Ember2

[teardropdangel]

Chapter 4 Stalkers

School was one of the many things that Ember hated. The students, the staff, the building, none appealed to her. Those reasons alone sometimes prompted her to ditch it and wander the streets. But on Monday, she'd had more reason than the usually abhorrence for school; her mind was still pondering over what had happened on Saturday with Seth. Somehow, she found herself entering the library that day. It had been a while since she'd been there. To say the least, the library was not a very popular place. Nonetheless, she went in and fond a nice secluded place for her to sit and think.

"Hello, here I am gorgeous. When do you want me to pick you up?" he said.

Obviously not secluded enough, she thought. "How about never?"

"Aw, come on. Don't say no, think about it."

She pretended to think about it. "You know I haven't been on a date in a long while. . ." Her tone was playful. She just had to enjoy the moment. She was feeling wicked enough. "Okay, I'll think about it."

He looked surprised at how easy she was. "Really?"

"Umm..." She shook her head. "No. Not really."

He muttered something dry under his breath, then left.

"That was kind of harsh, don't you think?" a voice asked her.

Ember looked up and thought Oh, no not another one! What was with the guys today? Did she have a sign on her back that said, "Come on and flirt with me" in big bold letters? This one had blond hair that was spiked short and black eyes. He looked like a rock star with his many piercings and the weird tattoo on his shoulder. "It's not from his point of view."

"I guess not." He picked up a book from a self net to her and observed it. It was Kant. "You ever read books like these?"

"What would you know about books like these? I bet you couldn't make through the first chapter." She held up a book by Brad Stableford.

To her dismay, he laughed. "I bet you're right." He put the book back, in its proper place. "By the way, I'm Cade. You'd think that you're unaccustomed of getting hit on." he continued to say.

She ignored him, rolling her eyes and staring off into space. He persisted with the one-sided conversation. "Now these are his kind of books," he was saying, portraying the typical male as he discovered a book on sports. "Aren't you atleast going to tell me your name?"

She didn't give the question an answer.

Cade shrugged. "It's alright, I can guess. All you have to do is nod your head for yes or shake your head for no." He didn't wait for her confirmation. "How about...Raven?"

She figured she could play along. She shook her head.

"Okay, I'll try again. Sarah?"

She shook her head again.

"No, not Sarah? You look like a Sarah." She shot him a glare then, he promptly retracted the statement. "Alright, maybe I was mistaken. What about. . . Ember?"

She was in shock for a moment before she figured that he'd probably asked around for it. She nodded in annoyance and waited for the absurd shocked surprise to subside. "Who told you?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Would you believe a little birdie told me?" He grinned.

Ember rolled her eyes. "That was lame."

He looked indifferent about his sloppy pass. "You're in that band that plays in the park, right?" He picked another book and she felt a surge a annoyance.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" She wished back the words immediately. It was always a good thing for word to get around for Mayhem, no matter how it gets around.

The edges of his lips half cocked as stared almost affectionately at her. "I heard from a friend."

She didn't know what to make out of that, but before she could give forth to any quick-witted answers, his mouth swooped down to capture hers. "What the hell is your problem?!" She slapped her fists against his chest and tried to pry herself away from his grasp. It wasn't necessary, though, because he had already begun to release her.

He grinned at her with the very devil in his eyes. "How was it good for you?"

The fist at her side itched to greet that smug grin, but she resisted because the security guard was throwing caustic glances at them. She smiled thinly and managed through her teeth, "I suggest you not try that you bastard or else I won't be able stop himself from busting up that pretty face of yours."

His grin widened. "And I bet you really believe that. Well, I'd better go now before my friend throws himself into a premature heart attack."

"What friend?" she asked, scowling, but he was already leaving. Cade walked away from her only to be intercepted by another boy with black hair who looked furious as hell. The other boy was holding a magazine in his hand, though Ember guessed it was only for a prop, because he showed no interest in it what so ever. Had he seen what had just transpired? She watched as he and Cade exchanged heated whispers. Cade began gesturing with his head and the other one caught her gaze.

She returned the eye contact coldly in hopes of intimidating him. But he met it without a blink. His eyes were an interesting shade of cerulean and made her think of the ocean. Then, suddenly, she had a sinking feeling that she could literally drown in those eyes. She tried to break the eye contact, but found that she could not. The intensity of his cobalt stare froze her to the spot. Finally, he broke the gaze and she turned her head and released the breath she wasn't aware of holding. When she turned back, both Cade and the unnerving boy were gone.