Burnt Cities

Chapter 6

I get out my car and walk down the street towards his. The boy gets out of his car and leans on the driver's door. I walk closer to his car and stop a few feet away from him, still not trusting him enough to get closer.

"I am pretty sure what you are doing is called stalking sir."

"I'd say it's called following a beautiful girl home."

Excuse me, but did he just call me beautiful?? Beautiful enough to be followed home? In the midst of being flattered I forget about the fact that I have just been followed home by a stranger.

"You literally left me hanging in the car park after I had told you about all the shitty stuff that's been happening in my family, only to follow me home?"

"I'm really sorry about that," he looks at his feet and runs his hands through his hair. I can tell by his facial expression that he means it. "I'm just really bad at handling emotional situations."

"Try being me, right in the middle of the emotional situation."

"Try being me..." he stops in the middle of his sentence, as if what he is about to say is too painful for him to talk about.

"I have a feeling that I'm not the only one going through a rough patch?"

"I don't want to talk about," he looks down again and clenches his teeth so hard that his jaw tightens.

"I'm Maya."

"Nice name, what does it mean?"

"It's short for Somaya, a Muslim name that means 'A beautiful garden surrounded by roses and flowers'".

"Hah, you don't look Muslim to me," he lets out a little laugh.

"I'm not. My mom once traveled to Saudi Arabia, and to her it was one of the most beautiful countries she had ever visited. During her stay, she made a new friend and her name was Somaya. She never spoke to or saw her ever again, but she vowed to name her first daughter Somaya, so here I am."

"Sweet. Do you want to go for some ice cream Somaya?"

"Point number one- you can call me Maya. Point number two- I was taught from a young age not to wonder of with strangers, so no."

"You just told me a deep story about your name Somaya,I also know pretty much everything that's going on in your family right now, I know where you live, so I think it's pretty safe to say I'm not a stranger anymore," he smiles and runs his hand through his hair again.

He's right. Something about him makes me feel as though I have known him for a long time.

"You look dangerous."

He laughs softly and then looks back directly into my eyes. He has brown eyes that look exactly like Charles'. This slight similarity to my brother increases my affection towards him. He smiles showing perfectly straight teeth.

"I've never heard that one before."

"In a good way," I say quickly. I can feel my face turning red again.

"A good way? Like bad boy dangerous?"

"Yeah like, hot stranger with tons of tattoos and a beautiful body."

"So are you going to get ice-cream with this hot stranger?"

"It's nearly five, it will get dark soon."

"We won't stay long, I'll drive you home."

I feel foolish for giving in this quickly, but I also haven't felt like someone was genuinely interested in spending time with me for a very long time.