The Tales of Flesh and Blood

I Give Out A Fake Kiss

Alright, I've about had it. It was my turn to stifle a laugh. I pressed a fist to my mouth, eying his exasperated face for a brief moment to give myself the chance to find my voice.

"You do realize you sound ridiculous?"

"Oh, more than you know," he acknowledged. "Look, if you're that uncomfortable, I'll think of something else - and no, I'm decent enough not to ask anything illegal of you, so you wouldn't need to worry about that."

I pursed my lips in thought, glancing over at the apartment building. Hadi would be thrilled if I agreed - and would probably strangle me elsewise if she learned that I turned down a guy I tricked into giving me sixty-five dollars. Especially if that guy was aware that I had deceived him and still wanted to go on a date with me. I had already thrown the idea that he wanted some sort of justice on me out of my mind; if he wanted payback, he would have left me to fend for myself with Frenice.

Besides, having someone in my corner might not be a bad idea, now that I was potentially in view of a dangerous criminal known for blackmailing and human trafficking.

"Alright," I said at last. "But wherever you choose, downtown is off limits - I mean that. I will jump out of the car if I notice that's the direction you're going in - I don't care how fast you're going."

Jaxon chuckled and gave a nod of understanding. The relief that momentarily eased his shoulders was blankly obvious that for a moment, he seemed like a normal, teenage boy who just wanted to get his crush to go out with him on a date.

Gah, don't go thinking like that. For all we know, I'm just a ploy to get back at his parents.

"I wasn't planning on going in that direction, anyway," he promised. Good. Well, I guess that was the end of the conversation, then.

"I should probably go," I said after an awkward moment of silence, turning to face the passenger's window. Leaning up against the wall of the building not far from us, I noticed a couple of figures talking. One turned to face us. Suddenly paranoid, I tore my eyes away from the building itself to peer at the rows of cars surrounding Jaxon's.

Someone's getting suspicious. Maybe. I thought. Now, how do I go about this without getting jumped? I didn't feel like listening to another one of Hadi's lectures should I end up stumbling in the apartment with a busted face. Then it dawned on me. Ah, shit. Teenage girl. I'd have to make them remember I'm a teenage girl - one who was seen with a fairly rich man earlier and snuck out to meet a much younger one later. Quickly, I lowered my eyes at the door handle and tried to make myself appear somewhat guilty, trying to envision what our conversation must have looked like to anyone watching. From the motions that we made, it could have appeared that we were arguing. It was too dark to tell anything else . . . or at least, I hoped so. I wasn't sure if anyone recognized me, though it would look bad, anyway - getting in someone's car before quickly getting out. I didn't need people to start assuming those kinds of things, especially if I got caught. I'm going to regret this. Beside me, Jaxon clasped his hands, oblivious.

"Of course. Would you like me to-" he was getting ready to open his own door. It took my mind a second to grasp what he was doing.

"No," I said hurriedly, reaching over to grab his arm to stop him. For a moment, both of us were caught in an awkward silence. He glanced down at my hand, to which I quickly retreated and glanced back out the window to hide my flushed face. "Jaxon, I think we're being watched. No one knows you're here?"

"No," he replied. He might have sounded like a regular boy before, but now he sounded calm, collected. He understood the situation, blast him. I just needed to speak a few words to him, and he understood. Man, sometimes I really loathe my life. "My parents think I'm at a friend's - I didn't lie, I will go over to his house later, but right now he thinks I'm trying to soothe things over with a girl." Which wasn't a lie, either. "He doesn't know who, but he'll cover for me for now. The guy that I had watching you from before thinks I'm just trying to get information to hold over you."