Fairytale Green

A familiar smooth-sounding male voice stopped us in our tracks ‘Ella!’

‘Here he is.’ Lana announced dramatically in a hushed voice before she referenced the fortune from earlier ‘Your soulmate.’

‘I already told you.’ I shushed her with a glare before mentioning ‘That machine probably gives the same fortune to fifty other people today.’

We followed the voice and the single wave to the hook-a-duck.

Chase was leaning against the wooden stall in his letterman jacket like he was posing for a photoshoot for Abercrombie. The idea of that was not impossible to imagine. He was tall and buff and blonde. He was attractive and the sort of a guy I usually found myself attracted to.

He bounced up from his leaning stance to give both of us a quick nod of acknowledgement which was in jock language was a hello.

Two months with him and I was not entirely fluent in the language and not any closer to understanding him.

‘Hey.’ Chase’s deep smooth voice filled the air as he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me towards him ‘I have been waiting for you.’

I should have been focusing on the show of affection. I should not have been measuring him for my ulterior motive for meeting up with him.

I studied his quarterback arms and concluded that the giant stuffed toy was already in my arms.

Lana looked shocked at the slight display of affection from the blonde boy and that made two of us.

Chase had sometimes acknowledged me in the corridors of school, but it was not in a romantic way. The most public we had been was a make out session under the bleachers. The smell of teenage sweat did not add to the mood, so the kiss was not that memorable.

My feet did a little shuffle to the side and away from him, but he did not look too disheartened at the space.

‘What’s up, Lana?’ He decided to greet the other person standing in the little triangle we had unintentionally made.

I did not have to be a mind reader to know what was going on in Lana’s head. She was probably wondering why he was putting on a voice that resembled a high surfer.

‘Hi Chase.’ She greeted politely with a smile.

Their conversation started and ended there because the blonde quarterback turned to me and murmured ‘Are we getting out of here?’

I blinked and then blinked again before I mumbled ‘What?’

‘Three is a crowd.’ He said, glancing Lana’s way before meeting my eyes

I did know how I expected the night to go with the three of us. I was not stupid enough to think that we were going to chat away all through the night. Apart from inviting Lana to the pier because she was my friend and I wanted to hang out with her, I also needed her there.

Sometimes there would be an awkward silence when I was with Chase. Whenever we talked, it became painfully obvious how different we both were. Going out and spending time together was different from sitting watching a movie.

A common behaviour I had with all boys I had dated was that I did not talk to them a lot. If I spoke to them then they would realise that I was a little bit of a whack-job and a complete nerd and then they would choose not to stick around.

I shook my head at him with a frown before I argued ‘No way. Lana and I are a package deal.’

‘But—’

‘But no. I’m not ditching her.’ I cut him off before rhetorically asking ‘Who is she going to hang out with? The statue of the hot dog?’

Lana grabbed my arm in an attempt to gain my attention while she spoke up ‘Ella, it’s fine.’

‘It is not.’ I replied.

She sent me a smile before giving me an encouraging nod ‘If I had a hot guy trying to steal me away, I would leave you.’

‘Thanks.’ I muttered sarcastically despite the fact I knew she was lying.

‘It is not like you are going to come with me on the Ferris wheel and I really want to ride.’ She mentioned before asking ‘Unless you have changed your mind…?’

I shook my head vigorously.

Guilt built up at the bottom of my stomach, so I questioned ‘Are you sure?’

‘I will meet you late.’ She replied with a nod and a smile ‘Text me when you are done with him.’

Chase finally spoke up again and his words were directed in Lana’s direction ‘Is this not the point where you warn me not to break your best friend’s heart?’

I swallowed down the remark about him having to have my heart in the first place to break it. I bit my lip to stop the syllables from rolling off my tongue.

‘I would not worry about that.’ Lana promised him ‘If a miracle did happen and she did fall for you, I would not need to harm you if you hurt Ella.’

The guy that was next to me tilted his head cockily ‘And why is that?’

‘She would castrate you all on her own.’ Lana told him acutely while sending a grin my way ‘Do not be put off because of her small height. She is scary and she will kill you.’

Lana blew me a kiss before heading off in the direction of a stall selling candy apples.

I waited until the blonde girl was out of view before grabbing Chase’s hand with my own.

‘It is your turn to shine, pretty boy.’ I grinned up at him before pulling his body along with mine as I began walking ‘It is time for you to win me a giant teddy.’

He rolled his eyes, but he let me drag him to the first stall I saw with big cuddly creatures hanging from the roof of the small shack.

I needed something large and warm to cuddle into at night.

Adorable black and white pandas were right in front of me and in reach. They were practically begging to be taken home with their cute little faces.

‘No pressure or anything but if you don’t win me that panda then I will never speak to you again.’ I delivered with a small smile, my tone teasing even if my heart would break if I did not leave the pier with a giant panda.

In the apartment that I called home, the room that was once occupied by my parents was now pretty much dedicated to my stuffed animals. I decided to move them out of my room after one traumatising encounter at night. I had woken up to see a snake’s eyes looking right into my soul. All of them ultimately were moved into boxes and shoved into the empty room.

It was not like my father needed the space in his bedroom. He was never home.

Pete the Panda would live in my room, however.

Chase took my money and handed it to the old man behind the counter. The stall keeper then handed him three balls which I assumed had to throw into the little cans stacked up two meters away from the both of us.

The footballer raised his hand with one white ball in it and squinted his eye in a concentrated way to aim for the can.

