Fairytale Green

The weekend had passed quickly. Too quickly. The two days had passed in a blur of reading and having three-hour-long calls with Lana gossiping about her new love interest. I also spent the two days in my room and hiding from my father.

I studied the depressing looking apartment building as I leant against the cool metal my car.

To some extent, I was glad school was starting again. I needed a distraction. I needed something to occupy my mind.

Lana appeared at the top of the hill on my street. She was skipping down the sidewalk with a happy and content smile on her face. Her face was beaming, and her cheeks were flushed.

At least one of us was in a good mood being forced to wake up this early in the morning.

‘What time do you call this?’ I asked her as she neared ‘It is never like you to be late. That is my job.’

She never needed to answer. The answer to my question was visible as I looked down at what she was wearing. Lana was always well dressed but never as extreme as she was currently. She looked like she had rolled out a magazine.

I wolf-whistled as she strutted the last few steps to my car.

‘Did the Kardashian’s have a yard sale?’ I remarked sarcastically.

Straightening her skirt, she smiled shyly before explaining ‘So I had planned to wear jeans and a t-shirt, but I suddenly had a change of heart. I opted for a cute, patterned skirt and an off-the-shoulder top.’

The two of us climbed into my small green car before doing up our seatbelts.

I laughed before teasing “Does this change of heart have to do with a certain new student?’

‘No.’ She prolonged the word, her voice not nearly convincing enough to fool me.

‘That was a rhetorical question.’ I smirked while I started up the car ‘Of course I know you are dressed like something out of Zoolander to impress Brennan.’

She rolled her eyes as she threw her bag on the floor and then motioned down to my clothes before voicing “It looks like you have decided to change things up.’

I pulled the car out onto the road, and I pressed down on the pedal while I stole glanced at the nervous blonde girl next to me.

Lana then blurted out ‘He has not texted me today.’

‘It’s half eight in the morning.’ I pointed to the radio before teasing ‘Give the guy a chance.’

Her eyes widened while she let out a sigh ‘I was going to show him around school.’

‘Who cares if he texts anyway?’

‘I do, Ella.’ She whined.

‘There is plenty more candy apples in the stall.’ I joked before explaining ‘That’s my version of plenty more fish in the sea. If you did not click on.’

‘I got it.’ She replied before peering out the window at the passing city.

‘The first guy that you are interested in is not going to be yours forever. Not all great couples end up together.’ I tried my best to deliver a pep-talk ‘Look at Spike and Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Even though they were both amazing characters and had great chemistry, they did not end up together. We can rant all we want on Tumblr but that is not going to change the fact that Spike is dead.’

She looked to be digesting as she stared at me with a confused expression.

‘I can kind of see what you are trying to hint at. In your weird Ella way.’ She said with a small laugh ‘You do not fall madly in love with the first guy you are attracted to.’

‘Exactly.’

Lana shook her head with a hint of a smile ‘I don’t understand why you pretend to be so cynical. You are secretly a bigger romantic than me.’

‘Who?’ I rebutted, acting like I had no clue what she was talking about ‘Me?’

‘Your whole speech to Brennan’s friend about fairytale green proved that.’

I grimaced at the memory while responding with a murmur ‘Well it’s fine because I don’t plan on speaking to him ever again.’

Her mouth opened like she was about to but then her phone buzzed. She picked up her phone and whatever was on it made her smile.

She read the message aloud ‘Hello, Lovely Lana. We are nearly at the school. See you there.’

‘What does he mean by we?’ I blurted out in a panic because that was the only part of the message I paid attention to ‘Who else is going to be there?’

‘Stone.’ She uttered sheepishly ‘He is coming to Leavendale High too.’

I gaped at her for a few seconds before turning back to face the road.

‘Brennan was also shocked.’ Lana mentioned, studying the shock on my face ‘He says that Stone was possessed with determination to go.’

The car stopped as we approached a set of traffic lights. I took the time to sink into my seat and ran a hand through my hair in a way to make it look more presentable.

I silently plotted. I was preplanning insults for the large man in case I needed them.

Lana threw her phone at me and pleaded ‘You type something back to him.’

