Killer with a Smile

Chapter 1

So far I have one friend that lives in LA. It's my neighbor Jacey who's actually pretty cool. She has wicked style and an attractive personality that's helping me adapt to LA seeing as i'm originally from the immense forests and bipolar weather of Arkansas. I just got here a week ago and my usual attire of skinny jeans and sweaters is going to get me heat stroke so Jacey and I made plans to go shopping for some more "appropriate" apparel. I slipped on the most comfortable outfit that wouldn't get me hyperthermia which turned out to be a pair of white, ripped skinny jeans and a tank top with a cat on it. Not my best but hey,as long as I stay alive i'm not complaining. Thirty minutes later I found myself squashed between a middle aged dude and a mom holding a screaming infant, both of which were pouring sweat and carried high levels of B.O. Now i'm complaining. Blessedly we arrived at our destination shortly later, stepping off the bus into the bustling streets of LA, almost getting swept away by a group of tourist who were panting like dogs yet still snapping pictures. Jacey grabbed my hand and drug me into the nearest department, a cloud of cologne and perfume nearly choking me. Pop music played overhead and loads of teen boys and girls loitered around, laughing and shopping giving the store a buzz like atmosphere. "Hmm." Jacey said pulling me out of my distracted trance. She was holding a pair of ugly orange shorts to my hips. "Ew. No way." I said backing away, my stance showing complete disgust. "Eh just as well. It wasn't your color anyway." She turned to the pile and returned with a pair of short black ones, "Well?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "A bit on the short side but I guess so." I said shrugging. "Good, i'll pick out the pants and stuff and you go get some shirts and tank tops okay?" "Yeah coo." and with that I walked over to the wall where they had racks with decorative tanks that went all the way to the ceiling. I stood there, hands on my hips and contemplated each on finally finding a few (my favorite one was a surfing dinosaur) when I got a feeling. You know when you can tell someone is staring at you? That "I'm being stalked" feeling? Yeah that's what I was feeling. I glanced behind me around the store and my eyes landed on a boy about ten feet away. A very cute boy. Who was looking at me. When our eyes met instead of turning away and pretending to be interested in the shelf of shirts in front of him, he held eye contact and even from a distance I could tell they were a blueish color although they might have been green. Who knows. I felt heat start to make its way towards my cheeks and turned away abruptly heading over to Jacey, my movements stiff. I still had that feeling of being watched but pushed it aside. "Cute boys at twelve o'clock." Jacey whispered, leaning on my shoulder and pointing straight ahead of us. I glanced up, to see that it was the blonde haired boy but he wasn't alone. He had a dark haired friend who was talking to him. Jacey and I were still looking at them when they both turned to look at us making Jacey squealed and pull me down to hide behind a shelf of leggings, her hand tight around my arm. I pulled my arm away and stood back up, determined to not make a fool of myself although the intensity of the two boys glances did make me want to hide behind the shelf. "Jacey," I hissed, "Get up." She stood up holding a pair of leggings to make it seem like that's why she hid in the first place I guess. I rolled my eyes. I am so glad I am not like other girls, this whole "hiding behind shelves of leggings of department stores to hide from two cute boys" is not my thing. I started to question everything I have ever learned when THEY STARTED WALkING TOWARDS US. I kept my cool though, hoping they would walk on by to the basket of underwear and bras behind us but no such luck for me because they stopped right in front of us. Oh holy macaroni I was freaking out. My face was probably the color of blood and due to the hot weather I probably smelled like death. I looked over at Jacey and realized how pretty she was with her caramel eyes that matched her glowing tan and her eyelashes that were dark and plentiful. A slight blush rested on her cheeks and quite frankly she looked like a godess. The dark haired boy spoke first "Hey I'm Colby and this is my friend Sam, we usually don't do this but do you guys wanna go out and get some coffee or something?" his voice was deep and I noticed that his eyes were green. "It's way to hot for coffee. I would much rather have ice cream." I said, a slight smirk on my lips. I looked at the blonde boy, Sam, and saw that he was looking at me. Me. Not godess Jacey. ME. HOLY HELL HE WAS ADORABLE. "Well how about some ice cream then?" Colby said. "Yes. Ice cream sounds divine right now." Jacey said, giving Colby the "hey i'm single and ready to mingle but i'm gonna play hard to get" smile, aka the flirty smile. Something I have no idea of how to use. "I have to pay for our stuff real fast." I said grabbing my stuff out of Jacey's arms and leaving her with the two boys. Only I didn't arrive at the counter alone. Sam had deserted Jacey and Colby to come stand by me as I set my stuff on the counter. He rested his hip against the counter and cocked his head slightly, his gaze making me slightly uncomfortable. No boy ever looked at me that way. No boy ever looked at me in general and to have this..this work of art looking at me like that...just give me a second to go die in a hole. "What's your name?" he asked me as I grabbed my bag full of clothes and paid the employee, who was distracted (obviously by Sam, I mean who isn't amirite?). "Abra." I said. That's when he smiled. Like a genuine, straight from heaven smile. You could write an entire novel about that smile. "What?" I laughed breathlessly. "Oh you know," he said, a tint of mischievous in his eyes "A beautiful name for a beautiful girl." "Nice try boy but it's gonna take a lot more than that." "What do you mean?" He asked innocently but I could see in his eyes that he knew what he was doing and I wasn't gonna fall for