I watched him silently, not wanting to put him off.

He lowered his arm before he could throw the ball and his tone was laced with curiosity when he asked, ‘What is that over there?’

‘Where?’

His arm stretched out towards the sea and the horizon.

I followed the direction in which his finger was pointing and looked at what had him so distracted.

It was a green light. It shone from afar over the dark horizon.

The light that had him so distracted was what I assumed was a light from a boat.

Turning back to the jock, I muttered ‘I don’t know what it is, Old Sport.’

Chase’s face scrunched up in confusion as he looked down at me laughing my head off at my own reference.

One of my life philosophies was that there was always a reference to be made. Either from a book or movie, there was always a quote to fit every situation. Unless I was feeling overly original and decided to make up my own lines.

I stopped laughing when I noticed that I was the only one that found my remark amusing.

‘The Great Gatsby.’ I told him, trying not to add a duh to the end of my sentence.

I would not usually react so badly to him not knowing classical literature. I could not blame everyone else for not spending all their days reading nonstop like me. However, I knew he had read the book because it was on the syllabus last year.

‘You are in my English class. We read it last year.’ I stared down at the ground while explaining to him ‘It is not funny if you have to explain the whole plot of The Great Gatsby for you to get the joke.’

‘I don’t really pay attention in English.’ He replied with a shrug that showed how much he did not give a shit.

‘You don’t say.’ I joked while taking another glance at the green light.

Silence hung in the air.

He stood staring at me, so I felt inclined to say something.

‘The green light is probably an alien.’ I voiced and then went on to move my hand between my mouth and my ear so that I could pretend it was a walkie-talkie ‘Houston, there is no sign of intelligent life anywhere near here.’

The look on the blonde quarterback’s face made apparent that he either did not understand what I was saying or that he was not interested in listening.

I wanted to crawl into a ball and hide. I was only proving to myself why I should not speak to guys.

Chase never said anything else as he resumed aiming the ball towards the cans at the back of the stall.

I have never seen him look so concentrated before. I wondered if it was because he was competitive or because he was taking my threat seriously and he feared the consequences of not getting the stuffed animal.

I once attempted to go to one of his football games with Lana. We had to leave before the game even started. We had eaten two chilli corn dogs and drank five strawberry milkshakes each. It did not mix well, and we ended up throwing up all over the place.

He offered me a side-glance when he gently asked, ‘Have you spoke to your Dad lately?’

‘What do you think?’ I chuckled humourlessly before I asked him the same question ‘What about you?’

His answer was the same as mine ‘What do you think?’

One thing that he and I had bonded over was our non-existent relationship with our parents. His dad was always working, and his mom had run away with her new boyfriend. It was one of the only things we confided in with each other.

It was good having someone to talk to about my home problems. Even if it felt like he never listened to what I said most of the time.

We used each other in a way.

Chase still had not thrown the second ball of the three yet. He was still moving his hand back and forward and he had one of his eyes shut as he concentrated harder.

I figured it would be best to leave him to it. I made my way to the edge of the pier and peered over at the water.

The ocean was wild. The waves thrashed against the wooden pillar underneath my feet in time with my heartbeat.

Most people would describe the sound and sensation of the sea as calm and comforting but when I leaned over the railing and looked down below at the unknown of the dark waters, I thought back to that night.

It flashed in my head, and it hit me more brutal than any wave could.

Nothing was out of the ordinary on that day. Then the day turned to night. I was on the sofa napping with a headache when my father burst into the apartment along with three policemen. The rush to the hospital and the time in the waiting room were all a blur.

I wish I knew what had gone on in my mother’s mind when she was still alive. I wish I knew what drove her to the edge and made her end her own life.

My mother always seemed to be happy like a big bundle of energy, but I could not help but feel like it was all a lie.

All my memories of her had been tarnished.

Just knowing that I was not enough for her to want to stay was enough to make me want to scream. The thought had not left my mind since last year. The shock and the pain did not hit me until I woke up on Christmas Day to an empty house.

My mother was dead, and my father was mentally and physically absent. It was all too much.

The sea air was a usual temperature, but I felt overheated and clammy. The heat was suffocating, and it was going to swallow me whole if I was not careful.

I did not know I was crying until the tear running down my cheek plummeted down into the ocean below.

A hand came on to my shoulder and I turned to see Chase standing there with a giant panda.

He was not looking at me though. Neither was he looking at the cute animal that he had squished too hard under his arm. Whatever was on his phone seemed much more important.

Chase continued to type on his phone, and he did not look up at me.

‘Is everything okay?’ I asked the preoccupied blonde as I rubbed under my eyes and got rid of the traces of tears.

‘My buddy Kyle said that there is a fight on at the beach.’ He answered while finally putting his phone away.

‘What? Is this some weird version of fight club but they prefer sand?’ I questioned in confusion ‘Usually if two guys disagree on something then they would just throw fists at each other straight away and not organise a time and place’

Chase shook his head at me ‘It is more like a professional fight.’

‘A professional fight on the beach at night?’ I raised my eyebrow at him while replying ‘That seems legitimate.’

‘The guys are really good fighters.’ He explained further ‘It is kind of a competition, but they make profits out of the bets people place.’

‘I still don’t see what that has to do with you.’ I pointed to his phone while I tilted my head at him ‘Are you going to fight? Have you turned into The Undertaker?’

His eyes rolled at my remark, and he replied once his phone rang again ‘I am going to watch the fight. It is the first one ever and I don’t want to miss it. That is why I am heading there early. I need a good front row view.’

