The Secrets of Lore Seymour

30. The Threat of Jealousy

Cyan P.O.V.

"You should have backed up and accidentally hit him with the car," I say after dropping the sentient shit stain along the curbside. Should have left him closer to the trash where he belongs if you ask me.

"It wouldn't have been an accident if I did it on purpose," Arline argues.

"That's what lying is for."

Arline rolls her eyes, although her lips twitch upwards slightly. "I've got a few items for school I need to pick up. What do you need?"

"Some equipment for the lab," I reply, then cross my arms and grumble. "Because that fumbling nincompoop snuck into my lab the other day to talk--"

"And you blew shit up? Yeah, I heard from Draven."

I squirm at the mere mention of his name, then glance curiously at her out of the corner of my eye. "What did he say... about that?"

"Nothing, just that you caused another fire hazard."

Of course. As if Draven would have anything more to say. He's probably relieved that he hasn't been waking me up anymore. I'm a useless thing off his ever growing list.

Rather than think about the bastard who takes up way too much space in my head to begin with, I gesture towards an upcoming street and say, "If you take that street, you can drop me off on the next block and I'll get what I need."

Arline takes one glance at said street, spots a plethora of graffiti and dirty pamphlets on the walls, and shakes her head. "I'm not leaving you in a dangerous part of town on your own."

Gasping, I flutter my eyelashes at her and proclaim, "Aw, you do care about me! As sweet as that notion is, I am perfectly capable of handling myself. No need to worry your pretty little head--ouch!"

Arline slapped me upside the head. I rub my poor abused noggin while she huffs, "If something happens to you while we were meant to be together, Lore will be pissed. Specifically at me." She waves her hand ahead of us. "Just come with me to get a few things, then we'll take the scenic route and maybe grab something to eat before heading over to your freaky science shops."

"They aren't freaky. You're just stupid--ouch! Stop hitting me!"

"Stop being annoying!"

"Your fucking face is annoying!"

This goes on for a further five minutes before we reach our first destination. I follow Arline into a shop where she has already informed the owners about our arrival. She stands at the counter chatting with the young girl who brought up some updated textbooks while I peruse the shop.

A textbook on divinity catches my attention. And by attention I mean the intense need to burn it. There are far too many of these biased texts forced out by the church while others that simply use the word magic or mana are condemned. What a load of bullarky.

"Gah!" I jolt back in surprise from a gentle touch against my arm. A worker stares at me in concern, retreating his hand while donning a polite smile, which makes him even easier on the eyes.

"My apologies, I was calling for you, but you didn't seem to hear me. I just wanted to ask if you needed help with anything," he says. Although he didn't touch my skin, I still get an insistent urge to scratch. It's worse with strangers, especially when I haven't been going out very often.

"Uh, no, I was just looking." I swiftly put the book back where I found it before I cause a fire hazard here too. "Sorry, I was a little lost in thought there."

"That's quite alright. Happens to me all the time." The stud of a shop worker doesn't leave. He looks me up and down. I never know if I like or dislike the attention. It's a strange combination of wanting it while also being utterly terrified of the implications.