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

2.11: The Great Dragon Lady

2.11: The Great Dragon Lady

Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.

The clock had only been moved just a tiny-innie bit to the right, but my mind was restless. I had been on edge for the last fifteen minutes and twenty seconds, which exceeded what my body usually endured. Seven minutes was my all-time record, and that was because Ryder was kind enough to let go of me when I started to lose consciousness whenever our makeout session got too heavy.

But I should know that Bella wouldn't give me the same treatment of mercy.

"Start all over again!" Bella demanded. "How did the two of you meet?! What were you wearing?! What were Ryder wearing?! What kind of conversations did you two have?!"

I was a blubbering mess. Oh, I got it all inside my head. I remembered exactly how the two of us met; it was how I calmed myself down whenever things got hard.

But then, my brain disconnected itself from my mouth the moment Bella tried to pry that information out of my in such a forceful fashion.

"D-Do I need to tell you what I was wearing?" I said, fully aware that the first time Ryder had paid attention to me was when I was wearing my pajamas, and not the sexy kind.

Bella's voice suddenly reverted back to her normal state; sultry and calm. "I'm just trying to think the kind of questions Nai Nai would shoot you."

"Shoot is a really strong word," I commented. "When you use the word 'shoot', it gives the illusion that she's going to try to kill me with her barrack of questions."

Both Bella and Ryder went silent.

"No confirmation?" I asked. "Nor denial?"

"Silence in this case usually means confirmation," Ryder said. "We're just too soft-hearted to really tell you that 'yes', my grandma will probably try to do exactly that."

"Listen, April, you might see me and see a monster ready to take away your boyfriend," she scooted closer to me and whispered, "And maybe I will, just so you see."

I gulped because the way her breath tickled my ear made me really uncomfortable. "You could have just said that without whispering."

"I'm trying to make you afraid."

"Just you in your natural state will do a good job of that."

Bella threw her hands in the air. "I'm trying to come up with a cool monologue and you just ruined it for me!"

Ryder nodded towards me. "She does that a lot. And what did she whisper to you, Kitten?"

I could see Bella fake-retch at Ryder's terms of endearment to me. "Well, she said 'Maybe I-"

Bella's hand suddenly clamped onto my mouth. "Na-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah. No! No more ruining my monologues. Listen, so maybe you see me as a girl who will try to steal your boyfriend, buttherealthreathereishisgrandmother!"

She said it all in such a short amount of time that I had trouble deciphering her words.

"Come again?"

"The real threat here-"

"Is his grandmother," for another reason, the voice that followed was raspy and papery.

"That's a really cool voice-acting, Bella!" I blinked in excitement, suddenly filled with ideas on how to incorporate her voice-changing magic to my future films, if I ever have the chance to make one. "You're really getting into the heart and nature of an old woman!"