‘Okay.’ I added a load of fake disappointment to my voice as I responded to his news.

‘You could come with me?’ Chase suggested.

‘No. It is fine.’ I assured him ‘I need to go meet Lana anyway.’

He kissed me on the cheek before he ran off down the pier. He almost knocked down a cart of candy floss on his frenzied way.

I would have said farewell and hasta la vista but then I noticed the large panda in his arms that was moving further and further away from me.

Pete the Panda was with him.

He was a stuffed toy stealing little shit.

For him to ask me out and make me leave my little sanctuary that was my room with all of my books was fine. Even for him to ditch me was fine but stealing the panda was an unforgivable crime.

I did not think the night could get worse.

With one buzz of my phone, I knew I had jinxed it.

I brought the phone to my ear and greeted Lana ‘Hello.’

‘How was your date?’ She quickly blurted out and she did not wait for my reply before speaking again ‘I have met this amazing hot guy at the ice cream place.’

It was good that one of us was getting a romantic night at the pier or at least a date that had stayed until the end.

‘That is great.’ I told her before explaining ‘Chase had ditched me to go to some beach fight. Don’t ask.’

Lana hardly ever pursued the guys she liked. She had never introduced herself or tried to start a conversation, so I knew this ice cream parlour guy had to have made an impression.

‘That is awful of him.’ She commented.

‘Tell me about it. He is away with my stuffed panda.’ I said to the girl on the other end of the phone call ‘I might just go home and mourn my loss. The loss of the panda, not Chase.’

The phone went quiet for a second or two.

I looked around and wondered if I appeared as stupid as I felt. I was standing alone in one of the most romantic spots in the city. I felt like I should have been filmed for a heart-breaking angsty music video.

‘There is no way you are going home. Get your little butt here now.’ She ordered of me before adding ‘I want to know what you think of this guy. I think he is my soulmate.’

We had only been away from each other for twenty minutes.

‘Yuck!’ I blurted out, smiling to myself knowing she could not see it.

It was not that I did not believe in and want the white picket fence happily ever after. I just did not believe that was possible with a guy from high school.

Teenage relationships were nothing but fickle. Rarely any lasted.

‘He has a friend.’ Lana’s voice lowered as she informed me ‘So you will not be a third wheel. I promise.’

I groaned and agreed before I hung up on her.

My walk to go and meet her was intentionally slow. My pace was somewhere in between one of a snail and an old lady walking to the bingo.

A few minutes later and I was in front of the ice cream place. Along with the overall theme of the pier, the building was lit up like a Christmas tree. The place gave off an eighty’s diner look with the bright interior and neon lights.

I eyed the decor through the big windows while I pushed open the door to the rectangular building.

The bright red booths of the place were almost empty. Only two tables were occupied and one of them was by a man that looked freakishly like Danny DeVito.

I spotted the back of Lana’s blonde hair at a four-seater table in the middle of the room. The back of her head faced me. She looked too engrossed in the conversation with the guy opposite her to notice that I had arrived.

I assumed that the one she was talking to was the guy she was interested in. I could see exactly why she took in an interest in him.

He was extremely good looking with dark skin and dark hair that was cropped short into a buzz-cut. He was wearing a turquoise short-sleeved shirt that showed off his impressive arm muscles and his significantly sized chest. The mixture of his blue shirt and his supermodel-worthy face radiated an exotic vibe like he spent all day on the beach surfing.

I tore my attention away from Lana’s guy and peered at the other male at the table.

I stopped moving because he was a whole other level of hot.

Against the bright eccentric lights of the place, he stood out with a dark domineering presence. His pitch-black hair and his leather jacket made him look like someone found in a motorcycle gang. A start of a tattoo was visible where his neck met his chest, but his plain black shirt stopped me from seeing any more.

This man had the meanest and grouchiest face I had ever seen in my life, but he was stunning. So stunning that it was hard to assign a word to his darkly ethereal looks. He was not beautiful in a traditional way but there was something about his dark eyes and his rough facial features that made my heart start beating rapidly.

Even with a terrifying scowl on his face, he was by far the most attractive man I had ever seen.

I blinked twice before studying him further.

He was the largest human I had ever seen. He was sitting down but it was not hard to tell that he was over six and a half feet and weighed well more than three hundred pounds. His legs were not under the table but at the side and he looked far too large for almost about anything. His arms and chest swallowed his seat whole.

He looked so immovable like he was made up of testosterone and everything else that was all man. His shoulders were wide which made him look even more like a bodyguard and added to his intimidating appearance. He had the upper body of a wrestler with thigh-sized biceps and forearms the size of swollen calves.

The giant leather-jacket-wearing man was on his phone, and I doubt he was playing candy crush saga. He was not engaging in the other two at the table’s conversation.

His dark eyes moved away from under the table as he noticed me standing there. His hard gaze studied me with intent, leaving me frozen in place. His attention roamed over me and left none of my body untouched by his eye. His focus remained on my face for what felt like a small eternity before he pulled his attention away from me and back to the floor.

I took another look around the place and tried not to look at him. I peered at a random picture on the wall as I watched the sexy skyscraper move in his seat.

Once the well-built stranger moved, Lana and the guy she was talking to moved their head to face what he was looking at.

I turned back to see that they were looking at me.

Lana’s face became visible as she twisted her body to face my direction. She tilted her head at me as if she was wondering why I was just standing there.

