TIWIS

BETA: A Million Dollar Deal... 2.3

He looked at me smiling, back to his eerily normal merry persona. He walked towards me still smiling, and then he brought his head down to my ears and then said, his voice sounding so velvety, “well… I don’t know that much, but in my opinion, I think it looks like I’m going home”. I only just noticed how tall he actually was. He was at least two feet taller than me, and my relatives normally said I was tall for my age. He stood straight up again and started laughing at me.
“No. No. you were obviously keeping a safe distance between you and me, and that’s what stalkers do, so it does begs the question as to whether you were following me or not,” I said argumentatively.
“Wow!!! We’ve got a wild one on our hands here now, don’t we? — Too many horror movies I see — oh and no. I wasn’t stalking you. I mean just look at your reaction when you saw me that far away. It would have been way worse if I had been walking close to you. Yeah and if I was stalking you… don’t you think I would have done it in my car? Trust me, that’ll be way easier, right?” he said this smiling, not his wide soft smile, this one was different, kind of naughty.
I sighed. This dude must be nuts. Was he really teasing me? And why the hell were his words sort of frightening me? Without thinking, I just blurted out “you’re joking, right? —” Realizing I had made a mistake to let him know that his words had somehow affected me I added, “– and that just brings about another question, why didn’t you take your car, since you were going home”, I made air quotes as I said the ‘going home’.
He smiled his naughty smile and then asked, “Are you going to stand here all day?”
His question hit me like a brick. It was so sudden and so out of place all I could say was, “well no, obviously”
He smiled shrugging.
“And that doesn’t explain why you don’t have your car with you… assuming you do have a car that is”, I added.
“Hmm… so you think I don’t?”
“Well, what am I supposed to think? I’ve never seen it before and here you are claiming not to be following someone, yet all the signs say you were. And even if you did have a car, where is it?”
After I said this, he burst out laughing. It was quite loud but soft and melodic. “Alright, well now you know how it feels”. I noticed we had started walking again.
“What?!” I asked confused.
“It’s my own petty form of revenge”, he said this smiling his soft smile looking straight ahead at the road in front of us
“Revenge?” I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of this, “for what?!”
He stopped for a second and then continued without sparing me a glance or even saying a word to me.
“What?” I asked impatiently. Again, he said nothing, “is it because of the concert? If that’s the case, that’s just stupid. Because I really do have assignments to do and if you think about it, I really didn’t make you miss the concert, you decided that on your own, due to some weird reason I have no freaking clue about”, he still didn’t say anything but I thought I saw the side of his lips twitching. “DUDE?!…” I groaned.
He smiled finally looking at me, “That’s cute. You sound frustrated. It’s adorable”
I sighed. He makes me so tired. Well at least on the bright side we’re even so that’s that with the revenge. “So, we’re even now, right?” I asked.
“Ha! Not even close”, he smirked as he said this.
“Wait, what? You went on about how frustrated I was”, I replied sounding angry in my ears.
“That’s what you caught? Cute… And yeah, you’re adorable when you’re frustrated, but what’s that have to do with my revenge”
“But –”, I had started, and he interrupted me.
“But what?” he asked laughing.
“You’re impossible”, I concluded.
He laughed at my analysis and then stopped. I found myself stopping with him, then he stooped to face me, with his eyes wavering, “as fun as watching you try and fail to get what you did wrong is, you know you still owe me an apology, right?!”
I suddenly remembered our first meeting, the cafeteria. And then this so-called apology of his. I then became aware of my surroundings. We were already on my street. I was only a few blocks from my house. It then dawned on me the danger I had gotten myself into. No one in school knew where I lived. Ah, that must be his deal and it was almost working.
“I thought you said you were going home?” I asked this question with a new reassured sense of fearful caution.
“So, I still don’t get my apology. I am by the way, going home”, I stared at him confused. The sincerity in his voice was so disorienting.
“Oh…” I sighed.
“Where are you going?” he asked mockingly.
At that moment, the thought that ran through my head was to protect my hideout, “a friend’s house”, I blurted out.
“Hmm…” he paused for a moment before continuing, “I thought you had assignments”
“Oh, yeah I do, we’re doing it together, myself and my friend”
He stared at me for a moment obviously contemplating whether he wanted to believe my story or not. He chose to believe it letting out an “oh…kay” in confirmation.