‘Just text him back saying okay.’ I teased ‘Add an emoji to it if you are feeling brave.’

‘This is serious!’ She exclaimed.

‘The time you eventually text back, he will have a new phone.’ I deadpanned ‘Probably an iPhone Thirty-two at this pace.’

Her facial expression gave away that she was unimpressed. She waited impatiently as I typed a reply to Brennan on her phone.

My typing took ten seconds, so she started to become suspicious.

The set of lights turned green, and I handed the phone to her before focusing on the road again.

‘What did you write?’ Lana anxiously asked like she was not sure if she wanted to know or not.

I sent her an evil grin ‘Check for yourself.’

Mortification dawned upon her face as she read the message.

She gritted out the words that I had written on the text ‘Hello, surfer dude. I have been awaiting your text all morning like a very sad person. The truth is I want to give you a tour of the school so bad. A tour of the janitor’s closet. See you soon, Sexy.’

Her phone buzzed again, and her face turned to the colour of a cherry.

She turned the screen around so I could catch a glimpse of what he had written.

‘Look!’ Lana exclaimed.

I switched car lanes before laughing my reply ‘Are you talking about the message itself or the lack of capital letters?’

‘They are already at school.’ Lana squealed in her seat ‘We need to hurry.’

‘Who do I look like to you?’ I joked to her as I drove slightly faster ‘Vin Diesel?’

‘Ella.’ She said my name in warning like she was trying to scold me.

‘Is it too late to stop off for a McDonald’s breakfast?’ I questioned while grinning evilly at her.

‘Drive, Ella.’ Her tone went demanding while she continued to type on her phone.

I put my foot down on the pedal and sped up for the last ten minutes of the drive until we eventually pulled into the parking lot of Leavendale High.

We both grabbed our bags and made our way through the crowded parking lot. We passed the other students who all looked like zombies as they headed towards the old fashioned two-storey building.

Lana began waving like a lunatic when she noticed a certain someone near the entrance of the school.

Only one person stood out to me, and he was leaning his large self on the wall of the school’s main entrance watching as I approached.

The tall and scary-looking man appeared way older than eighteen. He was all man, and he did not appear like he belonged.

Stone was large looking while sitting down but now that I had seen him standing up, he had brought a whole new meaning to the word huge.

I had never seen someone as tall as he was before. With his broad shoulders and his overall well-built body, he appeared more like a bouncer than a boy.

I did not want to stand next to him. It would only make my shortness more visible. I was pretty sure I did not even reach his chest.

Brennan bounced off the wall and walked towards us while greeting ‘Hey there, Lovely Lana.’

While she greeted him with a hug, I held back a few meters and watched them. I looked at them to stop myself from looking at the other person standing there.

‘Hi, Ella.’ Brennan nodded his head in my direction as he acknowledged me.

He looked like he was going to the beach. He was wearing denim jeans and a white coloured shirt that was well fitted across his torso. An outline of a six-pack was visible under the blue material which my eyes could not help but admire for a split second.

Both Lana and Brennan made small talk. It was something about the school, but I was not fully listening to them.

Something else had caught my eye and I knew it was only so long I could go without meeting his eye.

Stone was studying me and he did not look in any hurry to stop.

The brutally handsome face was focused down on me. The nearly black eyes moved, looking from one of my eyes to the other and back again.

Our gazes deadlocked. We were caught in an intense stare-off where neither opponent wanted to back down.

The only thing that could have added to the intensity was if some cowboy showdown music was playing.

He remained silent. He did not break his concentration.

Something told me that he was not going to start the conversation, so I chose to be the bigger person and act somewhat civil.

I made my mouth set in a straight line to mirror his expression while I spoke up “Hello, Lurch.’

The corner of the giant’s lip turned up.

‘Medusa.’ The deep voice uttered, the hint of a smirk remaining on his face.

The name caught me off guard. My stomach dropped at the single word that left his mouth and the gruff way he said it.

I frowned as I placed my hands on my hip and challenged ‘Medusa had snakes for hair. I have green hair. Not all snakes are green. There are albino snakes that are white and—’

My rambling stopped as soon as I saw that his mouth had raised further.

It was not a full smirk. It was not even close. It was a small movement that I had to move closer to get a better look at.