My face must have looked like a rabbit in headlights.

‘Ella.’ She called and motioned with her hand for me to come over ‘Get over here.’

I nodded my head before joining them at the table. I took the seat next to Lana and sent her a smile, but my attention quickly strayed back to the man across from me.

The leather jacket-wearing Goliath was even more attractive up close. Being opposite him gave me a closer observation of him.

His dark eyes were almost black as he watched me too. His jaw was clenched, and the strict line looked like it could cut my skin if I ran my finger along it.

Nobody could have been that devastatingly handsome. There had to be a flaw with him despite the obvious which was that he was kind of scary.

I turned my attention back to Lana who was too busy in an intense staring contest with her surfer dude. Neither of them was speaking. They were just smiling at each other.

If I was not so glad that she had found someone that she liked, I might have puked. It was like something out of a movie where hearts floated around in the air and little kiss shaped emojis floated around them.

It was completely nauseating in a sweet kind of way.

‘Are you going to introduce me?’ I muttered under my breath to Lana because I was starting to feel awkward that I was just sitting there.

‘This is Brennan.’ She giggled softly while motioning to the boy across from her and then her voice came out nervously when she motioned to the large man next to him and added ‘And this is his friend Stone.’

The large man was called Stone and I almost burst out laughing at how much the name suited him.

He looked so big and powerful. He towered over everything, and he oozed a dark, dominant energy that threatened to consume me whole. He radiated a pure alpha male energy.

Stone glanced at me and then looked back at the floor before glancing at me again. His mean-looking face went strict, and his features tightened like he was clenching his jaw or grinding his molars.

His few glimpses were discreet and if I blinked then I would have missed them.

‘Hi.’ I spoke up, offering both guys a little wave ‘I’m Ella.’

Brennan looked away from Lana to greet me back ‘It is nice to meet to you, Ella.’

I smiled and replied a little awkwardly ‘You too.’

The huge man or Stone as he was called was looking right at me.

He stayed completely still for a few seconds, entrapping me in his gaze with his dark pupils.

I did not know if they were unusually black or dilated at that moment.

I met his gaze head-on and offered him a small smile.

His jaw tightened and it showed off the sculpted edges of his rough-looking face before he forced himself to turn away and focus on something outside.

He had not smiled at me or even tried to look friendly. He had just looked at me before going back to not acknowledging me at all.

I peered over at the stoic face and concluded that he did not like talking.

Silence hung in the air at the table and it had me thinking that I should have just gone home.

‘So, you are The Notebook crier then?’ The friendlier male Brennan questioned with a smirk.

It had become apparent he was the talker of the two and the opposite of the silent killer type of man next to him.

‘What?’ I let out the word with a small laugh, twiddling my thumbs together as I rested my arms on the table.

‘That was what Lovely Lana told me.’ Brennan pointed out, his teasing playful smirk still decorating his mouth.

I was shocked that he had given her a nickname ten minutes after meeting her and I was shocked Lana had ratted me out about my love of the romance film.

I had a reputation to hold of a semi-cool person. Not a girl that cried at Nicholas Sparks’ greatest creation.

My lip pursed and I narrowed my eyes in an attempt to pull off an angry face. It needed work however and I found myself pondering if the giant opposite me would be willing to help.

The giant seemed to have the whole intimidating expression perfected that would have grown men running home to their moms.

‘I told you it was my allergies.’ I defended and crossed my arms before adding ‘I have never cried at The Notebook.’

Lana had her hand on her mouth, trying to contain her laughter.

I smiled at her evilly and got ready to take my revenge.

‘Brennan, I think you should save yourself and run now. Get out of future dates with her before it is too late.’ I stage whispered over to him while motioning with my head towards my best friend ‘This Lovely Lana as you have nicknamed her likes to watch Barbie movies in her spare time. The movies with the fairies and the flying horses and the sparkly castles. She goes to the cinema with the five-year-olds.’

I also went with her and the five-year-olds to see the Barbie movies. It was my best-friend duty to have the mortifying job of taking her to see the films.

Lana blushed at my comment and looked to her lover boy, waiting for his reply as she softly kicked me under the table.

Brennan chuckled before sending a wink to Lana ‘I think that is cute.’

I rolled my eyes at my backfired plan.

‘For a seven-year-old maybe.’ I deadpanned before adding in the direction of Brennan ‘Anyways, you should be on my side.’

‘And why is that?’ He rebutted, cocking his head to the side.

‘As the Spice Girl’s once said if you want to be her lover,’ I pointed to Lana who looked to be telepathically communicating with me to shut up while I spoke, ‘Then you got to get with her friends.’

A pair of dark eyes belonging to the silent broody man were set on my face. He was staring at me fiercely like I had the answers to the universe on my forehead.

My whole face was heating up from his unfaltering stare. My cheeks were starting to tingle from the sheer heat of his study on me.

I was feeling particularly friendly, so I tried thinking of a way to include him in the conversation.

‘Do you by any chance like Barbie films?’ My voice came out quiet and soft as I uttered the question.

Stone was already watching me when I turned my attention to him.

He did not give me an answer or any kind of words of acknowledgement. He grunted a deep noise and that was it.

‘I will take that as a no then, Lurch.’ I commented on his rudeness.

He was too volatility attractive to have an award-winning personality anyway.

Lana elbowed me and Brennan’s eyes went wide as he turned his head towards his friend.

They were acting like I had poked a bear with a stick. Like the guy that was in front of me was a bomb about to go off.