We continued walking and just when we were about a block from my house, he had a phone call. I took this as an opportunity and I tripled my pace almost tripping on myself, but I just had to get away from him. To my horror, mother was outside tending to her little gardens on the flowerbeds. She was already heading inside when she saw me, and then she called out “Oh honey you’re home, please could you help me get those tools inside as you’re coming in?” luckily for me, she didn’t wait for me to answer before going in. I was about to enter into my front yard when he caught up with me again.
“Hey, hey, hey… your friend’s mother seems really familiar with you… weird”, Axel said.
Noticing I had to make my lie really convincing and hoping he wasn’t listening too closely to my mom when she had said ‘home’ I replied, “err, yes. We’re very close. You see my friend’s mother is my mother’s best friend, and she’s my godmother so it is only normal for her to be that familiar with me”
“Wow, your god-sibling and yourself in the same school and the same class? Do I know her… or him?”
I noticed from the way he phrased that sentence and the way each syllable in the sentence was like cutting knives that he had long figured out my lie and was just playing around with me. I didn’t have time for these games. Mother already saw me, she’ll be wondering what was taking me so long. I needed to end this conversation and I needed to end it quickly. I went with the quickest, least rude thing that came to my head.
“What do you want, Axel? I mean you won’t tell me why you don’t have your car with you and you won’t answer any of my questions, so please just answer this one. Also I never said we were in the same school, let alone the same class, she’s just a friend”
He looked shocked, kind of taken aback by my direct words. He contemplated for a while. Few seconds really, before he finally said, “Okay, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll tell you why I don’t have my car if you promise not to ignore me”, he was watching carefully again. The same overly attentive look he normally gave me, like a scientist studying a hypothesis. I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t bring myself to utter a word. His request was so out of place.
He continued, “Believe me, this is the least tasking thing I could ask of you – well except you want to give me that apology you owe me”
“Fine! I won’t ignore you, so why did you not take your car?”
He sighed relieved, but he still didn’t say anything, he just looked blank. I interrupted his limbo by adding, “Hey! I don’t have all day. You know I still have to do my as–”
“–Assignments, yeah I know. My elder brother’s coming home from college because he got an early holiday, whenever my brother’s home, he uses my car because he says it’s stupid to bring his car down here. He’s sort of a prick, so, me leaving it on the school grounds is my way of rebellion to him as he hates, or rather, dreads the school. So, that’s, that. Remember, you’re not allowed to ignore me anymore”
He looked at me so deeply his eyes were drawing me into him. This wasn’t entirely a bad deal although I had no idea as to why I had accepted it, still, it wasn’t a bad deal. I mean, I’ve been in the same school with him for four years now and I’ve only just met him a couple of days ago, it’s not like I have to see him every day. So, yeah. This was a good deal. Not that I really needed to know why he had left his car, but still, Good Deal!
I nodded assuring him that I had understood the criteria for the deal we had just made. He smiled and then said “Great! I’ll be going now. My house is just along that corner”, he said pointing to a corner I wasn’t paying attention to.
“Right”, I said feeling-less making no effort to go inside the house.
“Go on in, your mother might start worrying,” he said lightly.
“No, no, no. I told you already, she’s my friend’s mother, not mine, we’re familiar, but not that familiar”, I said trying my best to look convincing.
He scoffed at my remark and said, “Oh, you’re still going with that? Alright, so the level of familiarity that is not that familiar makes your friend’s house your home?”
I was dumbfounded. So he did hear all that my mother had said. I had to defend myself and protect my forte. “Well–”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah whatever,” he started waving me off, then continued, “I wonder how your mother would feel if she heard you now. Godmother, indeed! Go on!”
He was right. My mother would probably feel bad, but she’ll understand I had to protect myself — eventually. I wanted to say something in my defence but my brain kept failing me. I couldn’t put two words together let alone form a complete sentence. This sucks. I turned around and headed to the door of the house. I was about to open the door when he called out, “Don’t forget the tools, honey”
I stopped dead in my tracks. He had said that, way too loud. Everyone in the house would have probably heard him. Oh, no. this is bad. I turned around to look at him and glare the meanest glare I could summon but when I turned he was already walking away laughing to himself.
I numbly picked up the bucket of tools readying myself for the agony my mind was going to have to face from whoever was inside the house.