IXUS

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“You’d think it would dawn on me that your doors would automatically open by itself,” Tal said rubbing his forehead. Tal stands by the doorway watching me tinker with my broken watch.

“What?” I ask, getting irritated that he’s just standing there watching me. Tal shrugs and moves away from the doorway to look around the house.

I noticed now that he’s wearing his contact lenses. It would’ve made him look like the perfect Halfling. If you’re not considering the fact that he has a natural tan on him then yes, he is the perfect Halfling.

But maybe he’s right. If the Ixus and Halfling’s here are as ignorant as he says they are, then they probably don’t even notice it.

Tal returns a few moments later with Sonja trailing behind him silently. I watch her curiously as she watches him curiously. Of course, I know the reason why she feels like she needs to be with him all the time because he reminds her ofRye.

I try to see her reasons of how he reminds her ofRye. Hmm, first would probably be the long shaggy brown hair. But instead of wavy, his are curly. Wait.Rye’s hair is naturally curly. I don’t know what he does but he straightens it. He hates the curls.

Okay, so check the hair. The eyes are different though.Rye’s eyes are blue whilst Tal’s are green like mine. The height. Well, they both stand at 6 feet to be exact. Body built- same. Annoying gift of hyperbole, check.

“Can I make a suggestion?” Tal announces. I glance at him then back at my watch but I can definitely imagine him smirking at me. “We should go to my place. And don’t freak out,” Tal quickly says when he sees my expression. “I live in this old neighborhood and the Ixus often never leave theTown Square.”

“So what if they do leave today?” I ask.

“Then I should’ve heard the reason for that too.”

He sounds so cocky, so sure. SoRye. I purse my lips and look at Sonja who seems to have that weird look on her face expecting me to say yes. And what would we do there anyway? What if we get caught?

“If you’re worried that you might get caught, the windows in my car can definitely hide your pretty faces,” Tal answers my unspoken question. “Oh, and I have something to show you anyway. Sonja here can watch some good old fashion TV.”

Sonja grins. She didn’t really get the chance to watch the TV back at our old safe house because apparently, someone spilled orange juice all over it and nobody decided to repair it.

“Can’t you just show it to us here?” I ask.

“It’s much safer there than here. Trust me,” he says and I debate with myself mentally if I should trust him. I only met him yesterday and already he expects me to go with him. Yesterday he was a Halfling to me and now…

“Okay,” I find myself saying. Tal grins widely and walks outside. I wear my watch again and close the door firmly behind me as Sonja and I walk outside as well. I turn to look at Tal’s ‘ride’ as he would refer to and my jaw drops.

Tal’s arrogant expression becomes worse when he sees the look on my face. He smirks and pats the car’s hood.

“This is my baby,” he says while petting the slick car. “She’s an Alfa Romeo Brera.”

“It looks like it’ll only fit two people,” Sonja points out and Tal nods in agreement. He looks inside then at us again. He seems to be considering something because he looks deep in thought.

“Dirk can ride with me in the front. Sonja…” he starts but his voice fades. His expression looks wary and serious now. “Will you be okay sitting at the very back? It’s a tight squeeze but with your size.” He gestures to all of Sonja. “You’ll fit.”