The silence stretched until a small miracle happened.

A guttural noise came out in a rough series of words ‘What did you just call me?’

His voice was deep. Deeper than any voice I had heard before. It was strong and husky and low. That voice was one I could tell kept people up at night. I could not help but imagine him reading for a thriller audiobook.

Scary but hot was a pattern with this guy. He might not have given anything away about himself, but I could rule out that his flaw was his voice because it was certainly not squeaky. It was the opposite and the low-octave sound vibrated through me.

When walking in here, I felt a lot better being inside and away from the sight and sound of the sea. It turned out that I had found myself in a different type of danger from the wrath of the mysterious man across from me.

‘Lurch from The Addams Family.’ I answered and then I went on to explain ‘He is the big guy that never speaks and only groans and grumbles occasionally.’

His face remained stoic. His eyes however told a different story as they watched me unfalteringly.

I had the urge to jump up and scream boo to try and scare him. I wanted to make his expression budge, but it appeared quite a challenge.

I wanted to know how much he worked out to get so big and muscly. I wanted to know why his eyes were so black and if he wore contacts. I wanted to know if he was capable of smiling.

‘Wait! I think he has a catchphrase.’ I spoke aloud before changing my voice to one of a monotoned heavy smoker male when I remembered the famous phrase from the character of Lurch ‘You rang?’

Brennan sat still in his seat next to the giant. He was watching Stone for his reaction like he was waiting for a jack-in-the-box to pop or for a volcano to explode.

Stone’s mouth twitched upwards for a split second as he continued to watch me.

The small smile was too quick to memorise which I should have because I suspected I would not see it again.

‘Maybe you are Wednesday Addams instead.’ I suggested to him before breaking contact so I could explain my hypothesis to Lana ‘It is like that scene where she tries to smile and it looks like it causes her actual pain to do so.’

I glanced back at Stone who I had now decided to refer to as Lurch.

He was looking at me too. So intensely that my face was starting to heat up again.

The giant stranger watched me like he could not believe what was happening. He watched me as if I was something other than human.

Maybe he was not used to being called a name. I admitted to myself that even I would not like to be on the bad side of his muscles.

His body was built like a gorilla. Not even a normal gorilla but more like Godzilla.

Everything about him was closed off and monotonous. Even his eyes had no colour.

They say eyes are the windows to the soul, but his windows were hidden by blackout curtains and a brick wall the size of him. They were a complete mystery.

He was a complete mystery.

I shook myself out of my trance-like state and focused on the happier side of the table. Brennan was watching Stone watch me and Lana was just watching me.

Lana’s gaze flickered between Stone and me until she settled on me and asked ‘Anyway, how was your date?’

‘It was fine.’ I shrugged before replying ‘The whole twenty minutes of it.’

The small hint of a second-long smile was without a doubt gone from Stone’s face now.

His hands were balled into fists resting on the table. His jaw clenched and unclenched like a ticking time bomb. He was grinding his molars as he listened to the conversation and his scowl had deepened even further.

Stone appeared murderous. Every part of his muscular body was tensed as if he was fighting back a predatory streak that lingered near the surface of his emotionless facade.

I had no clue why he looked so vicious like one more little thing could set him off on a killing spree.

He probably did not need a reason and I was looking far too deep into it.

Brennan sent a small smile my way as he mentioned ‘Lana mentioned you only went on the date for a stuffed teddy.’

It turned out that this guy was not just a massive flirt. He was also a massive tease. It made me wonder why he hung around with the dark cloud beside him.

The scowling scary man looked like someone that did not take well to insults. He looked like he dealt with them fist-first.

‘You must be a pretty damn good flirt.’ I commented before asking ‘How did you get all this out of Lana in the twenty minutes that I was not there?’

Brennan delivered with a mere roll of his shoulders ‘Just worked my charm.’

Swivelling around in my seat on the booth, I pointed at Lana accusingly while challenging ‘Did you give him my bank details as well?’

Her response was a shrug and a small guilty filled smile.

I shifted in my seat when I felt the dark pair of eyes that were still unwitheringly studying my face.

‘How did you two meet?’ I asked while glancing between Lana and Brennan to keep myself distracted.

A dreamy sight left Lana before explaining ‘I went to get a candy apple at the stall and there was only one left. Brennan took it.’

I was confused at how she found that romantic. If some random person had stolen food from me then I would not stay and chat. I would kick their ass or at least try to anyway.

Lana continued with her story ‘He promised that he would give me half the candy apple if I rode the Ferris wheel with him.’

‘I have to give it to you, Lover Boy.’ I delivered to Brennan with an impressed laugh ‘You are pretty smooth.’

‘I try my best.’ He replied with a smirk before adding ‘It is not as good as The Notebook where he climbed the wheel. That is probably why you are not fangirling right now.’

I flipped him the middle finger but I smiled at him, so he knew it was light-hearted. I secretly admire his sense of humour, so he had earned the stamp of approval for me.

My best friend nudged my shoulder ‘You still didn’t answer my question.’

‘What?’ I replied, turning to her.

‘How did your date go?’

Our table shook violently and indomitably before I could answer.

Living in Santa Monica meant that my first thought was that it was an earthquake. I quickly changed my mind when I saw the face of the man opposite me.

Stone had kicked it or punched it or his tensed body had moved it in a way. It was clear by the way he was clenching his jaw and the thunderous fury in his eyes.

I wanted to ask him who had peed in his ice cream.

