Page 77 of Eyes Like Angel

To my shock, Adrian guffawed. Not so loud it causes disruption inside the building, or disrupts the church staff—every single one is already outside—but sufficient for my ears to hear.

“She’s a funny girl, isn’t she,” he concluded, his light-blond locks cascaded as his head inclined lower, shutting his eyes.

“Funny?” I said, bothered with doubt.

He scoffed. “As if she knows me,” he articulated, finding it ridiculous.

I wasn’t sure what to react to his statement.

My eyes squinted. “How do you know?”

“Because she’s jealous. I’ve seen girls spoke and have attitude like that towards each other.”

I frowned, doubting him for a second.

“But you didn’t do anything wrong,” he said, eyes widened at my formed expression. “In fact, you did nothing wrong. God, she shouldn’t have done that. Did she hurt you?”

She did hurt me, I thought.

My lips pressed together, pausing. It wasn’t the right moment, not at an important charity. “Is she always like this?”

I never knew Emily as much as I would like to consider.

“Amelia? I barely knew her. I don’t know her personally. But I know how women operated on being annoyingly territorial. It’s not a pretty sight for them. They look like wild dangerous animals aiming for the fresh meat to feed for their starvation. Girls like that reeked desperation and jealousy turns guys off.”

“Don’t you mean Emily,” I corrected him.

“Huh?”

“Her name’s actually Emily, not Amelia.”

“Is it, really? I’m pretty sure that’s her name,” he said with confidence.

I shook my head. “Mrs. Rivers mentioned her name quite a few times. So did I.”

Nodded, Adrian acknowledged his mistake.

My head angled to the side, confused. “So, how do you handle girls who wouldn’t leave you alone?”

“I tell them to fu—,” he said, pausing at my expression before he cleared his throat in correction. “I told them to go away. If they fight me, I fight back. Simple as that—just verbal. Their fight wasn’t worth invested into, investedmyprecious time into. Women like that sabotaged all sorts of fun in ways than one. My friends were not having it, either. We weren’t children anymore. Kids fight over dolls and race cars, but forme,” his voice trailed off, eyes dulled, mindlessly shaking his head, “my life’s already a mess as it is. I don’t need another one to become as my new nuisance. They’re giving me a headache much faster than a speeding ticket.”

Confused, my head tipped. “They don’t bring their partners at all?”

I was confused, not knowing what he meant by speeding ticket. Extension of my knowledge was limited at the concept of bond between man and woman aside the sacred texts of Ahab and Jezebel or King Solomon in the Holy Writ.

He clicked his tongue. “They do, as long as they don’t mess things up. Especially at the place my friends wanted to go to. We mostly play video games and eat junk food, drinking nightly beverages.”

The back of my head rested on the wall, eyeing him. “Oh.”

“Oh?” A faint smile made way to his face, a sly hint fixated. “Are you expecting me to take with you?”

I stood my ground. “N-no, I wasn’t—”

Despite the flush spread across my face. Flustered, I didn’t avert my face and locked my focus on him head on. But I did at the last seconds before instilled my composure. I had to act normal, pretending I was talking to Micah. Micah…with…long blondish hair in slight curls and dreamlike hues, towering height, possessed a charmed grin, entertained at my quiet agitation.

He chortled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. But I must say, it’s cute when you get all red and shy.”

Normally I don’t easily get flustered. My fair complexion flustered during summertime or if it’s from a frosty climate peeking into the attic room.