Chapter 5: 

It was over now. The blood drive.

The weird strangers who wanted to give people their blood were all patched up and mingling outside with the others.

As for me, I was outside as well, just away from the crowd. I was sitting on one of the benches filled with many treats and desserts as well as huge dispensers of lemonade and punch. 

Too bad Clover didn't come. I could have been talking to her instead of a dispirited Dante who, oh by the way- already left.

My dad was somewhere in this crowd, I think... Maybe talking to Mrs.Romanoff? 

Right now, the hospital's usual quiet setting was booming with music, colors, decorations and chatter. Oddly enough, I enjoyed the noise, even though I wasn't part of it.

After a while the music toned down and people gathered in bunches, turning their attention towards one thing in particular.

What's going on?

"Welcome everybody! Thank you so much for coming here!" 

A loud voice reverberated across the scene, and I too became curious about who the voice belonged to.

I stood up and gathered with them, squeezing my body through the crowd.

I was in the veeery front now and could see Luciano standing straight, almost like a soldier, with a solemn look on his perfect face.

He was standing next to a pair of two good looking people. One young man and one woman, both of which had microphones in their hands.

They were nicely dressed too. 

"Again thank you all so much." The woman spoke into the mic.

"It's truly an honor to be welcomed to this community with open arms and warm souls in each and every one of you." 

Dad was right..if those two are his parents they do look super young!!

The man started speaking.

"And because of this, we want to give back to you all. Today we present our family's gift."

A random guy emerged from the shadows behind the couple, holding a humongous board, seeming to be having trouble with it as well.

A loud roar of applause emerged from the crowd.

It must be the check..!

The couple grabbed the board from the man and held it together.

I squinted to see the number written on it.

50k??? That's way too generous! Our hospital isn't even broke. Jesus Christ.

The people continued clapping and adoring the stunning family shining in front of us.

I could see why everyone was talking about them now. They really do seem…perfect.

Somebody tapped my shoulder.

"Oh!! Dad! I was wondering where you were. Haha…What's wrong?" 

"Your car is what's wrong honey..." 

"What??"

Dad's footsteps were heavy and quick when he walked out from the crowd and all the way to the front of the hospital. I was following close behind him. 

*Beep! Beep! Beep!*

"Huh?!!" I screamed in horror. The sight in front of me was unbearable. My car was hanging up by a thick rope attached to a silver hook. A tow truck had taken hold of my car.

"Noooo!" 

A man in a yellow vest stood behind the truck, and watched as my car underwent unjust theft.

"What are you doing?? Let it go! Please!!"  I screamed at him.

The man was clearly relaxed and didn't even bother to pull his eyes away from the truck. 

"Nope. Should have been paying attention to the new sign. Handicap only." 

Huh???

My eyes darted across the scene and finally stuck on the sign:

HANDICAP ONLY

“NO WAY. That was not there before!  I swear!!” I pleaded to the man.

He still didn’t look me in the eye. 

“Yeah, just added it yesterday. Still. You should have seen it.” he said nonchalantly. 

“Don’t bother with him honey, I've already tried.” Dad said, pulling me out of the truck’s way. 

The man in yellow hit the back of the truck twice to signal the driver when it had fully buckled my car in its back. He hopped in the passenger's seat, and like that, my car was leaving me. Away, the truck disappeared into the blackness of night, only its back lights blinking like a pair of human eyes. 

Noo…my car. My poor car. How could this happen…? I hadn’t even finished paying it off yet. 

My anger had already died down and sadness filled my heart. What will I do now? 

“Excuse me.” A voice interrupted us. 

My head and dad’s snapped to the right at the same time. 

Seriously. What does he want now?

Luciano was standing a few feet away from the horrid scene with his hands in the pockets of his dark jeans blending in with the dark.

"Maybe I could help. I can drive her." 

What?

My father was one of the realest people I knew, but when his frown turned into a smile in less than two seconds, I was truly horrified.

"Ahh! Of course! Why didn't I think of that? That would be great!" 

"Dad, stop. I'll ride with you." I said seriously. I wasn't joking.

He turned to me with a pained smile on his face. He had the look.

"Dad-"

 He whispered-shouted now.

"You WILL ride with him because thanks to this little stunt of yours, I now have to go ALL the way to the towing center and argue my way to get your car back!"

"Dad…"

"And NO you can't come. You're not spending hours waiting for me." 

I couldn’t tell whether he was truly angry or not. It looked like he was trying to stop himself from smiling.

He hit my shoulder twice and leaned in closer to my ear. 

"Already got the promotion today. Do NOT mess this up." 

Of course. I knew it. This is not about me at all. It was all about him.

He wants me to suck up to the fancy people huh?

He hit my arm again and walked off into his car which I just noticed was parked right next to where my car was. 

Why did he park in the front all of a sudden? None of this seems like a coincidence.

I made brief eye contact with Luciano who still stood far away from me with an incomprehensible expression on his face.

Dad's Toyota truck backed out of the parking space and his car was facing sideways now getting ready to exit.

I cringed, embarassed when he rolled his old windows down manually and the creeking noise filled the silence.

"Hey! I'm going now! Stay safe kids!!!" 

And with that, he sped off like a mad man, eager to get me alone with the prince.

Ugh.