Then I noticed he had not gotten an ice cream like the other two at the table. I almost let out a laugh at the idea of him with a colourful sweet treat. The rainbow sprinkles would clash with his all-black look and stern serious expression.

I ignored him like he had ignored me.

‘It was fine.’ I answered Lana’s question ‘I guess.’

Brennan laughed and cocked his head to the side while pointing out ‘You are not very convincing.’

‘The main issue was that he never got my Great Gatsby reference.’ I replied before going ahead and explaining ‘He saw this green light in the distance and asked what it was. Naturally, I responded by calling him Old Sport. He looked at me like I was insane and that I was speaking some sort of ancient alien language.’

Lana let out a small giggle ‘Not everyone can be as big a book nerd as you are, Ella.’

‘He is also away with my stuffed panda.’ I sighed and shook my head at the image of him running away with Pete ‘He better bring it to school on Monday or I will go all Kung Fu Panda on him.’

I made a mock ninja pose to show how serious I was about the matter.

‘You are going to carry a panda around the corridors?’ Brennan questioned in disbelief ‘Does that not go against…’

Brennan trailed off and he did not complete the sentence as he stared at my wardrobe that consisted of a shirt, a black leather skirt and a pair of fishnets underneath.

‘I could just say the teddy is for a satanic ritual.’ I returned.

‘I’m sorry. I never meant to offend you.’ Brennan quickly assured me before complimenting ‘You look really cool.’

‘Oh.’ I said in surprise, glancing down at my hands on the table ‘Thank you.’

A gruff noise sounded from the man opposite me that sounded like a strangled carnivorous animal.

I tried not to think about what that noise was supposed to mean.

Brennan glanced next to him before continuing to speak ‘What colour is your hair anyway? Emerald?’

I opened my mouth, but my reply got lost in the air when a new voice interjected.

‘Puke Coloured?’

The voice was deep. Too deep and too rough to be owned by anyone other than the giant. The best way to describe it was gravelly or guttural.

The silent skyscraper had finally spoken and he had insulted my hair.

I happened to love my hair. The green suited me. Much more than my natural brown hair had. I loved my green colour and there was no way I was going to let him insult it.

Everything happened so fast. One minute I was narrowing my eyes and sitting back in my seat and the next I was leaning over the table and pointing a finger at the grumpy face of the man who had insulted me.

‘Listen here, Lurch. You obviously have bad taste in colour.’ I bit out the words while narrowing my eyes further ‘It is fairytale green.’

A pause of silence filled the space between him.

Stone grumbled, his voice hoarse and demanding ‘What the fuck is fairytale green?’

I leant back in my chair and let out a huff. I pursed my lips together and blew a strand of green hair that had fallen onto my face when I moved forward. 

The words escaped me before I could stop them.

‘It is the green of the trees at an outdoor wedding. It is the green of the grass where you sit with your partner when you’re old, shaking your fists at the neighbour’s kid who trespass on skateboards. It is the green of my hair.’ I rambled on in one quick breath ‘It is fairytale green!’

He made me expose a rant about colours and fairy tales and I had no idea where it came from. The words just slipped my mouth before I could hold them back.

I narrowed my eyes and glared at the man opposite. He maintained eye contact back but with a slightly softer expression than mine.

The eye-lock broke when Brennan coughed which made me look at him. What I found was him staring at Stone with a face of bewilderment.

Brennan then stage whispered to Lana ‘Is she always this scary?’

‘Yep.’ Lana replied instantaneously before giving an example ‘One time a guy called me a dumb blonde and he never approached me again after Ella was finished with him.’

One guy in our French class called her a dumb blonde so after class ended, I grabbed him and threatened him. I threatened to pluck every hair out of his head while he was sleeping, make a voodoo doll out of it and then hex him. It sounded ridiculous but it worked. I never seen him around the school again.

Lana went on to tell another story about me. Brennan listened to her while laughing at the appropriate parts.

Stone was strangely interested too because he had leaned forward infinitesimally.

‘We should go out again some time.’ Lana suggested to the guy across from her ‘Maybe next time I will get a full candy apple.’

I liked Brennan but I was going to keep an eye on him. He was too smooth for my liking. I had to make sure he had no intention of hurting my best friend.

The other male at the table was not going to be a problem. I doubted he would be seducing anyone any time soon with his petrifying scowl and his hatred of speaking.

‘I like sharing my food with you.’ Brennan said with a single chuckle ‘Maybe next time, we should share spaghetti. Like Lady and The Tramp.’

‘That ends in a kiss though.’ Lana replied absentmindedly.

‘Whatever you wish, lady.’ Brennan replied, bowing his head slightly.

Lana responded to him before she could think her words through ‘Okay, tramp.’

I cringed with second-hand embarrassment at her reply.

I had to my bite lip to restrain myself from laughing but it was no use. A small light laugh escaped from me and filled the air.

Stone who had his attention focused on anything but me turned his head so quickly at the noise that I thought he was about to snap his neck.

The movement was rapidly quick and almost desperate.

My laughter died out when I met his eye.

‘It is a date, Lovely Lana.’ Brennan delivered to the blonde whose cheeks were bright red before he motioned to me ‘We might have to leave her at home next time.’

‘Fine by me. More of your cringey romance might make me barf. It is so bad that I might actually puke on your friend here.’ I butted into their conversation before meeting the pair of dark eyes and referenced his comment from earlier “You might end up having the same colour hair as me.’

Stone chuckled. It was deep and hollow-sounding, and it sent a shiver down my spine.