Stone almost appeared pleased with himself that he had found my kryptonite which was insulting my hair.

All I wanted to do at that moment was wipe that smirk off his irritatingly attractive face and bash it against the outside of the school wall.

If I thought that I could have reached his neck then I might have attempted to throttle him.

‘Just remember that Medusa’s victims were Stone.’ I voiced while shooting him a bored look.

‘You going to keep me in your lair forever, Medusa?’ He returned while taking a step closer to me.

‘No.’ I rebutted before thinking quickly on my feet for something to say, ‘I would sell you to some old building so you can guard it like some ugly gargoyle.’

His penetrating stare remained bound and determined so I turned my head to the side before my face had the chance to turn flustered.

Lana and Brennan were still talking among themselves, so I tried concentrating on what they had to say.

‘You will probably have a lot of competition for my attention. I am pretty irresistible.’ Brennan commented gracefully ‘Don’t worry though. I only have eyes for you.’

I snorted at his arrogance.

‘You are very sure of yourself, aren’t you?’ Lana pointed out.

Brennan glanced between me and Lana while questioning ‘You don’t think the school will be effected by the arrival of two good looking guys?’

I scoffed before meeting the eye of the large man and deadpanning ‘Where is the other good-looking guy then?’

Stone grumbled something under his breath. The guttural noise carried shook his chest a little.

The noise reminded me exactly why I decided to call him Lurch.

He cocked his head while never taking his eyes off me. The gesture was full of disbelief like he was challenging me to lie further.

‘What are you trying to imply?’ I spoke up when I noticed that he was not going to.

The giant glanced down at my arms that were crossed over my chest before meeting my gaze again. Nothing left his mouth as he continued to watch me in silence.

I sent him a fake smile before feeling the need to clarify to him ‘I find you as hot as a lake found in the North Pole.’

His head remained cocked to the side and an amused look lit up the obsidian colour of his irises.

Lana coughed before I could lie further, and she tried to change the subject ‘Do you two have your timetables?’

‘Stone went and got it.’ Brennan told her.

I could not help myself. I turned my body back towards the large man and spoke again.

‘Did old Mrs Robinson at the school office understand your grunting?’ I challenged before humming ‘She probably did. Her husband is ninety, so he probably makes the same noises as you do.’

I should have just stopped talking but I had caught a bad case of word diarrhoea.

Stone did not laugh. The only indication that he found the comment slightly funny was the corner of his lip hiking up and the movement in his jaw.

The mountain of a man took a step closer and lessened the space between us.

He was wearing a black shirt with dark jeans which was topped off with his leather jacket. The clothes were tight fitted against his bulging muscles.

His eyes widened slightly as he stopped a metre or so in front of me. He peered down and his eyebrows furrowed when he noticed the ridiculously large height difference between us.

I was at eye level with his stomach.

Lana spoke up again ‘Should we show you both around now?’

I faced her and nodded before discreetly moving away from the giant so that I felt a little more taller.

Brennan’s sights were set on the school building when he answered back ‘Lead the way.’

Lana never moved because was too busy staring at Brennan, so I took it upon myself to move first. I walked through the double doors and into the hallway and the three of them follow behind shortly after.

Stone was the one quickest to follow. He lingered closely behind me and matched my pace as we entered the building.

The hallway of the school was a time capsule because it had not been decorated since Nixon was the president. The lockers were a mustard colour and a dusty banner hung from the ceiling advertising the spring fling even though it was August.

I glanced back at the other three, but I did not stop walking. I had a genuine fear that I would be trampled over by the giant if I suddenly came to a halt.

He was walking so close behind me that it felt like I had developed a second shadow.

‘Hello Brennan and Lurch.’ I called over my shoulder to break the silence ‘Welcome to your very own personal Leavendale High tour. I’m Ella and I’ll be your tour guide.’

Brennan turned to Lana and asked, ‘What is happening?’

I shushed him ‘Please keep all questions until the end of the tour. Thank you.’

The three of them trailed behind me as I walked further down the corridor. The further we went, the more apparent it became that being a tour guide was not in my future.

