chapter 5
"ugh!" i scream in frustration as i throw my doorknob to the carpet after about the thirtieth failed attempt to unlock it.
"calm down, cupcake" mr. cuteness chuckles as he picks up the knob and hands me two new hairpins "just try it again."
"my name's not cupcake," i snap at him.
"maybe i'll care when you pick the lock," he says with a hint of a smirk tugging at his perfect lips.
"you suck," i glare at him and take the knob from his outstretched hand. we've been sitting on the floor of the break room in the hardware store for about an hour now and i have yet to get the lock open.
"hey you never told me your name," i blurt out the sudden realization.
"tell you what, he grins at me "i'll tell you my name when you open the lock."
" so i'm just supposed to keep calling you 'mr. cuteness'?" i slap my hand over my mouth as i realize i just called him cute to his face.
"mister cuteness, huh?" he smirks knowingly "i knew you would fall for me."
"hey there's a huge difference between falling for someone and simple appreciating their appearance."
"well as much as i like having you 'appreciate my appearance' i think i need a new nickname."
"how about 'totally, completely, infuriatingly useless'?" i sputter. he raises an eyebrow and says "well that's not exactly what i had in mind... what's your name?"
"i'm skylar," i tell him "see it's not that hard."
"well sky, you can call me ground."
"it's skylar not sky and seriously?ground?
"it works. sky and round," he states with a smirk.
"but that's not your name," i counter.
"how do you know?"
"what parent would name their kid 'ground'?
"what parent would name their kid 'sky-lar'?"
i giggle at the way he pronounces my name "not mine." why is he staring at me?and then i realize what i said.
"not yours?" he repeats and i can see him trying to figure this out. figure me out.
"my best friend named me skylar, not my parents."
"oh a family friend," he states, obviously thinking he knows the whole story. he has no idea. "how much older?" he questions.
"seven months."
"damn how long did your parents wait to let her name you?" he asks the confusion back on his adorable face. i sigh. i don't really want to tell him this. i barely know the guy. but the cat's half out anyway, and i don't think you know how hard it is to keep a can in once you open the bag. i sigh again--- wow i'm sighy today--- earning a raised eyebrow from 'ground'.
"you never asked why i wanted to pick this lock," he opens his mouth like he's going to say something but i cut him off "my best friend, taylor fitch, was murdered. two years ago today. i'm going to spare you the details of the last two years because i'm sure you don't care, but her case was never solved. i need to pick the lock to the records room to get her case fie and find her killer," i state with finality.
"that doesn't explain your name," he reminds me.
"yeah i know. i'm getting to that." he rolls his eyes, a breathy laugh escaping his lips. "my parents named me charlotte," my nose crinkles in disgust at the old-fashioned name i haven't heard in so long. "when i moved to new york with taylor we got lost. like on our way from the airport to our apartment complex." he snickers at this and mumbles "tourists" under his breath. i shoot him a look. "we drove around for hours, her following road signs and me in the passenger seat, trying to read the map. after a while we got hungry so we pulled up to this burger shack to get some dinner. while we were there, tay took the map from me and, while thought we were headed in the right direction, she claimed that we were completely turned around. so we asked the waitress how to get there."
"finally you had the sense to ask for directions," ground teases.
"shut up. i was fifteen, she was sixteen, we were pretty much runaways, without adults for the first time and we thought we could handle the big city on our own." he snorts and rolls his eyes at this. "so the waitress," i continued, pressing my palm over his face, "confirmed that we were going in the wrong direction so we got back in the rental car and backtracked until we found our apartment. on the way there, i realized i'd been holding the map upside down." he laughs and i roll my eyes but let out a giggle of my own at the memory. "i thought the blue line that ran across the bottom of the map was the line to mark the sky so i held the map accordingly. when i tried to explain this to taylor i was laughing so hard that when i said 'sky line' she thought i said 'skylar'. she called me skylar ever since and when we met new people i introduced myself as such." i conclude and study the swirling hues of blue in his eyes, waiting for a reaction.
"so pick the lock," he states "this is obviously important so keep trying."
i groan again and reposition myself, steadying the doorknob and gently inserting the pins into the keyhole. i turn them clockwise, trying to mimic his success exactly. i twist until it stops moving then tug just a little more but it doesn't budge. "this sucks and you suck," i inform ground, who is seated on a nearby table.
"keep trying," he encourages "you'll get it."
i sigh and move to pull the pins out but they stick. i pull again but they won't move. "well that's just great. i broke the lock now." i exclaim. he frowns and i try to yank the pins out yet again and they turn the keyhole just a smidgen.
"do that again," he commands. i yank them again and i turns more. with one more tug the pins stop again. "dammit!" i screech. ground chuckles and says softly "try turning it. one more time."
"you know, i'm slightly sure that this is getting more broken the more we move it," i state with a sigh tuning the unresponsive hairpins. i push them harder and the next millimeter they turn is accompanied by a soft click. i glance up at ground hopefully and he beams down at me. damn that smile is fine. he motions for me to turn the knob so wipe my hand on my leggings and grip it, half expecting it to stop halfway like it always does but it turns all the way. "i did it i did it i did it!" i squeal, jumping up and doing a happy dance at my accomplishment. ground just stares at me like i'm nuts which i suppose i might be, but he must celebrate this with me so i grab his hands and jump up and down. he smiles again and i swear if i could keep him like this--- on mute and smiling at me--- forever, i would die happy.
then with a soft chuckle he drops my hands and bends to pick the doorknob up off the carpet where i dropped it. he pulls the pins out of the keyhole and grabs two more from the bag he brought with him, straightening them to ninety degree angles and pulling the bulbs while i watch, my happy dance now complete. he hands them to me along with the lock. "good job sky. now do that nine more times and i'll let you go."
"um excuse me?" i question "you'll letme? no i can leave whenever i want."
"yeah you could but then with your one success out of what? thirty-five? what do you think will happen when you try to break into the records room again?" i stare at him for a minute, blinking in response. "fine," i huff after careful deliberation "i guess you're right."
"i'm always right, cupcake. you should know that by now," he inspects a scar on his finger, marking the return of his cocky smirk and that stupid nickname.
"you know, ground, if you weren't so cute i would definitely slap you," i state, plopping back to the floor, pins in hand.
