The Quirky Tale of April Hale (Quirky Series #1)

16: Not Slow, Not Steady, and Definitely Not Clueless

16: Not Slow, Not Steady, and Definitely Not Clueless

I woke up, but I knew something was different.

It was actually quiet.

There was not a single person screaming this morning, there was not any sound of things breaking or people pushing each other.

There was, however, a new addition in my room.

I rolled over to see the person who was sleeping on the floor. His t-shirt had ridden up to reveal part of his midriff, one of his hand was tucked under his head as a replacement of pillow, revealing a muscled, ripped bicep that I was so sure had sent people to hospital. Soft snore was coming out from his slightly agape mouth, and his black eyelashes were so long it almost swept over his cheek.

“You’ve been awake,” I intoned to Ryder Black.

He opened his eyes, there was a slight shock on his face, but then when he spoke, I heard amusement. “How do you know?”

I pointed at his mop of black locks. “Your hair. It’s intentionally messy, not the authentic bed-head.”

Ryder’s cheeks pinked. “It’s not that different.”

But it was, it definitely was. I had been watching Ryder styling his hair in his room for way too long, so it was impossible for me to not know how he did his hair. He also could never sleep if his shirt didn’t cover his whole torso, either. It had been that way since he was a little kid.

But of course, I wasn’t able to tell him that, because the moment I opened my mouth, he got up and stuck his face inches away from mine.

He knew exactly how to mute me when he wanted to.

“How were you sleeping?” he asked me with a low voice.

“Good. I dreamt of Oompa Loompas and chocolate waterfall,” I said, staring into his very dark brown eyes. “The color of your eyes is the same with the color of the chocolate waterfall.”

He tugged the end of his lips into a slight smirk.  His pupils dilated, and I was sure that someone with a weaker will than mine would have drown in the neverending galaxy of chocolate that was inside his eyes. “Is it?”

His closeness bothered me a bit, but I still managed to nod my head.

“It’s a peaceful day, today,” he said.

As soon as he said it, I could hear the birds chirping, as if to put emphasis on his statement even more. 

“Because you’re not home,” I whispered. “That’s why there’s no fight.”

“I’m sorry that I can’t provide your family the daily entertainment.”

“I’ll pass that to Mom. She always says that the intrigue of your family’s fights makes everything on TVs dull and boring.”

Ryder snorted a chuckle. “You have a way with words, Kitten.”

“Am I pissing you off?”

“Huh?”

“You called me ‘Kitten’ again, not my name. Was I out of line with my comment? Am I pissing you off?” 

Ryder never answered this. He just smiled, got up, and climbed down my room.

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Marcy and Corrine were on a roll this afternoon. 

“Nuclear power is good for America. Nuclear Energy is an exceptional energy source that can greatly benefit the entire population of the United States. Nuclear energy is completely clean, a very inexpensive fuel source. Also, nuclear power is almost inexhaustible, since the world reserves of uranium could produce energy to meet the demands of human power consumption for 1,980,000 years.” Marcy said in a very calm, very calculated manner, as if she hadn’t just talking about bombs.