"I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious,
and it's words and stories so damning and brilliant."

~ The Book Thief

***

Mac is sitting on the curb next to McDonald's when I drive up at seven-thirty. Did I debate coming before I left home? Yes. Did I mentally kick myself when I actually told my parents that I was going out and hopped into my car? Hard. Then why did I come? That is still to be determined.

"I'm impressed," Mac says when I get out of my car and slam the door. I walk over to stand above him. "Usually girls take an eternity to get ready for a date and they get here like a half an hour late."

"One, we're not on a date," I confirm. "Two, I'm not like a lot of girls. Two-A, unlike your 'other girls', I actually debated coming here in the first place. Two-B, unlike your 'other girls', I don't enjoy taking forever to get ready for a date. Even though this is not a date."

Mac looks at me with a straight face. I like to think he is pleasantly shocked with me. But then he laughs.

"Well, I didn't know I'd made acquaintances with such a snark," He says. I raise an eyebrow. He looks at me, mimicking my face. "Fine, cynic then."

I roll my eyes. "Better," I grumble. "So where are we going?" I ask him and Mac stands up, towering annoyingly over me.

"I dunno," he says. "What do you want to get?" I look at him like, are you kidding me?

"There's a McDonald's right there." I jab my thumb over my shoulder.

"Yeah but that's just so basic," Mac says in a bored voice.

"And right there." I repeat. Mac looks at me as if I'm the most tiring person he's ever talked to.

"Well if you insist." He says, grabbing ahold of my hand and dragging me along with him to the front doors.

Inside is empty except for a bored and pissy looking girl at the front counter, who's eyebrows raise in an annoyed expression when we walk in.

"Reason one why I was right," Mac says into my ear. "Pissy red-headed bitch running the front counter." I roll my eyes yet again.

"What do you want?" Says the redhead, not losing the pissy attitude for a second. Mac raises both eyebrows at her, unamused.

"I didn't know they still hired bitchy clowns around here." Mac replies. I resist the urge to laugh so it comes out more as a cough. The redhead scowls unattractively at Mac. He smiles at her sweetly and continues, "One Oreo McFlurry and a -"

"Large Dr. Pepper please," I finish.

"Two fifty-two." She sighs I give her my debit card but Mac smacks it out of my hand and hands her a five.

"What the hell?" I say after she's given us our receipt and we go to sit at one of the tables by the window.

"What'd you think I'd actually let you pay for it?" He smirks and I glare at him.

"Actually I did." I reply.

"You have much to learn, my young Padawan."

"Hey come get your crap." The redhead snappishly calls.

Mac rolls his eyes and gets up, saying as he approaches the counter,

"Thanks but I put my crap in the toilet, not in an ice cream machine." I see the redhead roll her eyes at him, take his receipt and chuck it annoyingly into the trash. Mac picks up our things and walks back to me, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. He places my drink on the table with a deep bow and says,

"Your drink, m'lady." I snort and grab my drink, taking a sip.

"Thanks," I say. He sits down across from me and takes a huge bite of his McFlurry. For a few moments, we sit in silence, listening to redhead talking with someone over the phone, definitely her boyfriend. Imagine that. I sip down my Dr. Pepper and he pretty much inhales his ice cream. Well this goes for number one in "Awkward Outings".

"Okay look this is nice and all but I don't enjoy you not talking so we're going to play a little game I like to call 'I Ask You a Question and You Have to Answer Said Question'. Kay?" Mac says, breaking the silence. I freeze in mid-sip, choking and causing bubbles to travel up into my nose and making me want to sneeze.

"What?" I manage to choke out but he continues, either ignoring me or already speaking,

"What is your favorite food of all time?" He asks me.

"Pizza," I answer. "Duh." Mac grins.

"Somehow I predicted you would say that."

"How?"

"Well, one you're a teenage girl. Two, who doesn't like pizza?"

I shrug. "True."

"Okay," he says. "Next question, what's your favorite book?"

I swallow my soda and look at him as if he's insane. Which he is. Nobody can have just one favorite book.

"You're kidding." I say.

"Okay favorite book series."

