Chapter 28 Sexy legs
“How about this?” he suggested. “Agree to a coffee. Just one coffee. It’s a few sips, right? Maybe fifteen, twenty minutes of your time?”
He kept wondering out loud, as if he was just talking to himself and she caught herself nodding, curious to hear more.
“If by the end of that time you still think I’m a jackass, you can just throw away that paper cup, walk away and I’ll never bother you again.”
“You promise?” she asked that so quickly, that they both burst out laughing.
It felt good to laugh at something together. It was a strange kind of unity she rarely felt with anyone else.
“Cross my heart and hope to die,” he said it, crossing his heart with his index finger.
“You won’t leave me alone until I say yes, will you?”
“No, not really,” he chuckled.
“Before I say yes,” she seemed to think of something, “why me?”
“What do you mean?” he didn’t understand.
“I mean, I’m no Miss Universe. I’m just a regular girl, nothing fancy about me.”
“If that’s all you see, then you really need to readjust your prescription,” he smiled, and despite all her conscious efforts, she blushed.
“So, we got a date?” he asked, hopefully.
“It’s not a date,” she corrected him.
“A friendly get together?” he wondered.
“We’re not friends,” she shook her head again.
“Acquaintances getting to know each other?”
“Bingo.”
They laughed again and she was stunned how easy it was to laugh with him, how effortless, how natural. But, this was only when he wasn’t being a jackass. She wondered if he could be like this all the time.
“When do you want to do this?” she enquired.
“Now?” he shrugged his shoulders.
“Now?” she eyed him, then his friends, who weren’t really paying any attention to them, then back at him. “Aren’t you busy with your friends?”
“No, not really.”
“Just a quick coffee?” she wanted to confirm.
“Just a quick coffee,” he repeated.
“You have no idea how much this is going to cost me…” she whispered, more to herself, because he’d already rushed back to his friends.
He was explaining something shortly, and a few curious glances were thrown her way. She immediately turned around, as if she was afraid that some of them might recognize her, even though that was close to impossible. A few seconds later and he was back by her side.
“Okay, I’m ready to go.”
For a brief moment, Izabella had second thoughts. She remembered the threat she’d received from the twins and she knew she needed to take it seriously. A girl’s jealousy knew no bounds - that’s usually the case. Women had a tendency to go crazy overboard when they thought they were losing their man and this went double for teenage girls.
Izabella sighed. Was one coffee really worth trouble with the school bullies? Probably not, but then, her ego surfaced. Who the heck were they, thinking they could dictate who Izabella could and couldn’t see? That was just ridiculous. Izabella had every right to see, kiss or
even fuck whoever she wanted. Wasn’t that everyone’s right?
Her nostrils flared. Her blood boiled. She was free to do whatever the hell she wanted.
“I’m ready, too,” she smiled at Raphael.
It was the night of a half moon but the area before them was clearly illuIzabellated. Izabella was seated on the grass, next to Raphael. They were near a small lake and a few ducks were gliding peacefully on the surface of the water, which reflected the dark skies. Izabella’s coffee cup rested next to her. It’d been empty for almost two hours now.
The time just flew by. At first, their conversation seemed strained, like neither of them knew exactly what to say or ask, to start off a proper conversation. Then, they’d cut each other’s sentences, stop talking, start again at the same time, then they’d burst out into laughter. It was fun, but almost pointless to talk as it got them nowhere. Still, she felt like her body responded well to his proximity. She was calm and composed, and she liked how he wouldn’t let her pay for her coffee. It was a matter of principle, really, not that this coffee cost an arm and a leg. How lousy it was, they should be sued for even charging for it.
After getting the coffee, they walked out of the cafeteria and toward the lake. There were still people around, just hanging out. The campus was brimming with life. Somehow, Izabella didn’t mind. She didn’t care about any of those people. She didn’t really care about Raphael either. Or, did she? Looking at him now, his walk wasn’t as cocky as before, his whole posture changed, when he wasn’t with his audience. He was almost normal. If he could ever be considered normal, being so handsome.
They finally sat down by the lake. He offered a bench but she always preferred grass. The texture was much softer. She took off her shoes, then her socks. He eyed her weirdly, but didn’t say anything.
“You don’t mind, do you?” she asked innocently. “I just love the feel of grass on my bare feet. I get to do it so rarely.”
“Did you do it often before?” he beamed.
“When I was a kid, yeah. Not so much anymore.”
“I know what you mean,” he sighed, looking into the distance, trying to find an invisible spot. “Life seemed so much simpler back then, no?”
“Yeah,” she nodded, trying to find that same spot.
“You’d just play and worry whether your mom and dad would get you the toy you wanted for your birthday,” he continued.
“If you had parents,” she replied, not looking at him.
He turned to her. She was still faced forward but she could see with the corner of her eyes that his gaze was glued to the side of her cheeks. Her answer surprised him.
“Your parents are…” he asked, not finishing the question.
“Yes.”
She felt like that wasn’t a lie, so it was easy to confirm. She wondered about him but dared not ask.
“Mine, too,” he replied, as if he read her mind somehow.
Now, it was her turn to face him. He wasn’t sad, though. It was like he had come to terms with his loss and, now, it was simply a fact, just an honest answer to an honest question. What neither of them realized was that this was one of those questions that brought people together.
“I guess we all have a similar story. Parents killed by slayers, right?” he asked and she was grateful that he faced into the distance again.
She felt like she couldn’t lie about this. So, instead of a reply, she just murmured something barely audible. This was a sensitive topic and when she signed up for this mission, she didn’t expect that she’d have to wear her heart on a sleeve.
“But, you know…” he continued. Obviously, it wasn’t his intention to let this one go. “I can’t even hate them.”
“Hate who?” she asked, afraid that she already knew the answer.
“The slayers.”
“Why not?”
The dynamic between a vampire and a vampire slayer was always a clear cut one. There was nothing but hate. There could never be anything but hate. It’s simply how things were.
“They were just doing what they believed was right,” he explained enigmatically. “I know my parents were… bad vampires. They did bad things, to good people. Even to good
vampires. I never knew that until I came here, and I met some people. My grandparents are my guardians now. So, I asked them about it and they had no choice but to tell me the truth.”
“About your parents?”
“Yes.”
He spoke slowly, using simple words. It only added to the effect his story had on her. She believed him. After all, she herself knew that vampires came in all sorts and sizes. There were good vampires, bad vampires and those in between. Those were the most dangerous. The bad ones, you knew what to expect of them. Pure malice and hatred but, the ones in between, those could really get you.
“I wish I could meet the slayer who killed my parents,” he suddenly said and her body immediately jerked back instinctively, as if it sensed an unknown danger that was about to come her way.
“Why?” she was quick to ask.
“So, I could tell him or her that I understand,” he continued, “that I feel no thirst for revenge.”
“You don’t?”
“No,” he shook his head.
She thought about it for a second, but she knew exactly what she wanted to say,
what it was necessary of her to say.
“That’s really noble of you.”