The Hooded Figure

TWENTY EIGHT

After a few more moments of kissing, I managed to somehow gather some coherent thoughts. As Jamie tangled his fingers in my light brown hair, I tried to pull away. "Hold up," I managed to get out before he put his lips back on mine.

"Wait," I said, breaking away once more. He tried to continue, but I held my hand on his chest firmly and gave him a look.

"What the hell are you doing and where did this come from? I mean- I'm all for it, don't get me wrong, you're pretty hot, but why now? I mean, I don't really know you, you don't really know me... plus, I kind of thought you hated me last week. Or, you at least weren't particularly fond of me, anyway..." I trailed off, trying to get my point across without sounding like I wasn't interested.

"Would it be cliché if I said it just felt right?" I stared at him blankly and he nodded to himself. "Yeah, I kind of figured..."

He seemed to think it over as he moved away from me. He looked at me for a long moment before turning around and dropping onto the couch tiredly. I brought my hand up to my lips and touched them tentatively before following him over to the living room. I sat on the chair diagonal to him and lounged comfortably.

"Well, to be honest, you're pretty hot too. Maybe it's just physical attraction? I meant what I said back up on the cliff, you're different, Amy."

I didn't really have an answer or even a response to what he said as I just sat there, confused.

"Not gonna lie, I'm pretty sure I'm like literally every other teenager," I stated before adding, "if not worse." A smirk made its way to my face while he angled his head so that I could see him rolling his eyes at me. He moved his head back straight forward so that I could only see the back of his head.

"Okay, well, let's get to know each other then. We still have... about three hours," he informed me, checking his phone mid-sentence. He didn't say anything further and I figured that I was the one who was supposed to start the conversation.

"Are we starting with light questions or are we just going to dive right in?" I asked him, twirling a piece of hair around my finger.

"Doesn't matter." He shrugged, texting someone on his phone. I tried not to pry, but I also found myself trying to read what was being typed.

"Did you still wear the hood at your last school? Before Alexander?" I questioned, acting as if we hadn't just made out against the wall.

"Yeah," he answered, his fingers still flying away, "how'd you know that it was Alexander today and not me?"

"Easy," I realized he might find it creepy that I'd noticed such a tiny thing, but I hoped he'd overlook it, "Alexander doesn't fidget. Well, not with his pencil like you do anyway."

His fingers paused and I caught him smirk from the tiny sliver of his face that I could see. "Why did you wear the hood at your last school?"

"Maybe because I look exactly like him? People would ask questions." He shrugged, being mildly sarcastic. I decided I'd start asking questions away from Alexander and the hood and more about him.

"Favourite superhero?" He inquired, finally putting his phone on the table, face down.

"Does Starlord count? You know, Chris Pratt?" I asked, repositioning myself to be more comfortable. I looked back at me with his eyebrows raised.

"Isn't he technically more of a villain?"

"Didn't he technically save an entire planet? Plus, he's just a hero with villainous tendencies. I would too, being good is exhausting sometimes," I said while draping a hand dramatically over my face.

"Then don't be," he stated seriously. I looked down at him with a smile on my face. I shrugged while he returned to his phone.

"In my experience, people like nice people more."

"I never said you had to be mean, just bad," he smirked a little to himself. I squinted at him suspiciously.

"My turn to ask a question, right?" Jamie nodded absently. "Mmk, who ya textin'?"

"Huh?" He asked, not quite paying attention anymore.

"If you're busy I can go... I should probably get back to school anyway," I said awkwardly, standing up from the seat.

"Uh-huh..." he paused and stopped typing for a second to look up at me. "Wait, what?"

"Nothing," I chuckled slightly, "I'll see you- or, Alexander rather, at school."

He didn't really try to stop me, he just kind of begged me to stay. Very... weakly. I was pretty sure he was too distracted by whoever he was texting to bother asking me to stay properly. I shut the door behind me before turning around to start walking.

I bumped into this slightly chubby man who was wearing a bright turquoise shirt that partially blinded me. His dark skin contrasted with it and made my eyes feel like they were having a seizure. On top of that, he was wearing the whitest pants I'd ever seen. It was fairly warm out and the sun was shining brightly, but I was having trouble distinguishing his pants from the sun itself.

"H-Hello?" I stuttered, fighting the overwhelming urge to shield my eyes.

"Hi! You must be Amy!" He exclaimed happily, taking off the black sunglasses that he was wearing. Despite his dark coloured skin, his eyes were ice blue and they literally froze my soul. I felt mentally assaulted by his appearance. He was so bright, and by the sounds of it, so was his personality.

"Uh, yes, that's me." Did Alexander and Jamie go telling everyone on the block who I was, or..?

"I'm Alexander's manager!" He announced as if he wanted the whole neighbourhood to know. Just to add to his entire puzzle of his appearance, he was also towering over me at clearly over six feet. I could hardly see the top of him due to the reflective surface of his bright shirt, but judging by what I could see, I'd say he was at least 6'2"

"Paul Talon?" I asked. He nodded vigorously while smiling joyously. I pursed my lips, unsure of what was happening. "How tall are you, exactly?"

"Six-foot-four," he told me, smiling proudly.

"Of course you are," I stated while smiling, trying to cover my grimace. He seemed very... excited about life, but I was feeling very confused about my life situation right now so I simply continued smiling and said, "well, it was nice meeting you, goodbye!"

"You too!" With that, I started walking across the street, deciding to grab a snack before heading back to school. However, what I saw as I opened the door made me freeze.

"What the fuck?" I asked, unsure of what I was seeing. Well, that's a lie. I knew what I was seeing, I just didn't want to believe it.

"Language."