‘If you look to your left, you will see lockers.’ I announced while waving my hand to the side and then I switched arms before adding ‘If you look to your right, you will see more lockers.’

Lana sighed at my theatrics before she addressed the other two ‘Do you guys have your locker numbers?’

‘Mine is a hundred and seven.’ Brennan answered, ‘Stone’s is a hundred and twelve.’

It took half a second to realise that my locker was number a hundred and fourteen.

His locker was way too close to mine for comfort. I did not want a cocky remark or a mythology-inspired insult every school day of the year.

Stone had not spoken a word since entering the school. His striking obsidian gaze just narrowed in on me like an animal eyeing up its dinner.

I walked faster and he did too. I then slowed down and he did too.

A chill shot up my spine like a bolt of electricity. It warmed the whole of my body like a blanket of security.

I slowly came to a stop when we neared the correct set of lockers. I turned around and then looked up at him, my neck straining as I lifted my chin.

‘Do you speak?’ I questioned up to the silent man.

He directed his head downwards so that he could lean further towards my body and tower over me.

‘When I want to.’ His deep voice was gruff and hoarse like he was not used to stringing a sentence together.

The faintest hint of black stubble covered his harsh jawline. His dark hair was parted to the side in a tousled way and a strand had fallen onto his forehead.

I narrowed my eyes up at him while declaring ‘My plan is to avoid you forevermore.’

A guttural noise that sounded like it had come from a deep dark cave escaped him as he uttered ‘You are breaking my heart.’

Someone overhearing the conversation might have believed his words if it were not for his emotionless face.

I was in a fight or flight mode, and I so happened to have picked fight.

‘Do you even have a heart?’ I countered back while eyeing him up and down as I shortened the distance between us ‘Perhaps you do. Maybe it is just hidden deep in that big steroid infested body.’

Everything about this man made me nervous and it was not just because he was the most intimidating being I had ever seen.

My bones felt weak, and my knees felt like jelly. My body felt like it was burning and being obliterated. My whole nerve system had shut down and refused to let me move.

‘It is all real muscle, Medusa.’ He rasped out, the deep voice an almost grunt ‘Do you want a feel?’

I blinked up at him.

I hated making eye contact with people. I always had since I was a little girl, but I had learned how to do it, so I did not seem overly rude.

The obsidian gaze currently heating up my face gave me no choice but to make eye contact with him. The gaze was demanding and domineering.

I eventually turned my head to the side before giving him a side glare while I murmured ‘My plan is definitely to avoid you forevermore.’

Stone chuckled once while his eyes set on the green hair that ended just above my belly button.

‘I will buy a sombrero.’ I gritted out through clenched teeth.

His warm breath hit my cheek as I continued to act nonplussed while he leaned further over me.

‘I’d noticed you anywhere.’ The gruff voice grunted lowly.

I looked up at him again and tilted my head at his comment.

A few seconds later and the same rough sounding noise escaped his chest as he added to his previous statement ‘Might need a magnifying glass.’

I was four foot eleven, but I rounded that up to five foot two when people asked.

‘I am not small!’ I erupted, subconsciously standing on my toes to appear taller and to wiggle my finger closer to his face ‘You are just abnormally large!’

Lana and Brennan fell into a fit of laughter and it suddenly reminded me that they were still standing there.

My lips parted and I let out a sigh before taking a step away from his entrapping gaze.

‘Both of your lockers are near Lana’s.’ I voiced to both guys, but I only looked at Brennan ‘She can show you the way. I’m off to homeroom.’

‘But your locker is right next to mine—’ She began but stopped when she noticed my glare.

Brennan laughed at my attempt at a getaway before pointing out ‘That was a quick tour.’

I shrugged before turning to go ‘I am not getting paid.’

A deep voice stopped me before I could leave.

‘Where are you going, Medusa?’ Stone grumbled out demandingly.

I swivelled on my heel and faced him with a sigh, fighting the urge to flip him off ‘I am going to class, Lurch.’

His scowl deepened and his eyes darkened while his large hands twitched into fists at his sides.

I walked away from them, stealing once glance over my shoulder back at the pair of dark irises following me down the hall.

I prayed to every god and every school schedule maker that the giant would not end up in one of my classes.