just breathe

-

Jace pov

There was a storm, and I was out during the day - something I was not completely comfortable with yet. I ducked into a half-empty diner. My throat ached dry, and hollow yearn in my stomach caused my muscles to tighten automatically. At that moment, a girl paused at the end of the closest table to mine, stopping to talk to the waitress. She tossed her shoulder length, inky hair and walked into the flow of the heated air that blew toward me from the vent. Her scent hit me violently, like a battering ram. I should be used to the way the scent made me feel, which is normally easy to ignore, but this scent in particular made it so much harder to.

I pictured myself getting up from this seat to stand beside her. Leaning down and in, as though I was going to whisper in her ear, and letting my lips touch the arch of her throat. Imagining how the hot flow of her pulse beneath the fine skin would feel under my mouth...

I scowled at myself whilst the thick brume of her scent filled my head. I could hardly think, resisting discipline. Her scent spun around me and scattered my thoughts.

I took a deep breath as she sat opposite me her movement’s awkward - with fear? The scent of her blood bloomed beautifully in a cloud around me. Why did she have to come here? She shook her long, thick, deep black hair in my direction. Was she insane? It was as though she was encouraging the monster, teasing him! I wanted to see her face, to read the emotions in her eyes. She met my gaze and her eyes were frightened. Blood painted her cheeks before she could hide behind her hair again, and I was nearly undone.

In front of me was an empty table. Next to the centre aisle, I recognized a strange boy by his eyes. He had Coal black wandering eyes. He was lanky, with untidy bronze hair. As I talked to the waitress over the till ordering a hot drink, I was watching him surreptitiously. Just as I passed, he suddenly went stiff in his seat. He stared at me with a strange expression on his face -- it was hostile, frantic. I looked away abruptly. I kept my eyes down, as I went to sit on the table opposite him. I didn't look up, I kept my eyes down on my book as I saw, from the corner of my eye, his position change as though he was about to get up. He soon settled back to his earlier sitting position, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair. My drink was brought to me. I said thank you as I hid behind a thick curtain of my hair, to lose sight of the strange boy opposite me, and tried to pay attention to my book but my mind was elsewhere.

I thought about yesterday’s encounter with the beautiful patroness. She had assured me that when I woke up this morning, my wish would have come true. But, the same unattractive, dissatisfactory looking person stared back at me with a displeased expression. I quickly concluded that the last day’s happenings were merely my mind deceiving me, but the event had seemed so real and absolute. With a feeling of dismay, I sat staring into space.

I soon realized where my unconscious gaze laid as the beautiful boy clenched his fists tight and screwed his face. He glared at me and I felt my cheeks flame red. He had the long sleeves of his grey shirt pushed up to his elbow. His forearms were hard and muscular. 

I felt like I had been sat here for ages. Was it because I was waiting for his tight fists to loosen? It never did; He continued to sit still. So still, it looked like he wasn't even breathing. Was there something worrying him?

He glared down at me as I shrank against my chair. Suddenly, he was out his seat. He rose fluidly, -- he was much taller than I had thought -- and with his back turned, he was out of the door. I stared blankly after him and anger soon filled me as I began to tear up. Had I done something wrong?