"That's easy, The Mortal Instruments." I reply.

"I predicted that one too," Mac smiles big and proud and he claps his hands. "Who's you're favorite character?"

I shake my head. "I can't choose," I say. "It's like picking which kid is my favorite."

"Okay favorite female character?" He asks to narrow it down.

"Definitely Isabelle," I reply.

"Okay now favorite male character?"

I groan. "You've got to be kidding me!" I whine. "They're all amazing!"

"Mine is Magnus." He says and I grin.

"Okay okay, favorite vampire is Raphael, favorite warlock is Magnus, favorite Nephilim is Simon, and favorite werewolf is Jordan." I answer. Mac high fives me.

"Heck yeah!" He agrees. I smile. "But seriously, Sebastian just had to mess with them, like what an ass.""

I groan. "Oh my God I know, but at the end with the whole 'I feel so light' thing I pretty much died."

"Me too!" Mac says. "Like the whole time you're wanting Sebastian to just die already but then when he does you get emotional anyway and it just messes up your mind -"

"Oh my gosh, exactly! And like in the Infernal Devices with Jem -"

"And he turns out to be Brother Zachariah!"

"Yes!"

I can't help but feel so happy in this moment. It's been so long since I've been able to talk to someone about the things I like. It feels good to have them listen and agree and actually have a good conversation about something you love. It's nice to have them understand for once.

We talk. We talk so much that the red headed bitch yells at us for being annoying and Mac shouts back "Go away!"

It's around eight-thirty when we decide to leave. But Mac doesn't want to go home yet.

"C'mon just follow me I have something for you at home." He pleads. I scoff.

"Yeah right," I say.

"No really I keep forgetting to give it to you!"

"We met yesterday!" I argue.

"So?" Mac complains. I scowl at him. He gives me Bambi eyes. Oh God no.

I try to keep my ground but this is exactly why I don't babysit that often:

"Fine." Mac claps his hands triumphantly and gives me a sweet half smile.

"Follow the red truck okay?" He says. I nod and hop into my car. The radio turns on and I keep the car in park, waiting for Mac to pull out.

"I got those jet pack blues,
Fight off the light tonight and just stay with me,
Honey don't you leave,"

This time I join in singing,

"Don't you remember how we used to split a drink,
It never mattered what it was,
I think our hands were just that close,
The sweetness never lasted no..."

"She's in a long black coat tonight!" I sing as I see his truck pull out and I begin to follow it out of the parking lot. "Waiting for me in the downpour outside! She's singing "Baby come home" in a melody of tears while the rhythm of the rain keeps time..."

I follow him for only a few minutes before we drive into one of those weird street things with a million cul-de-sacs. Excuse me for not knowing what they're called, at least I didn't call it a park.

He pulls into a driveway on a cul-de-sac named Shanghai - not creepy at all, *nervously laughs* - and he motions for me to wait before he disappears into the two story, gray stucco house with a Spanish tiled roof and a glowing number 419 next to the garage.

Mac only makes me wait for about a minute before he comes out with something in his hand. I roll down my window and he peeks his head in.

"I got it." He says with a huge smile and holding up whatever it is that he has for me. A book.

He hands it to me and I turn on the light to see the title in the darkness. I smile softly.

A Tale of Two Cities is printed across the front of the red hardcover.

"In the Infernal Devices -"

"Will was always identified with Sydney Carton." I finish, marveling at the book. I've been wanting to read this for so long.

"And in the Mortal Instruments, it played a major part in Clary and Jace's relationship." Mac adds. I nod, remembering. I don't know for how long I stay here, just looking at my new book and recalling how many years I've waited to read this. Not just for the hell of it. No. There's so much more to it than just reading the thing.

"Thanks Mac," I say, breaking out of my head. "This is crazy."

"Eh, no problem. My mom reads a lot too, she's got so many books in there, I'll have to show you sometime." He answers with a jab of his thumb towards his house.

"Oh is this your mom's?" I say unsurely.

"Nah, I gave her money and she found it at Barnes and Nobles when she went to go buy some more books yesterday."

