Jamie Myers
The mystery that surrounded Scar was much bigger than I had anticipated. As I took in the way the sun was hitting his face in this very moment, I realized that he truly was a beautiful human being. His turquoise-colored eyes seemed almost inhuman under the sunlight, his short tufts of brown hair stuck out in all directions, but that kind of messy looked great on him. His teeth caught onto the corner of his lip, and he couldn't have looked sexier biting his lip like that. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that this beautiful boy beside me had a mysterious piano-playing past that he refused to share.
“Can you stop staring at me like that?” he asked suddenly, not turning to face me, but instead, continuing to count the money he had made for today while simultaneously biting his lip in frustration.
I leaned against the booth and chuckled to myself. “Don't flatter yourself, Patterson. I wasn't looking at you. I was looking at that hot guy over there.”
Scar's attention instantly snapped into the distance, searching for alleged hot guy. Then he glanced over at me, sighed, and returned his attention to the money. “So far, we've only made twenty dollars. That's way worse than yesterday. I’ll have to check in with the guys to see what they’ve been making, but they’re being assholes today.”
“Why?”
“They know that I kissed you, and they won’t stop teasing me about it.”
“Ah,” I said with a slight smile to which Scar just shook his head in dismay.
The sun was starting to set. The carnival would be closing in a half hour, and Scar still didn’t have enough time to score more customers. I watched as girl after girl passed by the kissing booth without giving it a second glance, which was, indeed, quite the contrast from yesterday’s turnout. Apparently, news about Scar and I had sky-rocketed to levels that I had never expected, making the most popular guy in school become a little less popular in the process.
Scar sighed once more and slumped against the booth with his head buried in his hands. I wanted to slap myself for suddenly feeling guilty for putting him in this predicament, especially when the money wasn’t even going to an actual cause, but I still found myself digging into my back pocket for my wallet and pulling out a folded hundred dollar bill. I handed it to him. “Here.”
Scar lifted his head from his hands and gave me a puzzled look. “What's that for?”
“For you,” I answered. “It may not be as much as you made yesterday, but I know how much this means to you, so take it before I change my mind.”
His eyebrows knitted together in confusion as he stared at me a little longer with his intense green eyes. He was reluctant for another moment or two before he actually reacted by taking the money and stuffing it into the box, not once removing his eyes from mine. “Well, thanks.”
I offered him a genuine smile. I was seconds away from responding with something totally witty and sarcastic, but I was interrupted by the sound of a delicate female voice. When I redirected my attention to the source of the voice, a girl with big gray eyes and thick brown ringlets surrounding her chubby face, I smiled.
“Hey,” she greeted us with a friendly smile.
I could practically feel Scar snap. “Amy,” he seethed. “I told you to stay home with Mom. Why are you here?”
“One of the first responders told me I should have some fun today, instead of moping around all day and gave me a ride. He was really nice.”
A dangerously low animal-like growl erupted from the back of Scar's throat. “Amy, what the hell? I gave you clear—”
“You look amazing, Amy,” I interrupted, already knowing everything coming out of Scar's mouth was anything but productive.
The brunette pulled her brows together in confusion. “Uh, do I know you?”
“Nope. I just have an eye for beauty and felt that I should probably let you know how beautiful you are.” Her cheeks instantly flushed red, but she attempted to hide the embarrassment by burying her face in her scarf. Scar tapped his fingers against the booth while he bit down on his bottom lip so hard that I was sure it would bleed. It was obvious he wanted to say something, but he thought better of it and remained silent. “Do you want to donate?” I asked Amy.
She caught a glimpse of Scar's deadly glare and backed away a little. “Um, no. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Ah, come on!” I exclaimed, flailing my hands in the air. “You get a kiss in return.”
Her bright eyes went wide, and her gaze darted back and forth between Scar and me. “W-with y-you?”
“Unless you'd like to make out with your brother.” And with those words, I became the victim of Scar’s intense stare.
“Really, it's okay…” Amy continued to protest.
I rolled my eyes deep into my sockets and crossed my arms over my chest. I had only known Amy for a few minutes, but I was already starting to see signs of a controlling, and slightly abusive, relationship between her and her brother, so I jumped on top of the booth and swung my legs to the other side, rooting my feet into the ground just a few inches away from where Amy stood. I took her hands in mine and gazed down at her, the corners of my lips pulling into a smile. Leaning down to her height, I captured her lips in a kiss. Her body stiffened for a moment, but she began to let loose as I worked my hands up, cupping the sides of her face and entangling my fingers into her hair.
I pulled away from the heated kiss when I felt a pair of hands grab onto my shoulders, separating me from Amy. I tried to fight a smile as I stumbled backwards and turned to face Scar, who was fuming with anger. “What the hell is your problem!” he yelled.
“I don't have a problem,” I countered with a grin. “Do you have a problem?”
