Two Worlds Crossed

Chapter 9

RACHEL

While still waiting for his possible answer, I snap out, "Yeah. I'm sure you're sorry". Ezra rolls his head then glares at her, "Look, I will explain everything if you get in," he replies eagerly as reaching down for the heater to turn it on.

After thinking of a way to escape from his endless poison lies miraculously but gives it. I get in the car with chilling goosebumps all over my arms, "Start talking... Well, the first question is, what happened to the guy I met on the plane?" I ask, when rubbing my arms up and down to warm them up. He smirks down to recognize the aggressive side of me. "The reason I have been acting the way I was is because of these parties or such messing up my head. I can drive you back to your dorm If you want?".

I don't say anything for a second, "Um... yeah, that would be nice, but can we please get something to eat?".

"Are you starving?".

Ezra nods, launches the car and drives. In the moments of silence and with questions wandering my brain, "Why did you go to the party or parties in general if you don't enjoy them?". He shrugs his broad shoulders, "I was sort of hoping to see you again, and I apologize for my rudeness the other day."

"It's fine" I brushed his needed apology off like it didn't bother me.

He shakes his head despite, "No. It's not fine because you didn't deserve that, one hundred percent," Ezra demands, then reaches out for my hand to feel the warmth while his other hand turns the wheel.

After an hour of more driving, we arrived at an all night Denny's; once getting inside the diner, I immediately ran in the bathroom covering my mouth and heard Ezra following behind me. I slam the toilet stall door loudly as vomit comes out and smells like my drink from an hour ago. Ezra comes up behind to see my bending over the toilet and constantly throwing up; I lift up my head to notice him running a few paper towels under the water and brings them over to me.

"Here you go, Raya". I stand up, flush the toilet, and throw the towels into the trash can, look up at Ezra leaning against the wall behind me and he offers me smile, and I do the same with my pale looking face, "Thank you for the towels. You didn't have to do that," she barely says, splashing more water towards her. Ezra shoves his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, "I know, but I did. Are you okay?" he wonders as walking closer towards her. I look at him with with an anxious expression on him, "Yes. I will be..." I say.

"When was the last time you ate?". He asks and places a hand on my shoulder, and I silently look away.

"Raya! You haven't eaten today? Why?" he yells from my lack of appetite, "Probably the reason why you are starving, and you threw up a minute ago because of that."

Rachel nods okay and walks out of the bathroom with her phone.

He signs in frustration to realize he was an ass.

As getting out, he snatches her arm gently, but she shakes it off, "What the hell do you want?"

Hey! Quiet being so stubborn!

I look away again, "I'm not that stubborn as you think I am" I say as wiping a tear away, "Look. You don't know me, and I clearly don't know you, therefore let's not make a scene and get food". Ezra notices a tear rolling down from my cheek, "Okay."

A while later, we sat silently in a booth with a bunch of breakfast food around like waffles and bacon, "How's the food?" he asks as biting into a piece of bacon, and I hold up a finger to finish chewing before answering.

"So good," I say as it's my last meal in life, "Better than the taste of whatever I drinked earlier, what was that, gin?" I wonder, and I let out a chuckle or two, trying to hide it but indeed fails.

"What's so funny?".

"Nothing."

"That's crap. No, please spill your guts," I beg with a smile through my cup of orange juice. Ezra signs, wipe the bacon grease off of his mouth, "What you drank was strawberry flavored vodka and water. I said it was gin because you look like a lightweight drinker," he sarcastically pointed out I can't contain strong alcohol well.

I laughed, flung a piece of scrambled egg at him; "First of all, you don't know me, and second, you don't know me." I respond when quoting One Tree Hill, "I thought I was the only one to quote movies or tv shows," he says as waving a waitress to pay the bill.

"Not a fat chance." I joke.

He chuckles once again.

Once paying the bill, we are about to go back to my dorm, but Ezra sees he's practically out of gas when getting to the car, "Fuck!. I have to get gas."

I nod okay as scrolling on my phone to see many drunken idiots playing spin the bottle like they are in junior high. Ezra moves toward me to see, and seems happy to be with me instead of them; we arrive at the gas station, goes to the store, then come back in the car and I hear him coming back to the car with closing the door silent since I'm pretending to sleep so I don't have to talk to him

I slowly wake up when smelling of coffee, "Hello, can I have a sip of that?" I wonder, and he hands me the cup while grabbing small containers of cream and bags of sugar, "Here you go, Raya."

"Why do you call me that?".

"What? Raya?".

I nodded to tell him with innocent eyes, and he gave in, "The reason why I call you Raya or even honey rather than your name is that it fits you, I guess," he confessed in a shy tone, "Also, you can go back to sleep while we drive." Ezra turns on the radio very quietly, so he doesn't wake me up as I draft off back to sleep.

At three in the morning, they finally arrive at my campus dorm at William Building, walk up to my dorm, and open the door, "Thank you for everything. I appreciate it and guess you want this back," I wonder as taking off his leather jacket that smells like his wood and citrus mix cologne. I hand it to him; he takes it but shakes his head and goes behind me.

"No thanks. Plus, it looks better on you anyway," Ezra places the jacket onto my shoulders, moves a piece of my hair away from my cheek, and kisses just below my ear. I tilt my head back, turn around, glare straight at his striking emerald eyes, then press my lips to his. Ezra pushes the jacket off me, grips my legs, and wraps them around his waist; they go over to my bed with me underneath him.

Before driving into his toxicity for the second time, I stopped him from touching me, "Wait!" my hand slowly moves his hand away from the bottom of my dress, "Umm... I think you should leave," Ezra gets off of me, runs his hands over his face in guilt, "I'm sorry if I was making you do something that you are ready to do or such," he confuses as I fix my dress and sit up.

"Do you want me to leave?".

I slowly nod yes without looking at him, and he does so by following the door but gets stopped. Ezra sees in my eyes that I don't want him to leave, so he doesn't, "I thought you demanded me to leave?" he asks, when having his hand on the door handle, and I take it off the handle and hold his hand.

"I don't want you to leave. I demand you to stay because I know you are tired from the bags under your eyes, so you sleep so you can sleep on Abby's bed. If you want."

"I don't mind and thank you."

I smiled when going towards the closet to change out of my dress, "Please don't look." she demands, unzipping the dress but noticing Ezra is already sleeping on the bed, without a shirt. My eyes try remembering every tattoo on his built body before leaving, from the neck up to his chest. It's just all covered with random but beautiful ink, so I quietly walk up to get a clear look at them and smiles.

Moments later, once I change into some pink, loose-fitting pajamas, I look at Abby's clothes to tell the big difference between both of them. When Abby's style is all bright, with all skin showing anyone can see, the difference from my choices is covering up my body from head to toe with loose-fitting and oversized clothes. I suddenly shake my thoughts, turn off the light, and sleep.