"Oh," I say. "Well thanks for tonight." I shift my car into reverse but keep my foot on the brake.

"No big deal," Mac says with a wink. "I'll see you Monday." He grins at me and then walks up the driveway and disappears into his house.

I back out of the driveway and drive home in silence, the book's title winking up at me and shining like a promise.

***

"Cole is that you?" My mom calls out nervously. I walk into the kitchen where she's still doing school.

"Yeah it's me." I say and she puts her hand on her chest as if worried.

"Oh my gosh thank goodness, where were you?" She asks.

"I told you I was going out, Mom," I answer. "I left at seven thirty didn't you hear me?"

"You never told me you were going 'out', Colby," my mom says, her tone getting more and more scolding. "And where even is 'out', Cole, huh? How am I supposed to be a good mom if you never tell me where you're going or who you're going with?"

"I had my phone," I say in disbelief. How could she be mad at me? I told her right here at this table that I was going out. "You could've just called me. And I told you right here Mom, you have no right to be mad at me!"

"Where in the hell were you?!" She shouts and I scowl at her. She only curses when she's angry. Well, whoop-dee-doo. "I couldn't have called you I was doing school! How was I supposed to know what you were doing and with who?!"

"Calm down Mom," I say. "Just calm down and I can tell you."

"Don't tell me to calm down, Colby! I'm the mom not you!"

"Mom, I can explain this to you if you'll stop yelling in my face and let me talk to you."

My mom's face is tomato red with fury. It's fine, I've been here before. Usually I don't get her to calm down but thank God Almighty I did this time.

"I made plans with a friend, we went to McDonald's and we got ice cream Mom," I say. "That's it. You could've called me and asked where I was but you didn't and that's not my fault."

"Who's your friend?"

I swallow. Oh God please no. "You know my friends Mom." I say, trying desperately to avoid the rest of this conversation. Lord, deliver me.

"This one is different and you know it Colby." My mom says with a clenched jaw and a glare.

I purse my lips. It's not that big of a deal right? It's not like we were having sex or making out in the back of my car. What's it to her anyways? I'm fine. I came home. I'm not hurt. I'm fine.

"Mom it's fine, he's -"

"He?" My mother asks incredulously. Shit. "Who's he?"

"A friend Mom," I answer smoothly. "A friend. A friend of mine and he is my friend and that's all he'll ever be okay?"

"How do I know that for sure?" My mom asks. I resist the urge to grab her face and scream "YOU HAVE TO BE JOKING!" but I can't help but at least clench my fists.

"It's not like we were screwing each other on a table at McDonald's! Or making out in the back of my car!" I say, reiterating what I was just thinking a second ago.

"How do I know if that's true or not?" My mom yells. I roll my eyes and turn away.

"You know what Mom? Whatever," I say. "Go ahead and think that I had sex with a boy I met yesterday on a table in McDonald's. Go ahead. Obviously you won't believe anything else!" I yell that last part at her and grab my keys and head upstairs.

Thankfully I reach my room without having my mom yelling for me to come back and I slam the door shut. Yep, I'm grounded.

I tear through my room, venting out my anger by yanking open drawers and throwing things around in search of my headphones. I look in my dresser, in my desk drawers and shelves, and I finally find them at the bottom of my backpack after emptying the whole thing out. I pick them up and jam them into the headphone jack, pressing play on my Fall Out Boy album, which goes straight to Novocaine. I turn up the volume almost to full blast and I flop down on my bed, burying myself underneath all of my pillows and blankets, the music playing loud into my ears and my anger boiling up dangerously inside of my chest.

What nerve she had to think that I would act so stupid as to leave the house after dark - without telling her - to meet a friend - and a boy one at that. She thought I was such a whore, even though I've never had a sex drive before in my life, except for maybe once or twice when it was my time of the month. But that's beside the point. I've kissed one boy before and one boy only and that was forever ago, and on the surplus, she didn't even know about it. So she has no right whatsoever to think that I'm out doing unthinkable things with boys I meet twenty-four hours earlier when she doesn't have anything to prove that I would do something like that. What a bunch of crap. Who does she think I am? For the love of God, she's the one who raised me! Is it just her questioning whether she raised me right - which makes no sense - now that I'm "going off the deep end" as she would like to call it? Is it -

My phone buzzes.

