Pearl of the Stars

Chapter 4

The most beautiful boy I had ever laid eyes on walked through the door, shooting a “Hey, Martha” to the lady at the desk before walking to the other side of the teens section. He was tall, his hair was black with blonde highlights, and it fell perfectly over his eyes. His black clothes made him look paler than he actually was, but it looked amazing on him.  Let me just say now, that I am not boy crazy. I have spent my whole life being abused by men and their sons, so I have grown to basically hate the opposite sex. Well, actually, I hate everyone, boy or girl. They’re all abusive assholes…right? Right.

I watched through the shelf as he browsed through the books. Evidently, he didn’t find anything to his liking, so he walked over to my side.

Oh, shit, he’s standing next to me. What do I do? I’ll just ignore him. Yeah, ignoring people is my specialty. I thought.

I moved to the side awkwardly, giving him some room. He quickly glanced at me, then back to the shelf. I tried to read the titles, I really did, but my mind kept wandering over to him. I decided that I would just grab a book and get the hell outta there. I quickly scanned the titles, and then spotted Fallen by Kate Lauren. Apparently he spotted it too, because both of our hands reached it at the same time. I pulled my hand back and smiled sheepishly at him, giving him the go ahead.

H smiled the most beautiful smile, revealing a row of straight white teeth, and handed the book to me. “Here, I’ve read this one already.”

“So have I.” I mumbled. He smiled again, making me sort-of smile back.

“Really? What did you think of it?” he inquired.

“I liked it…especially when Daniel flipped her off. That was funny.” I smiled, remembering I had laughed out loud, and then frowned when I also remembered how I was beaten for making the noise.

“Yeah, that was pretty epic.” There was an awkward silence before my phone rang.

Here it goes again,

Put on that deserving tone,

And don’t forget that this was all your fault,

It’s breathing down your neck,

You know you’ve got to let this go—

“Hello?” I whispered, after a disapproving look from Martha.

“Hey, where are you?” Nick asked.

“At the library, why?”

“Just wondering, did you bring a jacket? It’s pouring buckets over here, and I'm pretty sure it’s the same over there.” I looked up to the window to see lightning flash across the sky, and rain coming down in sheets. Crap, I had only brought my thin hoodie.

“I’ll be fine, Nick, don’t worry. I’ll get home safely.” I’d never had to convince someone that I would be fine. I’ll admit; there’s never been anybody that cared enough to even be worried. It was new. He agreed and said goodbye before hanging up. I sighed. Sure, I would get home safely, but I would be soaked through to the bone.

“Everything alright?” asked the boy.

“Yeah, it’s just gonna suck trying to get home in the rain.” A booming thunder and flash of lightning put extra emphasis on my statement. I stood and walked to the checkout stand, scanning the book and my card.

“I could give you a ride, if you’d like.” His voice surprised me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I hadn’t heard him following me, but he was right by my side now. I eyed him warily and he smirked. “I’m not some crazy rapist or something. I’ll get you home safely, promise.”