The man with muscles the size of melons leaned closer. His arms rested against the table as he leaned over slightly.

Even sitting down the ridiculous height difference between us was apparent.

‘Are you free for their next day?’ The deep voice of the large man rebutted ‘I heard Disneyland is opening back up and the haunted mansion wants their extras back.’

I opened my mouth and closed it again. I repeated the action a good few times.

The giant had delivered a good insult. I could not deny that. Nothing came to mind and I remained quiet.

He had thrown me off-course.

‘Haunted Mansion is actually my favourite ride so the joke is on you.’ I ranted lamely to seem not taken aback by his sudden capability of speaking ‘I doubt you have ever been to Disneyland. You have probably only gone to Florida to join The Outlaws because there is no way you wear that stupid leather jacket without owning a motorbike.’

I wished that he was an ugly looking troll.

His black wardrobe only highlighted his immorally good looks. The leather jacket and the dark jeans only compliment his big burly body and added to the scary biker vibe he had going on.

I wanted to know if he ever got caught off guard when he saw the colour of his obsidian eyes.

Stone had no emotion present on his face when he grumbled ‘It is a Ducati.’

‘Wow.’ I exaggerated a gasp while speaking ‘Do you expect a round of applause or something?’

I noticed I had leant over the table. I had moved closer to meet him halfway, so I hastily rushed to sit back in my seat once I noticed our proximity.

I crossed my arms and continued to glare at him, trying to rid my brain of the thought that motorbikes were cool.

Looking at the other half of the table, I watched as the other two exchanged numbers while trying to forget the steadfast dark gaze heating up the side of my face.

‘Are you not giving Stone your number?’ Brennan peered up from his phone while speaking ‘He is feeling unusually chatty tonight.’

There was only one thing to do at that moment.

I made a phone shape with my thumb and pinky finger and mouthed to Stone ‘You rang?’

I swore I saw the corner of his lip twitch. It was that or the neon lights of the ice cream parlour had messed with my vision.

‘Did you just smile or am I seeing things?’ I asked before raising my hands upwards towards the ceiling ‘Have we just witnessed a miracle?’

‘Maybe it is just you that made me smile.’

I felt my body still as the deep guttural words hit me.

Stone’s jaw clenched and he stared at something else other than me while grunting ‘You probably put a spell on me or something, witch.’

It was not the first time someone had insulted me for my appearance or for my personality. It was not even the hundredth time, and it would not be the last but I had learned to stick up for myself over the years.

I had learned to fight back.

Rolling my eyes, I rebutted ‘If I was a witch then I would have made you disappear already.’

I was not going to easily forget his little comment about my hair. I also was not going to forget him calling me a witch.

A fierce heat travelled from the tip of my toes all the way up to where my forehead met my hair. A wave of warmth shot through and powered me.

The man opposite had managed to bring out a side of me that I did not recognise.

‘At least I am wearing a little colour.’ I remarked before motioning with my narrowed eyes to his big hard chest ‘You look eviller than me with your all-black wardrobe. I think you should drop the jacket and maybe you would look a little less like a gangster.’

Nothing apart from his dilated pupils and his jaw ticking gave away that he was listening and receiving my words.

I tried to remain unbothered. I tried to keep calm and collected but the more I looked at him the more heated I felt.

He was jacked. He was a mountain of a man with his chest spanning the width of two of me and his muscles the size of my thighs.

‘I could fight you.’ I tried to deliver confidently while sizing him up ‘I would win too.’

I would win because he would have to bend down to reach me. I would use that time to punch him in the gut.

Insulting my hair was an unforgivable crime and I would never forgive him. Not that I was planning on ever seeing him again.

A chuckle left his chest, the throatily sound making his adam’s apple bob slightly.

‘Whatever, Rock.’ I huffed.

‘Stone.’ He grumbled, his tone full of vexation.

‘I don’t care.’ I bit out.

Brennan intervened by coughing ‘Well then.’

Bafflement was written all over Brennan’s face as he watched Stone with a small smirk.

Lana spoke up and broke the weird intensity hanging about my side of the table ‘Do you both go to school?’

‘I am starting on Monday.’ Brennan answered, ‘Some school called Leavendale High.’

‘Ella and I go there!’ Lana examined with excitement ‘We will show you around.’

Stone was still watching me when I turned back to look at him. His eyes darkened in the process of studying my features.

Brennan smiled at the both of us ‘I guess I will see you both on Monday.’

I let out a sigh of relief when I realised Brennan had used a singular subject pronoun and not plural.

As I started to feel my attention gravitate towards the giant, I remained determined not to look at him. Instead of giving in to temptation, I took my phone out of my jacket pocket and checked the time to see that it was just before nine o’clock.

‘Shit.’ Brennan cussed abruptly ‘We have to go.’

Whereas Brennan was in a rush to go, Stone looked reluctant to move from his spot opposite me.

I figured that only he could be moved by his own accord. Nobody would manage to move that huge frame by force.

‘That is okay.’ Lana assured him ‘Ella and I have to go anyway.’

Both of us stood up first before they could. I walked around the booth to join Lana on the other side of the table while she said her awkward goodbyes to her lover boy.

Stone had sat forward, and his eyes had followed me around the table. Something primal passed between his irises as his gaze zoned in on me.

One of his large veiny hands on the table flexed before turning into a fist.

‘I would say it was nice to meet you.’ I addressed the giant who was still watching my every move ‘But it really wasn’t.’

