I add, as if saying that will save my lost dignity, knowing full well it won’t.
His hoarse laughter is music to my ears, not to mention his perfect white teeth he always hides behind his grumpy hitman face.
“You are very shameless, Lena. Someday that sassy mouth of yours will get you into trouble.” He has already disappeared without a trace by the time I try to defend myself against his accusations.
When I get home, I lock myself in my room and call Grace to vent and tell her everything that happened. She picks up on it with that peculiar sparkle she gets whenever I have some gossip for her.
“He’s so rude. I will not be nice to him anymore. Never again.”
“I don’t know why you’re so surprised. It’s not like he’s known for his bright smile or his charisma,” she says in a matter-of-fact tone, without losing her smile.
“I know, but he crossed the line. What the hell is wrong with his head?”
“It depends on which head we’re talking about.” She raises her eyebrows.
“Grace, thinking about him that way is the last thing I want to do right now.”
“Okay, I’m sorry. It’s just that I can’t stop imagining how he looks now after your detailed description of his body.”
“His physique doesn’t matter if he’s a horrible person on the inside.”
“You’re right. It’s like that delicious chocolate that you know you can’t eat because you’ll get a thousand pimples afterwards. Although in your case it would be a white chocolate filled with vodka.” I can’t help but laugh out loud at her bad joke.
When it’s late at night, I say goodbye to her and hang up the phone.
On the nightstand next to my bed, there is now a small black box.
When I open it, I find a rather strange ring.
My eyes shine like the ruby carved in the shape of a skull as I memorize every detail.
There is a small diamond embedded in the forehead, very similar to the ones surrounding the ring.
Getting free jewelry as if it were the Tooth Fairy doesn’t seem like such a bad idea to me. Especially after the day I’ve had today. Maybe I’ll sell it and use the money for a brainwashing.