Pretty Girls

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

I HAD ALWAYS associated car rides with something relaxing. The feeling of the wind in your hair and laughter echoing down the road had always been the picture of euphoria. However, that assumption had been screwed over with one too many times during recent days.

There was an aura of tension in the air that surrounded the both of us. I could feel Apollo's fury radiating from him in waves, pulsating through the air like a beating heart. Not wanting to be a victim slain on his warpath, the only thing I could do was to move away from him. I made a silent prayer to myself that if he was going to kill anyone while we were out tonight, the police would not arrest me for being an accomplice.

Or worse yet, I prayed that I would not be the victim.

Although I dared not to speak, every few seconds, I would unknowingly take a quick peek in his direction. Every time I took a glance at him, Apollo would still have the same stoic features that were so expressionless that it became much more frightening than when his features displayed raw rage and anger.

"What are you fucking looking at?" Apollo spat, eyes never once leaving the road in front of us.

My spine bolted straight in attention as my head whipped back to face the front. The movement was so sudden on my part that I thought I heard a loud crack sound off, my bones popping.

"Nothing," I squeaked.

It was almost a miracle. Instead of the screams, curses, and violently rude yelling that I had expected from Apollo's part, he simply chuckled slightly. The laughter was short-lived, however, as he stopped as soon as he realized what he was doing.

He straightened up his posture, slightly adjusting his position in the seat before sneering. "Well stop it. It's irritating."

I had to bite down on my lip in order to refrain myself from smiling as his reaction. A part of me relaxed knowing that no matter how angry he got, Apollo still had it in him to laugh. Maybe it was due to personal pride but I took it as a sign that I, in a way, was able to calm him down. In my eyes, that was a triumph.

From the corner of my eye, I could see that a ghost of a smile had appeared back onto Apollo's features. This time, I couldn't help myself but grin at the sight. It was too precious of an appearance to see him smile even when he was supposedly irritated and mad.

"Stop smiling," he weakly added, "that's irritating too."

I scowled lightly, furrowing my eyebrows at his choice of words. He must have known of his own small smile for it was suddenly withdrawn from his face. Now, he had returned to the simple look of nothingness, staring straight ahead at the road with no expression to shape his features like they so beautifully did each time.

Yet, I knew that no matter how 'simple' Apollo's expression might look, it was never the truth. Apollo was much more complicated than that, much too complex of a character to just have a blank expression for the sake of it. He didn't do simple annoyance. His features always had a hidden meaning to it.

Although I might not yet know the reason for it, I knew that Apollo was hiding something that he did not want anyone to find out. He was a man of secrets, that I knew, but I wondered to myself if he knew that I had always loved a good mystery.

He must have sensed my playful glare because, for a split second, his striking blue eyes met mine. There always seemed to be a crackle of lightning in his irises, for if they were the sky, that bolt of lightning would light it up so brilliantly that it was almost painful to look at. A grin found its way upon his godly features, curving his lips mischievously.