He chuckled again. It was deep noise filled with something that felt a lot like a promise or maybe even a threat.

‘I will see you soon.’ Stone offered me the five words with a small nod of his head, his expression still unreadable.

‘I hope not.’ I replied with a fake sweet smile.

Lana led the way to the door of the ice cream parlour. I followed behind but I could not resist a final look back.

My eyes met the pair of dark ones for a split second before I turned back to face the other way.

Before I opened the door to the exit of the ice cream parlour, I rose my middle finger up in the air and flipped him off over my shoulder before I left.

The walk back was filled with Lana’s romantic gushing. She narrated every single detail of her encounter with Brennan. Now that she had found out he would be attending Leavendale, she would not stop going on about how good it would be to have him there.

I knew that on Monday morning, she would be the talk of the school. She was already popular for her kindness and musical talents, but a good-looking guy would only make her more talked about.

We parted ways at my street with her continuing to walk ahead up the hill towards the nice identical rows of houses. She lived a matter of blocks away, but it was a completely different world from where I stayed.

I walked into my apartment building and climbed the stairs. It was like something out of a horror movie with the flickering light, the dark hallway and the unlocked door of the place I was supposed to feel at home.

A horror movie would be more favourable than what lay behind the door of my apartment. I would take a chase from Freddy Kruger over a conversation with my dad any day of the week.

‘Dad?’ I called into the dark as I closed the door behind me and switched on the light.

My father was sitting at the square glass table in the kitchen. If it was not for the glass table reflecting his face, I would have guessed he was sleeping. His head was bobbing up and down like he was trying to remain conscious.

Without thinking much about it, I crept forward to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. I gave him a gentle nudge but he did not respond.

I whispered softly with a voice that came out more childlike than I intended ‘Dad?’

His body jolted when he felt my touch. He stood up abruptly at the contact causing me to cautiously step away.

His eyes were now wide open. They quickly filled with disgust once seeing me.

‘Are you okay?’ I voiced, reaching my hands out to help him find balance.

The resentment in his eyes strengthened and it stopped me in my tracks.

I let my arms fall to their side before I brought them back up and crossed them over my chest.

‘What are you doing here?’ He spat out, his voice bitter and distant.

‘I live here.’ I replied, raising my voice so he could hear me clearly ‘That is more than what could be said about you.’

He stumbled slightly but he did not fall.

‘Where have you been the past month?’ I asked, trying to keep my posture and my words strong.

He did not need to answer. The stench of whisky and vodka and every other alcohol was overpowering from metres away.

My father slumped back on the chair at the table, and he closed his eyes where slurring ‘This place is not home anymore.’

Derek Miller was once a lawyer at a big firm. He did not make a fortune out of his job but it was enough for us to be comfortable.

Instead of a big house, my parents decided to buy a small apartment and focus on travelling the world. Our apartment was only the place we stayed when I had school to go to and could not go with them on vacation.

That was all until my mother decided to leave us and my father started drinking.

At my mother’s funeral, one of her friends came up to me and said that my father just needed time to grieve. I feared that no time long enough would heal him. Sometimes I sympathised with him and sometimes I resented him.

It was wrong but sometimes I really did hate him.

My father left for weeks on end. He only came back to pay the bills and leave some money for me. He also came back for a duffel bag of clean clothes.

I often wondered where he got the money to pay rent and to live. It was certainly not from the law firm that had fired him six months prior.

I changed my tone, so it was harsher when pointing out ‘You did not answer my question.’

‘She made it like that.’ He uttered quietly.

He was acting like I did not also lose my mother. Like I was not losing my other parent.

‘No.’ I bit out agitatedly ‘You did.’

Just as I was, he was too dealing with the loss of her. It was just in a way that meant he was never present. A way that offered no comfort to me.

I did not want to break again. I had already cried.

Crying was never something I had seen as a weakness. I cried a lot, but I had never done it in front of people.

My vision became blurry, so I chose to leave my father where he was and go to the safety of my bedroom.

The wasted white walls greeted me as I closed the door on my way into my room. I slid the lock on the door into place securely.

I repeated the action of bolting the door shut three times to assure myself that I was locked in. It was the only way I could feel at ease when trying to get to sleep.

The books on my floor were scattered so I tried to put them in piles to make the room seem half presentable. It offered a good distraction from the sound of crashing and stumbling from the other side of the door.

I had learnt the hard way not to try and stop my father when he wanted to trash the place.

After I changed into my pyjamas, I cosied into my bed with a Jane Austen book.

It was incredible how books allowed an escape from reality so easily. One day I could be a pirate or a young eligible maid. I could live romance through books, and I could cry with the characters.

I could pretend I was somebody else.

As my eyes started to feel heavy, I fetched my phone from my nightstand and read the text from my lovestruck friend.

Lana’s long paragraph detailed how excited she was to meet with Brennan again. She also listed everything that could go wrong with the meeting as her text turned into a panicked rant.

Texting back a quick few word, it dawned upon me that our duo could possibly come to an end if Brennan chose to hang around with us.

I would have to become the third wheel.

What also crossed my mind was if Brennan hung around us then the big unfriendly leather jacket-wearing giant would be in the picture too.

I would see him again.

The thought of that brought on a feeling in my lower stomach. It almost felt like anticipation. I had never felt anything like it before. I convinced myself that it was eagerness to only insult him further.

He had insulted my hair, so I cursed him in my mind again and wished his pillow grew spikes during the night.