I look down at it in surprise and frown at the text message winking up at me:

Unknown Number -
Hey Little Miss

What in the actual hell? I am just about to reply when the number texts,

It's Mac

I internally groan. Of course it's Mac. I slide the text across and type back a reply.

How did you get my number?

My first guess is me but I don't remember giving it to him, I always zone out here and there so it just might've but then he texts back:

Stole your phone:)

Of course. That was going to be my second guess.

So what are you doing, Little Miss? ;)

My heart catches in my throat and I remember him in the car as we drove through the city late one night.

"So Little Miss," He says and I glance at the clock which reads 12:19. "I have a very special present for you." I smile big at him and he slowly stops at a red light, the momentum making our seat belts lock for a second.

"Yeah?" I say. Why can't he just spill it!

"Yeah. But you have to wait until we get there." He says. The light turns green and we lurch forward, taking a left onto Eighth. We turn off onto a side road, and a few more after that until we are driving roughly on a long dirt road next to the creek. He pulls over at a place where the water comes close to the road and where the moon and stars shine conceivably brighter than in the inner city, and he brings me next to the stream.

The creek runs in front of us steadily, determinedly, quietly following the lonely dirt road. A disciple. A lost son but prodigal once it finds the road again. The moon glints off of it in blue light, shining through the clear water straight to the rocky floor of the creek.

We sit down, our legs crossed in front of us and our hands intertwined at our sides, gazing down at the moonlit water. I think of what it'd look like in the daytime - murky, dull, and sad looking from the city air - and I smile at the thought that he knew I probably wouldn't enjoy it in those hours. But he knew I'd like it now. And I do. The water shining in blue, the grass next to the banks lightly swaying in the warm breeze, the lights from the city illuminating the sky to our right, but disappearing into black, star studded night.

I lean up against his shoulder and breathe in the familiar scent of Abercrombie and Fitch cologne and bread. It calms me. It makes me want to drift away into nothingness with him by my side. His hand never letting go of mine.

"I know it's only been four months," he begins and I open my eyes and look up into his blue ones. "But I want you to know that I don't view this relationship as temporary," His other hand caresses my face and he breathes out the next words,

"I want this, all of this, to be forever," His fingers run through my hair, gently, knowing how much I hate it when people touch my hair. "I don't want this to end. I want you - us... I want us forever."

I smile up at him and kiss his cheek. "Do you get me?" He whispers. I nod. He moves forward and plants a kiss on my forehead, leaning up against me for a moment before pulling something out of his pocket. He silently slips a silver ring onto my left ring finger. My heart leaps in my chest.

"Promise me, we're forever." He says, still holding my hand.

I lean forward, our noses now nearly touching. He sucks in a breath and I whisper the words against his mouth.

"I promise."

***

My cheeks are wet when I wake up. My eyes stick shut slightly when I open them and what I think is drool on my pillow is actually tears. I look at my cell phone as the time turns to 12:19 and I open it, seeing two more texts from Mac.

You okay?

Is something wrong?

I sigh and text back at him,

Yeah I'm good, I just fell asleep.
I'll see you Monday, Mac.

And with that, I pull out my earphones, put my cell phone on my nightstand, and I fall back against my now tearstained pillow, my thoughts racing and the Abercrombie and Fitch cologne still burning in my nostrils like revenge.

***

Author's Note

See what I did with the cologne? Hey hey, cleverness is a jerk huh? Anyways, thanks all my readers for reading, I mean that's what you do, you read stuff but I'm glad you read my stuff cause that's cool.

I have made another account @nemesis1412 and I will be doing QOTD's on there so you guys can have a say in what goes on in the upcoming chapters of LMBE. So make sure to follow @nemesis1412 and stay in touch! Thanks all of you guys for reading. Chapter 6 will be out sometime this week!

~ Cara❤

PS. Sorry for all the crazy spam posting of chapters🙂#ehnotreally