Chapter Six
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"Look, there's your old house," Xavier said on the way, pointing to a two-story bungalow at the end of the street.

"That's where we used to live?" David gasped, staring out at the window.

"Yeah. How do you know where we lived?" I asked Xavier.

As far as I knew, he'd never come here before; definitely not when I was still in Carlos six years back. We saw each other in school only for about half a month. He was new in town back then and I left Los Carlos soon after. He never came to my house, that I was sure. The only possibility of having him at my house was exclusively on birthdays but even that did not happen during that half a month because I left on my birthday.

"I came here on your birthday."

"You did?!" I marveled with a confused frown. "No. You didn't. I left on my birthday!"

"Uhh. . . yeah, I guess. Nevermind. You and your mother share the same birthday? The other day was your birthday, right?"

Wow. This guy literally knows my whole life.

"Yeah! How did you know all that? I mean I never told you any of that."

"Yeah, you did."

"No. I'm sure I didn't. We barely talked. Except for my starbursts."

"You did," he insisted.

I was sure he was lying.

"Are you stalking me?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

He scoffed. "During elementary? Come on."

"Then, how come you know everything?"

"Do you like Alana?" David asked Xavier out of nowhere. "Because my friend Flint likes Sherry and he knows her birthday."

"No. That's not it," I told him.

Xavier shrugged and grinned at David. "That makes sense."

Well. . .

He pulled up at the end of our driveway after a fifteen-minute drive. David thanked him before jumping off the car and racing inside the house saying he was starving. Narcissus came to open the door for me but, I had already gotten out.

"Thanks," I said as I closed the door.

"Anything for you, Mongrel," he replied.

"And thanks for the starbursts too. Those in my locker."

He easily shrugged in response like it wasn't a big deal. I watched him lean back on his car, sliding his hands inside his jeans pockets and staring at my house in silence. His expression serious and thoughtful, but giving nothing away.

"Well, I think I should get in now," I said.

Leaning forward, he reached out for my hand. "Wait! Alana."

I looked back at him, suddenly feeling a flutter in my heart at his gentle touch. And if I heard him right, he had just called me Alana for the first time. I somehow liked the way he said it, the way it sounded in his deep, resonant voice.

Seeming kind of nervous, he bit down on his lower lip. There was something in the way he met my eyes, like he was eager to say something . . . but he couldn't. Without even bothering to ask him if he wanted to say anything, I kept gazing at the way he was biting his lip. There was something so good about the way he did it. When his teeth left his lip, the mark they'd made glistened in the Sun and I swallowed.

A small smirk appeared on his lips and he tilted his head to the side. I blinked furiously, feeling my face heat up. This was something that never happened to me, except with Jacob.

"Happy belated birthday, Mongrel," he said, taking me by another sweet surprise. "I'm glad you're back." I felt my chest tighten a bit as I noticed the sincerity deep in his eyes.

"Um . . . yeah. I'm . . . glad I'm back too." I replied back quite bashfully. He returned a quiet smile as he dropped my wrist.

"I guess I should leave too. See you tomorrow at school."

"Yeah. See ya."

With that, he got inside his car and left, leaving me to stare at the back of his car with tiny flutters in my chest.

*

The following morning, while I was getting ready for school, I heard two honks coming from our driveway. I moved the window curtain and peered down, expecting to see Jacob. Instead, Ugly Narcissus stepped out of the car and looked up straight toward me. I'd thought Jacob was coming. Our eyes met through the window and then he did the unthinkable. He blew me a kiss. I frowned. He grinned. I watched him walk up our driveway and, minutes later, the doorbell rang.

Holy Batman! Dad is still home, idiot!

I quickly put on my shoes, picked up my backpack from my bed, and dashed out of the room. Just the way I had prayed it would not happen, Dad answered the door.

"Morning, sir." I heard Narcissus' voice.

Right at that instant, I felt like my blood had been replaced with 99% concentrated sulfuric acid.

I'm burning. I'm steaming. I'm evaporating. Dear God . . .

He was the second guy ever to show up at my door. Jacob was the first and he dared to because he was not just my friend but Dad's as well. And that friendship had more than a million reasons, all to do with him being the perfect epitome of a good boy.

But this guy right here, standing bravely in front of my father's eyes, was no less than the perfect epitome of a bad boy. There was a huge difference between Jacob and him as much the difference between sweet and bitter. And this bad boy's devil-may-care personality was more than ten thousand miles too far for my dad to ever like him.

Why am I even thinking about Dad liking him?

"What brings you here?" Dad's stern voice knocked on every nerve in my body.

"Alana, sir," Xavier answered without wasting a second. "I'm driving her to school."

I'm choking. I can't breathe. I'm choking. Oxygen! Oxygen! Why does he have to be so damn confident?

Already dressed for work and standing about four inches below Xavier in the same posture, Dad looked more intimidating than the Hulk. Xavier was the tallest guy I'd ever come across, honestly, but next to my dad, who was six feet and incomparably calm, I could literally imagine Xavier shrinking in size.

"Hi," I greeted them normally when I reached them, but my voice sailed out as a squeak.

If they hadn't seen it was me, they would surely have thought there was a mouse in the house.

