Falling For Seconds

Chapter Six

I had successfully finished my test and I couldn't help but smile. With Levi's help, I made it to my Calculus class with more confident than I ever have. We only were able to study two times because of his random work schedule, but those two times made a world of a difference. Now, I had to be patient. I had to wait until the professor had uploaded the grades and that was ten times worse than taking the actual test.
I walked casually out of the small classroom as the sun shone brightly across the quad. Hundreds of people were walking with a purpose to and from their Thursday schedules. Their minds most likely occupied with class work, homework, and next papers while mine was covered from end to end with the boy who shouldn't need to be in my life any longer. His eyes haunted my dreams and his lips, that smirk had me day dreaming every chance I got. I strolled to my car, not even caring about the grades, but rather if I was going to see Levi at work tonight.
Why do you care about Levi? Your boyfriend is working his ass off for you! My subconscious had been screaming at me since the night Greyson met Levi. Over and over again I was slapped mentally by the realization that Greyson was mine and Levi wasn't. He might never be. Hell, I probably had a better chance of finding an unicorn! I wished I'd known the difference between my head, my heart, and my vagina.
I had to work after my classes and as I made my way there, I could help but wonder if Levi would make an appearance. I hadn't seen him in three days and I was growing restless. His mysteries were addicting. The phone call at my house, the "job" he worked at, the guarded mist that covered his eyes when I asked him something personal were all wrecking havoc on my brain.
At any given second my mouth could ramble close to one hundred questions. If I didn't get to hold another conversation with him soon I might explode.
Greyson had recently become more distant as well, I realized. I knew that pre-Law was difficult and a time consuming major, but there had to be sometime between school and homework to talk to me.
The little bookshop was becoming home. The sweet scents of coffee and whatever air freshener Dale picked at the store was now a method of relaxation for my body. Slipping through the front door and towards the back storage room a sense of security flushed through me.
I glanced at myself in my locker mirror. "Nothing can hurt me here" I smiled to myself. Did Dale feel the same as I do? Is that why he didn't sell even though different men and women came in twice sometimes three times a week to buy it from him? Was this his safe place as well?
I refreshed the Email page on my phone one last time. Still no update from my professor about the test. If it took him as long to grade tests as it did to grade assignments then I was going to be waiting for awhile.
My stomach clenched. What if I had failed? How quickly would I receive a call from my parents? Would they revoke the agreement over this test? The smile I had sent through the mirror was replaced with a small frown. Had I placed too much trust in the handsome stranger?
  "How are you doing, babe?" I was three steps from the storage room when I heard the dark voice floating toward me. The hairs on my arms stood on end.
He had short cut, dirty blonde hair and pretty blue eyes. There were black ink tattoos from his neck and down both thin arms. The boy held a small, yellowing novel in his hands. He offered a toothy grin, his teeth black around the edges like he smoked too much and didn't brush enough.
I nodded to him politely and did my best to smile, but didn't trust my voice to speak. I took another step toward the front register. "I was looking over the menu at the cafe, but couldn't decide what I wanted. I figured you would be perfect to give suggestions."
Why don't you go talk to Grant? He's the one working at the cafe today. Quickly, I shushed my subconscious. She was going to get us killed. "I like our selection of teas." I answered with all the confidence I could muster.
  A crease formed between his eyebrows. "Or there's hot chocolate," I added. The boy's tired eyes scanned across my body before he smiled wickedly.
  "I'll have that then. Thank you... Hadley." I shouldn't have been freaked out by him saying my name. Many people - including Levi- had called me that, but it was how his lips curled around each syllable that gave me chills.
  I watched closely as the man walked across the store not stopping until he was right in front of Grant. I craned my neck to get a view of the high school boy behind the counter. Was he intimidated, too?
  But Grant was in his own world. He stopped drumming on the register long enough to make the evil man's drink and to make change. Grant barely looked at him at all.
  Once the man had his cup in hand, he looked over his shoulder once and winked at me. He wore an all black outfit. Though half his body was hidden from the bookshelves dividing us, I tried to look for a suspicious outline of a weapon. The new comer was incredible weak looking, his body didn't fill his shirt like Levi's did. How could such a small boy hold such a maniacal presence?
  "You have costumers, Miss. Lee." Dale soft whisper broke me from my trance. I nodded at him, my gazing wandering to the main register where two ladies were looking around from someone to help them buy their books.
A flood of relief washed over me. The boy was a random. I'll never see him again in this city. There were too many better places for him to be, I hope. Each step toward the costumers was one step toward the energy I'd entered the store with.