Dark Beauty

chapter 12

I definitely shouldn't be walking in the street alone in a city I barely knew, but staying at home wasn't an option. My mom was with her new friends from the cooking club. Okay, let me explain. This club would meet in someone's house to bake or cook something every two weeks. During the week, they would look for recipes or ingredients that worked together and on two weekends of the month, they would try the recipes or create new ones. On the end of each meeting, they would decide on another theme or continue with the one they had.
To my surprise, this week the meeting was at my house. So, there were six women shouting and laughing, and if stayed there I would end up being their "helper". In other words, I would be carrying ingredients from one side to another and doing all the washing up. The moment one of them asked if I could get some eggs, I was off. I would come back later and eat what they had made. The theme for this week was children's birthday parties, so I knew there would be good things.

I was already walking for half an hour and I still didn't know where I was. I asked some people for directions - using my school as reference - most of them ignored me, although some had tried to explain and others didn't even know the school existed. Come on, Luanacris isn't even that big!
I was lost, so I just gave up and sat on a bench nearby. I listened to music on my spotify and started observing the people who passed by. I realized that most of them were wearing All-stars or Nike air shoes. So I didn't really have anything better to do. I would rest a little and then go back to trying to find my way home.
I didn't even know how I got to there in the first place. I had silently left my house and started walking in the street. I passed by the school and the ice cream shop where Jake took me yesterday, but I think I was so into my music that when I realized I didn't know where I was, I was already lost. I get so into the songs that I'm listening to, that I stop paying attention to everything around me.
'Hey, what are you doing here all alone?' Someone behind me said.
I turned to see who it was and then I lost my breath. I couldn't believe it. It was LUCAS. Yes, the suuuuuper hot blue eyed Greek god Lucas.
'Hum, hi, I'm just chillin' here.' I answered, trying to act cool.
'Really? All alone?' Lucas asked sitting next to me.
'Well, to tell you the truth...' Should I say I was lost? I needed to get home and there was a good chance he could help me. 'I'm lost, completely lost.'
'Why didn't you say so? I'll help you. In a matter of fact, it'll be a pleasure to help you.' Was I dreaming or had he just said that it would be a pleasure to help me?
'Okay. Can you just tell me how to get to our school? From there on I know the way.' I said.
'No way, I'll give you a ride home, my car is right over there.' He pointed.
'I don't want to bother you.' I said.
'Like I said, it's a pleasure. Come on.' He said pulling me off the bench.

His car was so big, and it smelled deliciously just like him. I hope he didn't notice how much I was shaking.
'Hum... Thank you very much. I have no idea how I would get home if you hadn't appeared.' I said nervously. Well, I knew I would end up finding my way home, but a ride with Lucas was much better.
'And my boring day just got better by giving you a ride.' Lucas said.
Now I was shaking and blushing. Why did I have to blush so easily? It was going to be hard for him not to notice. Okay Leila, breathe. Breathe, count to ten and then breathe again. I thought to myself. Why did I get so nervous around him?
I gave him my address and then no one said anything else for some minutes.
'You walked all this way. No wonder you were lost; we are quite far from your house.' Lucas said, breaking the silence.
'Hum yeah, I was listening to music, so I didn't even notice where I was going until my feet started hurting.' I said, trying not to make eye contact with him.
'Be careful next time, around here there are some dangerous streets.' Lucas said looking at me.
'Okay. Thank you.' I said, still trying not to look at his eyes.
'You know, I really like you being my chemistry partner. One of the best I had so far.' Lucas said.
'I like that you are my partner, too.' I said.
'Before going home, do you have time for coffee?' Lucas asked.
'Coffee?' I repeated.
'Yeah, but if you're tired, we can go another day.' He said.
'No, coffee now is perfect.' I smiled.
We stopped in a little coffee shop and we both ordered a Cappuccino. We talked for hours about random stuff. Lucas asked me about my life back where I lived before and told me about his family and some stories about when he was younger. A few times while we were talking, he would gently touch my hand and smile. It was already getting dark when he left me at my house.
'Hum, thank you for everything.' I said smiling.
'Whenever you're lost just call me.' He said. 'Here, let me save my number on your phone and you can save yours on mine.'
We exchanged numbers and then he smiled and left. I had to be dreaming, this was too good to be true.
I waited for his car to leave and then went inside. My parents were in the living room. My plan was to slowly go to the kitchen and see what was left for me to eat, but my mom saw me before I had the chance.
'Where were you?' She asked.
'I was just getting out of the house a little.' I said, trying to see if I could smell something.
'Well, you missed some really fun time, but I can understand.' My mom said, laughing. 'There are cupcakes, caramel chocolate fudge and a piece of ice cream cake for you in the kitchen, I know that's what you want.
'You know me too well.' I gave her a kiss and went to the kitchen.
Everything was delicious. The cupcake was soft and tasted heavenly. The butter cream topping melted in my mouth as I slowly chewed a piece trying to savior every second of it.
When I thought about Lucas, I started smiling. I never thought he would come talk to me out of school grounds. That had made my day. I know it might sound stupid, but he's just so out of my league. Would Lucas talk to me tomorrow, or would he just ignore me? I think the main question was: Was I falling for Lucas? Just of thinking of him made me blush. Lucas made my heart do a summersault just by looking at me.
Today had been so great. Spending time with him had been wonderful. He didn't even seem like a football jock and one of the most popular boys in school. He was just a normal guy with dreams and fears. Could it be that he liked me or was he just being nice? I was in a serious need of a second opinion. Maybe I could talk Avery. We were starting to hang out more these past few weeks. She was so nice; she didn't care that we didn't have a big group of friends or what people said about us. I really liked Jake, too, he was my best friend, but I really missed having a girlfriend. It's not that I don't think that talking about the person I may be crushing on with another boy wasn't possible, it's just that I knew Jake didn't like Lucas. It would the same thing as if he came to me and said he liked Rebecca that way.
Avery had asked me if I liked Jake the other day. Of course I liked Jake, but not in that way. If I did, it could be bad for our relationship. Why would I risk it? I had already seen it happen with my friends, and it didn't end well.