Porcelain

Chapter 5

I wonder what someone like him was doing here. Usually there isn't a single soul under the age of sixty to roam these ancient hallways, certainly not a soul that cares so much about the paintings.
Although the inside looks beautiful and polished, this museum is running out of funds. People like this guy and I would have to come up with a clever solution to the decreasing amount of ticket sales this month alone.

Plus, by the looks of it, he's from the upscale part of town. Polished clothes, clean-cut hair, unnecessary manners, gorgeous genes....but yet so incredibly timid. I'm a wallflower by choice. Kyle's one by chance. How interesting.

"Well, this was fun." I sighed, my anger close to subsided. Wrapping my injured hand around my messenger bag, I began to walk away.
"Blood!" his voice echoed throughout the empty hallway, scaring the living holy ghost out of me.
"Calm down, it's not like I'm dying." I snapped, immediately shocking myself. It took a while to realize he wasn't going to burst into tears, and the feeling that cane with shock was relief.

Finally a person who I didn't have to pretend for. The person who was tripping over himself with apologies...
"I'm sorry. Blood doesn't really sit well with me." he averted his eyes before I could read more into them. "Maybe we should see if Casey has some bandages." I agreed, still awed.

"I hope you got some of that on the floor. Messes equal more pay." Casey said the minute we walked up to the front desk.
"You should have told me sooner, maybe then I wouldn't have tried to stop the bleeding." We laughed together, leaving Kyle to feel awkward by himself.
"Hey Brailey, finally found someone as boring as you." She joked, tending to my injured hand. "By the way, I heard that brother of yours is back in town." Kyle flushed an attractive scarlet, abandoning the minuscule stain on his expensive shoes to meet her glare.

"Yeah." His voice drained of the yell from earlier, returning to that soft timbre I wasn't used to hearing from anyone. With Baybie's loud baby sobs, my parents had to scream to be heard. And Liana never learned an inside voice.
"Tell him to delete my number." Silence. I'm sure Casey would scowl if i asked any questions, but it was safe to assume Kyle's brother was the one who broke her heart. There's only one guy she's ever been with, and now it's clear who it was.
"Thanks. See you later." I said, mood completely changed.
I knew it wasn't fair to judge people by sight alone, but when it came to heartless rich men, I walked away. I had my fair share of douche bag boyfriends from the white picket fences uptown who only wanted one thing from me: sex. They played their roles well. Depressed frat boy. Class-clown. Humanitarian. Student government president. Timid cute boy.

If I learned one thing about men, it's that they're lying, convincing perverts. In some cases, cancer-ridden assholes. Well, except for dentists. They're true romantics.
I just hope i don't bump into this guy on my next visit.