Amy cleared her throat, drawing both of our attention. We watched as she retrieved two dollar bills from her pocket. “Please don't be mean to him, too, Scar.” Her lips spread into a soft, sweet smile as she placed the dollar bills into my hand. “Thank you for that.”
“No problem,” I responded with a reassuring nod.
Her silver eyes shone with excitement as she sent me another small smile and a slight wave before turning on her heel to walk away, leaving Scar and I alone to settle our disputes. As soon as she was out of sight, I waved the money teasingly in Scar’s face. He didn’t find that very funny because he shoved me, hard, and scowled. “You can't just kiss my sister like that!”
“And why not?” I questioned as I lifted an inquiring brow. “It's for charity, isn't it?”
“Don't kiss my sister again,” he said in a stern voice. “If you do, I promise I'll beat the shit out of you.”
I faked a surprised expression as I fished in my pocket for a blunt and stuck it into the corner of my mouth. “Duly noted,” I replied in a disinterested, bored tone while I flicked the dial on my lighter to light the end of the cigar.
Scar stepped back, seemingly with relaxed muscles. He raked a hand through his messy hair and turned to face the booth again, placing his hands against the wooden counter to lean against it. “Look, the only reason I’m hanging out with you is because you’re supposed to be helping me get Frankie back.”
“Frankie?” I questioned while trying to bite back a laugh. “That's such an unfortunate nickname.” He opened his mouth to speak but when I shot him a deadly glare, he quickly closed it. “Frankie is just like any other girl. She gets jealous easily. To get her back permanently, you need to show her that you have something that she can't get from those other guys.”
He furrowed his brows. "What do I have that other guys don’t?”
“Come on, Patterson,” I laughed. “Are you seriously passing up the opportunity to inflate your ego?”
He remained silent for a moment, probably thinking about the possible traits that separated him from everyone else. “I’m drawing a blank.”
“Yeah,” I scoffed, “I can tell by that dumb look on your face.”
Scar narrowed his eyes into thin slits as he folded his muscled arms against his toned chest. “Stop mocking me, and help me.”
Sighing, I leaped onto the edge of the booth and took a long drag of my cigar. “All right, since you’re having way too much trouble with that … how about you make her jealous with someone else?”
He frowned. “What? With you?”
“I meant with an equally slutty brunette, but if you want me to be your pretend boyfriend, I'll be happy to oblige.”
He shook his head slowly, unsure of how to respond. His hands balled into fists for a brief moment before they fell limp at his sides again. He seemed to be going through an ongoing debate in his head, not knowing what to do, or say. Finally snapping back to reality, he set his eyes on me. “You want me to get a girlfriend? Just anybody?”
I rolled my eyes. "That is what I said, Patterson. Learn to catch up."
He gulped, harshly. “How do you expect me to get a girlfriend?”
My mouth fell open. He had to be kidding, right? “You're easy on the eyes, and you play football. Any girl would kill to be with you. It's not rocket science.”
Scar grew silent as he slipped back into his thoroughly perplexed state, picking his feet up into a slight pace. “And what happens if my new girlfriend gets attached to me? That'll only create more drama that I don’t need.”
I breathed out a long, heavy sigh. I really didn't expect Scar to take this so seriously. It wasn't like I actually believed that Francesca would get back with him after seeing him with other girls. She was way too busy screwing everyone to even notice him, but I wouldn't tell him that. “Fine,” I said, “then let my sister be your girlfriend.”
He stopped pacing and turned to face me, scratching his neck. “Your sister?”
“Yeah, then you won’t have to worry about her falling in love with you.”
Scar raised a skeptical brow, but nodded anyway. “Oh, she’s gay, too.”
I lifted my chin slightly and narrowed my gaze at the boy in front of me. “No,” I spat, just as I threw my blunt to the ground and stomped on it, crushing it to pieces. “She's straight.”
“Then how do you know she won't fall in love with me?” An amused smirk stretched onto his face as he waited for an answer.
I wanted to tell him that he shouldn’t be thinking so highly of himself since it was so easy for his beloved girlfriend to leave him, but decided it would be best for both of us if I just played along. “Because, Patterson, you make it very hard for anyone to fall in love with you.” Flashing my eyes up at him, I gave him a cheeky smile. “Anyway, it’s about time that I head home and you should do the same. I'll let my sister know of our little plan and we can start as soon as possible.”
Scar nodded. “Do you need a lift to your place?”
I didn't know why, but that made me smile. “No,” I replied, “but thanks, though.”
He nodded again. "Well, uh, I guess I'll see you around, uh … what was your name, again?"
“Huge penis.”
“Huge pen–” His eyes widened. “Dude.”
“It’s Jamie,” I clarified with a slight chuckle.
Scar didn’t bother to respond and opted for an annoyed eye-roll instead, just before returning his attention to the money box.
Comments (2)
See all