Find Me

chapter 1

The man in next to her blinked. They'd been in that room for 30 minutes and no one had said a word. She opened her mouth to speak.

"I hate love stories. Whether it's bad boy meets good girl (who always likes to read). Or it's some high school toxic relationship that makes no sense. Or CEO falls for employee (it wouldn't work in the real world). Or it's just sick plain love. I hate it. It's so... cringe. Especially when they say something cliché like, "It was love at first sight." Oh please. I. Hate. It.

"But at the end of the day when I'm bored I'll read a romance book. Not to swoon at the characters' admirable actions and devotion to each other but to simply laugh and thank God I'll never fall for anyone like that. None of it is real. People leave. People die. What I'm about to tell you isn't much of a happily ever after kind of story either.

"A few points to remember before I tell you how I ended up here.

One: I hate him. Two: I despise him. Three: The thought of him makes me puke. Four: this isn't a love story. Five: it's not what it looks like. Got it?"

The man blinks once more.

"Okay so it was a Tuesday. Don't ask me how I remember the day because it's so insignificant. Who likes Tuesday anyways? It's too close to Monday and doesn't even agree with Friday. You get what I mean? Anyway, I wasn't at school that day. I bunked classes. I went to Maths because it was the first period of the day and I mean... who's smart enough to bunk Maths? Not me.

I went to a junkyard a friend of mine owned. It was the most peaceful place on the planet. Not many people agreed with me but that place was my heart's home. No one was there because Kobra, my friend and the owner of Kobra Junkyard, was out of town for a while.

Don't ask me how I got in because Kobra protects his junk like nobody's business. I went into his small shelter. I used my hair pin to open the door. I know I don't look like much but I have talent. I drew something but fell asleep halfway through. A loud knocking woke me up. I'm a light sleeper.

I sleep for long hours and in weird situations but I can hear footsteps in my sleep. I don't know how I didn't hear his footsteps. I looked up and saw this short curly haired boy. He looked sixteen or seventeen. He wore a grey hoodie, grey sweatpants and white sneakers. It was so hot for a hoodie. What was he thinking? Even I felt like changing into a vest.

"What do you want?" I asked him. "I'm looking for Kobra. Is he around?" he asked, getting into the shelter. "No. Back away. I didn't tell you to come in." Kobra's shelter was a small living room inside with my paintings all over the walls. Kobra painted his walls white every six months and hired me to work on them again.

The boy rolled his eyes. "Where is he?" "Not here," I said. "Will you tell him I dropped by?" "Yeah. A short curly haired boy who isn't affected by today's temperature. I'll tell him you stopped by," I said. "Says the girl who broke into his junkyard. If you don't tell me why you're here, I'll deal with you myself," he said coming closer. I stood up. "What are you going to do? Bite my knees?" I asked. I crossed my arms over my chest.

He chuckled. He looked pissed. I was pissed. He had no right to be pissed. Who was he and how dare he threaten me?

"I'll ask you once. What are you doing here and how did you get in?" he said. "Pick on someone your own size," I said. That's when I got him. He lunged at me. I dodged him and tried to kick him. He caught my foot and pushed me. I fell on my back. He put his knee on my stomach and looked down at me. I groaned in pain.

"For the last time. What are you doing here and how did you get in?" "I bet it's the first time someone has looked up to you. Literally and figuratively. How does it feel?" I said before punching his face. He got off me with his hand on his cheek and I quickly got up.