Xavier smiled widely, brightly, actually handsomely at me. . . rendering me speechless.

"Hi, Alana," he answered.

"So he's driving you to school, Alana?" Dad looked at me.

There was no sign of disapproval, but I couldn't help shaking a bit inside. It was not like Dad would transform into a werewolf in a blink of an eye and devour his daughter absentmindedly. The thing is, I had never found myself in a situation like that, where a boy turns up to drive me to school. Except for Jacob. And with Dad being so calm and collected, I couldn't understand whether he was cool with it or not.

"Yeah. I guess he is."

"New friend?"

"Uh, not really new. He's a friend from elementary," I answered, breathing slowly to calm my nervousness.

I hoped that the mention of elementary school might add sugar to my answer.

"Oh."

"Uh. We gotta go. We're late," I started hustling. My idea was to get away as fast as possible and tell Xavier never to show up at my door again. I gave Dad a quick hug and stepped out.

On the way, I hissed at Xavier through clenched teeth when I knew we were far enough from the door, "Who told you to come to pick me up?"

"No one told me not to, so I came."

I was ready to Usain Bolt to God-knows-where the moment I knew Dad wasn't watching us anymore. But it was also possible that Dad would be staring at and studying us the way he studies his patients, so I had no choice but to drive with Xavier this unplanned morning, like good friends.

Exactly at that moment, Jacob's car pulled up in my driveway. He rolled down the window and called out to me, "Alana!"

"Oh my God, Jake!" I began to walk over to him to explain that Xavier had come to pick me up too. But then, I felt Xavier wrap his hand around my wrist and hold me back.

I looked up at him. "What are you doing?"

He turned up his chin and told Jacob in a hurry before pulling me with him to his car, "Hey, Garfield. I'm driving Alana to school. See you around. Let's go, baby."

"Wait. Hold on!" I resisted.

He pulled open the car door and assisted me inside, "We're gonna be late."

"Wait. . . sorry, Jake! Gotta go!" I managed to shout from the window, while Xavier ignited the engine and hit the road.

"Why the hell are you in such a hurry?" I scowled at him, quite pissed.

"Don't wanna be late for school."

I scoffed. "Pff. Really."

He only responded with a winning smile as he looked back at Jacob's car through the window. Quite satisfied, he even gave a devilish, contented laugh.

Settling back in his seat, he said, "I should've known that you were the doctor's daughter."

"You know my father?" I looked at him, surprised.

"Yup. We even talked like best friends in the hospital once." He grinned at me.

"When?"

"Just a few days ago. Me and my guys got into a fight with some guys from Spencer's High and your dad tended to Matt's broken nose."

Damn.

Dad knew he'd been in a fight. So the whole acting like good-friends-thing I did was totally useless. The damage was already done.

"How long have you known Garfield?" He asked me.

"Since forever."

"Hmm." He nodded. "Where did you go, Mongrel?"

"What do you mean?"

"You left Carlos for six years. Where did you go?"

"Oh. East Port."

"What took you so long to come back?" He mumbled in a low irritated tone, eyes looking pensively ahead at the road, a small frown on his forehead.

I looked at him, puzzled by the odd question. Then, I saw him immediately bite down on his lower lip.

He cleared his throat and spoke again. "I mean, that town's only about three hours from here. You could've just. . . stayed here. Anyway. Now that I have your number, expect my call anytime. On top of that, from now on I'm coming to pick you up for school every morning."

"No. Thanks."

"I'm coming anyway."

"God." I sighed and fell back on my seat.

The remainder of the ride was a jumble of our squabbling, his teasing and my mockery. When he parked in the front yard, people standing nearby saw me sulking inside his car and gaped widely. The moment he turned off the engine, I stepped out and marched off at full tilt without looking back.

Five seconds passed and I found myself reeling backward as though gravity was pulling me back. Soon, I found myself caged in the hold of Xavier's strong arm.

"Where do you think you're going without me, darling?" He whispered in my ear seductively as he tightened his hold around my neck and pulled me closer to his side.

By then, I had gotten so used to his daily roguishness that the different names he called me no longer bothered me, even when they were unexpected. Therefore today's name, 'darling,' made me slap his mouth instead of rendering me speechless.

I was totally fine until I felt the heat of his lips on my fingertips. It sent streaks of lightning, sparking down my spine. I would have slumped down on the ground had I been not in his firm grip. After that, one new sensation came after another; the feel of his hand gripping my arm, the amazing smell of his cologne, his seductive whisper, his warm breath, his hard chest.

God. Knock it off, Alana.

"It's highly essential for me to breathe, Arquette," I said, tugging at his arm around my neck with both hands as he led me to the main door.

He gave a light chuckle and loosened his arm a bit, but it was still tight enough for me to remain hostage. I struggled to wriggle out of his arm as every pair of eyes in the yard fell on us. Some students even rushed out of the building to behold the spectacular sight. I kept my eyes on the ground throughout the ordeal, my cheeks burning.

When we entered the classroom, one of Xavier's friend whistled from a corner of the room – where he was with other guys – and proclaimed, loud enough for all the staring pairs of eyes inside the classroom to hear, "LOVE IS IN THE AIR, PEOPLE!"

God.

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Xoxo Hermyne