"My car's this way." He said, nudging his head to the back. He already began walking and I hesitated to follow him when I thought I could make a choice. 

And then I realized that I didn't have one. 

My car just got towed, Dante's gone, and Dad left me with him so, no. I really have no choice. A bus wouldn't be coming this late at night either.

I followed him. 

I wasn't even sure if he realized I was behind him. He moved so absent mindedly…

Luciano stopped at a big, Lincoln car in sleek black. 

This is his car??

Finally, he turned back at me and stared with an undecorated look. He held the door to the passenger's seat open.

Ok…

I got in awkwardly.

The car was even more stunning on the inside. It came with high gear technology, years from what my own car has now. It smelled fresh too, new, as if no one had ever touched or used it at all. 

The driver's door slammed and he started the engine. 

… How could this be happening to me right now? 

I clicked my seatbelt on and we were out of the hospital parking lot in seconds. 

"Do you have a boyfriend?" 

??!?!

"UmM- who- Wwha-what?!" 

Panic mode.

"I asked if you had a boyfriend." Luciano said serenely.

His face was still expressionless, smooth.

"Uh…N-no." I said after my pulse slowed.

The car came to a jerking stop at a red light. 

He looked me in the eye. Only then did I realise I'd unconsciously been staring at the side of his face.

I looked away. 

"What's wrong?" He asked in a soft voice.

"Nothing." I answered quickly. 

No, nothing was wrong except the sound of my heart slamming against my chest.

"Are you…scared of me Aurora?" 

What?

I looked at his beautiful face again.

"Um…No.." 

The frown he had on looked pained in a way, but my attention was completely on his dark brown eyes. They were..so..so beautiful. The red traffic light illuminating his face made his pale skin less noticeable and the lines of his jaw and perfect nose stand out more. 

"I just…" Words struggled to come out of me.

The light turned green and he broke eye contact. We were moving again.

“It feels like you’re afraid of me somehow.” He said, his eyes still on the road. 

“N-no I’m not! I promise.”

That was true. I’m rather getting scared of the way I'm starting to feel around him. 

He smiled. “I’ll believe you then. You seem like an honest person.” 

“Really? But you barely know me.” I said confidently. 

He replied quickly.

“I know, but it’s a feeling.” 

“A feeling…?” 

“Yes, a strong feeling.”

"How strong?"

"Very strong."

He smiled at that last sentence and chuckled. 

"You're a very odd girl Aurora." 

What is he even talking about…I'm not the one who appears out of thin air and takes mysterious phone calls in empty rooms. Ugh.

Another red light. He looked at me again. 

I really hope that my heart isn't as loud as it sounds in my ears.

He began. "Yeah, odd. In a good way." 

I wanted to take the perfect brunette strands of his curls that fell between his eyes into my hands. 

It was probably me that was staring with inappropriate intensity at this point. That must be why my chest felt so tight. 

Despite being hoarded in traffic, it felt like the darkness of the night provided a blanket of concealment and comfort, like a space where only we existed, together alone.

…Or maybe that's just because the car has tinted windows.

A green light.

His eyes were still glued to the road, but his gaze seemed far away, like his focus was elsewhere, on a different matter entirely. 

"Do you think… there are more good or bad people on this earth?" he asked quietly.

?

What is he talking about? But..no. You can't just bunch it up that way.

"Umm…I'm not sure. Nothing is really black and white, people aren't either. Everybody has both their good and bad parts." 

This has never crossed my mind before.

"But I think we tend to overestimate our bad parts sometimes. We shouldn't have such high expectations of ourselves in the first place. We're only human after all." 

I looked up at him now. He was frowning again.

 "Yeah, you're right."

The car came to a soft stop. 

Here already…? I looked at my house sitting still in the quiet dark.

Time really does fly by when you're happy….Wait. What am I thinking??

 I'm not happy! Ugh what the heck?! My freaking car got towed.

My hand was already on the handle, and I was SO ready to jump out the car. 

I was, but…why didn't I want to leave…? 

I turned back at him to see him staring with a sober look. His beautiful eyes were sad. 

"Um, thank you. Bye Luciano."

His face turned sour.

"I told you you could call me Lucy, didn't I?"

"Oh.. Um well… y-yeah ! Bye Lucy." 

"Bye." 

My hand finally pulled on the car door and the unwelcoming cold air of the outside world enveloped me. 

Suddenly the dark blanket of concealment and comfort seemed only like a plain sheet of loneliness now. 

*SLAM* 

Oops. That was a little too hard.

The window of the car rolled down half way and Lucy was smiling now. A beautiful, bastard smile.

He spoke from the inside.

"Be a little careful next time, would you?"

There’s gonna be a next time…?

Like that, the beautiful prince rolled the windows up and escaped from the girls castle.

I sighed. 

Next time huh…

I was deep in thought now as I grabbed my keys from my cross bag and made my way to the front door.

Do I even want a next time…? What the heck is he talking about? Haha…

Our entire conversation wasn’t much of a conversation at all….. It was more like unreasonable banter. My heart sped up again as the memory of our talking replayed in my head. He was a very odd person in my opinion, and he seemed to think the same of me. So…we’re two odd people? 

My lighthearted nature didn’t last long as I finally unlocked the door. A sudden wind blew past me and a chilling thought ran down my spine. 

It just hit me.

How did he know where I lived?