it...on purpose. I started to walk back towards Jacey who was laughing at something Colby had said, and he was looking at her like she was heaven in a body, which she is in a way. I don't blame him. I glanced at Sam who was following me and said "If that was suppose to be a pick up line it was a terrible one." He poked my arm and said "It wasn't a pick up line Abra I was just simply stating a fact that I have observed about you." And again he shot me that smile. That goddamn smile. "Well Sam, i'm really craving some cookie dough ice cream so how about we go?" Smile. Smilesmilesmile. SMiLe. The internal montage kept going as we walked out of the store carrying our bags. We made our way down the busy street to a local ice cream shop, finding a small corner booth. I took the window seat expecting Jacey to sit next to me but instead she slid into the window seat in front of me, leaving Sam to squeeze into the space next to me, our shoulders touching. Colby plopped down next to Jacey and tugged on a piece of her hair "Hey let's go order. What do you guys want?" he said to her, then to us. We told him what we wanted and he took Jacey by the hand to the counter leaving Sam and I alone. Sam leaned in and whispered in my ear "You're really pale." I pulled back and laughed at the randomness of the comment. "Thanks?" He laughed and said "Like do you even go outside?" "I came from Arkansas." I figured that that statement would come across as instant understanding but a look of confusion crossed his face. "What I meant is that the weather is always gloomy and changes like every hour so I usually stayed inside." I quickly defended myself. "Oh. So like how long have you been in LA." he asked turning to face me draping his arm on the back of the bench behind us. "Literally not even a week. It's so hot here." "Yeah. So are you here just for the summer or...?" "I'm starting college this fall here so I decided to move during the summer so I could get accustomed to LA and stuff." "College? How old are you?" He looked adorable with his eyes widened and his eyebrows raised. My stomach twisted as I realized how close we were and how gorgeous he was and the fact that he was impressed that I was going to go to college. "I'm 18." "Really? I thought you were like 16. I'm 19 just in case you were wondering." I was about to respond to him when Jacey and Colby arrived with our ice cream and sat down. We all took ours and started to eat, Sam and I shoulders still touching. I could feel the heat and pressure of his body touching mine. I took a bite of my ice cream and a moaned at the deliciousness of it earning humored stares from Sam and Colby and Jacey. "What? It's just really good." Jacey giggled and Colby glanced at her a smile splayed on his face. "That was hot." Sam whispered in my ear, leaning into me again then pulling away laughing. "Be quiet." I laughed giving him a gentle shove with my body. He laughed, his smile showing. SMILE SMILE SMILE. We all ate our ice cream and talked. Turns out Sam and Colby are both from Kansas and moved to LA about a year ago after graduating. We compared the weather to that of our home states. When we left the ice cream shop we walked around, going into stores just to look at stuff, laughing and joking, we ended up passing an amusement park. This was when I learned that Jacey really REALLY liked amusement parks, seeing as she squealed and grabbed Colby's hand running to the entrance saying "LETS GO LETS GOOOOO!!" a brilliant smile on her face. Fun fact, I have NEVER been on a rollercoaster and with one glance at the mountain of metal towering into the sky a need of adventure coursing through my veins. I smiled and said to Sam "Well come on!" When we made it to the entrance I paid for the tickets despite Sam and Colby's plea of "No let us pay." "We need a buddy system." Jacey said once we made it in. "What do we need that for?" Sam asked. She flashed him that smile of hers and said "So that if we want to split up we won't get lost." "I agree with her." Colby cut in giving Sam some kind of guy look. Sam nodded, his mouth in the shape of "O" and then he smirked, wiggling his eyebrows. I will never understand boys but I will always like them. Sam grabbed my hand and started to run away, our paces matching easily. I looked behind me to see Jacey and Colby running in the opposite direction. That's how we spent the rest of the day, riding roller coasters and walking around, fingers laced together (so we wouldn't get lost of course what were you thinking), laughing and talking about noting in particular. When the sun started to set me and Sam slowly walked towards the entrance, swinging our arms back and forth. "You know it's kinda hard to believe I just met you eight hours ago." Sam said looking at me. "Yeah." I sighed, placing my head on his shoulder for a second. He stopped walking and turned towards me, the light from the booths around us casting eerie but romantic glows, "Do you believe in chances?" he asked. "What do you mean?" "Like do you think someone has the right to do something no matter how soon it is or how bizarre it is?" There was something about that question that made my stomach squirm happily, doing gymnastic flips. "Well people have one night stands so yeah I guess I believe in chances. Why?" His amazing smile lit up his face brighter than all the lights around us, "No reason." he said as he stepped in closer to me, taking my face into his and pulling me in, our lips meeting in a gentle kiss. He tasted like cotton candy and lemonade and his hands were warm on my face. I kissed him back, placing my hands gently on his hips and moving in closer. I have kissed boys before (I'm not that big of a loser, come on give me some credit) but this...this was different. There was so much tenderness and gentleness in it my knees went weak and my heart skipped beats. I had to pull away first so I wouldn't die from defibrillation, "Woah." I wheezed, stepping away from him. "Woah indeed." he said looking every bit as impressed as I felt. He looked at me with (you guessed it) his super holy potatoes smile and I started to plan my funeral. Jesus he was a killer with a smile.