Celestial Worlds

Chapter Sixteen

"Would it be okay if I went out today?"

I'm dressed and ready to go someplace, probably for the whole day. It's morning and Jonathan's on the living room couch, completely ignoring me. And it hurts looking at him and thinking about him. So here I am, going out, for the second time on my own.

"Of course honey, take your time," Debby replies. Then I say a quick bye to Debby, not bothering Jonathan, ignoring him like he ignores me.

I take a cab to Bay View mall, taking my money with me, and headed straight to an ice cream shop. I bought a chocolate flavoured ice cream and then headed for the bookstore. I went to the aisle were I always go, the fiction section. I scan through the rough spines of the books, all too familiar to me. I stacked up books in my hands so I can go through them and decide what I want to buy later, but, looks like I stacked too many books because they fell, everywhere, and came a loud thud. Everyone inside the bookstore glanced at me and I mumbled sorry. When I turned back to the pile of books, someone was picking them up already.

"Oh, no, please it should be me wh-" I stopped mid-sentence when he looked up. He has brown eyes, I notice that first in everyone, brown eyes, like...my ice cream. I continued my sentence, looking down. "Let me get those."

He stands up and holds out a hand to help me which I gladly take. "Here," he says in a low, deep voice. He hands my books over and I mumble thank you and started walking away when he says 'wait'. I turn back hastily to him and say, "What?"

He jams his hands in his pockets and says, "Are-Are you going to buy those...all?"

I must've looked surprised because he gave a chuckle. "Oh, what? These? No, not all of them. Just, some. Some." Instead of a whole, steady sentence, my reply came out chopped and in phrases. I hope he doesn't see me blush. But I guess he did because he laughed softly and took the books from my hands and sat in a far corner. I followed, partly because he does have my books and partly, just a small part, because he also has an effect. Not like Jonathan's which is quite strong, but a bit tamed. It's like the will o' wisps that are whispering to follow him. I sat down across from him because I don't trust this Mortal wholly. I leave a fair three feet between us. He stacks up the books to his side and grabs three out of what I suppose is twenty or twenty-five. He examines the three paperbacks and throws two aside and places one in front of me. I look at him quizzically. He might've seen my expression because he quickly explained, "The ones in front of you are a good book and the one's I throw aside are bad books. You can protest if you want. I have read most of these books." When I don't protest, he continues throwing and placing books. And I thought if I were the one deciding, I would've done the same. But at one point, he threw aside a book that I've been eyeing since I've got here.

"Hey," I say quietly and he stops and puts down his arms.

"Did...I do,wait, threw something wrong," he says, smiling.

I can't help but laugh a bit. "Yeah," I say, pointing at the book titled Hamlet. I've heard good things about William Shakespeare and I would want to give it a try. "I want to try that one."

"Oh, Hamlet? Sure, why not. Maybe you get to understand it better than I do." I'm momentarily hypnotized by his way of speaking. He's British, just like Nick. The way he says better, he says it like betta. A smile is threatening its way to my lips. "When I read it," he continues. "My nose was bloody bleeding the whole time."

This time I laughed out loud. I've never heard Nick use bloody or bleeding. Which are British slangs for my knowledge. "Thank you...,"I say, trailing off the way people do if they don't know the name of the person they're talking to.

"Oh! Daniel...my name's Daniel. And you are..."

"Victoria. Nice to meet you," I say, outstretching a hand.

"Pleasure to be your acquaintance." We exchange smiles and I head for the counter. I pay for the books which are ten in number. I'm happy with these books. I don't know where to go next, the ice-cream shop and the bookstore are my only safe place. Where else can I go?

"Victoria," someone calls my name from behind. I look back to the bookstore only to find Daniel running towards me. He bends down, hands on knees and catching his breath. Then he looks up, still breathing hard. "Do you want to go somewhere?"

I laugh and quickly regret it so I cover my mouth, but a fit of giggles escape. "Sure, why not?" Then he smiles a dazzling smile that can turn off all lights in the city and can make all the stars invisible.

We walk together side by side, not holding hands. Maybe because my hands are clutching the paper bag of books so hard because I'm afraid it might give in and books will scatter all over the floor. Or maybe because his hands are jammed in his pockets. After a moment of walking, he takes the bag from me and carries it without any permission. I'm ashamed that I'm grateful for him carrying my books, because, hell, those books are heavy. Also, he's quite tall and I'm, well as always, small.
"Where'd you wanna go Victoria?" He asks cheerfully, glancing at me sideways while smiling. His smile is polite. His smile is like you complemented him and he just smiles, so it looks polite.

I shrug. "I don't know exactly."

"Um, do you want to eat?" He asks hopefully.

"Sure, why not?" I tell him with a smile. We head to a restaurant that serves lamb meat for their specialty. Daniel orders one and I order mushroom soup. We eat while talking which he doesn't even mind, and I don't also. We talk about ourselves. Last names-his is Miller-and books and likes and families. But, when he asked about mine, I just turned silent. He grabbed my hand this time saying, "I lost my dad. He died of cancer." Then I mumbled sorry because isn't that what Mortals do? Apologize to the dead?

"So," he starts, poking his fork in his lamb. "Where'd you stay at the moment?"

"Um...I stay at a friend's house."

"Well, you should come over sometime,"

I consider this for a while. "Maybe I would, you know, to get my mind off things." And I did tell the truth, that's what I was going to do if I had the chance. I really like talking to Daniel. He makes talking so easy. He'd listen to you and consider you, no matter how much of a wreck you are. "Where do you live, exactly? I...don't really know, so I don't know how to go there."

"I live nearby at Eisenhower Villa," He says to me. "I...live alone. Mom's...not in a good condition. And I'm almost legal, I turn eighteen this fall," he continues, giving that closed-mouth tucked-lip smile at me. Then he adds, like an afterthought, "How...old are you."

I like the way he speaks, like he's picking his words carefully. He trails off on the first word. "Sixteen. Just turned last two weeks."

"Then happy belated birthday," he says. We have reached the entrance of the mall. He turns to look at me and gives a tucked-lip smile. Then we look at the ground. Then I say, "Can you give me a ride?" Just as he says, "Do you want a ride?" We laugh at each other and he offers a crooked elbow at me, gesturing me to take his arm to escort me to his car. I take it dramatically with a little curtesy. I tell him where I temporarily live and I'm surprised to know that Eisenhower Villa isn't even a five-minute drive. You can practically walk.

When we reach the house, the first thing that he says is, "Bloody hell, you live in this house?" looking amazed at the house, crinkling his nose because of how high he's looking and leaning at his windshield. He then looks down and shakes his head. "I'm suddenly ashamed of inviting you to my house." I laugh at his remark and say goodbye with an enthusiastic wave. I thank him for the ride and for the first time today, he smiles a full, dazzling smile.