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“You have no idea how much this is going to cost me…” she whispered, more to herself, because he’d already rushed back to his friends.
He was explaining something shortly, and a few curious glances were thrown her way. She immediately turned around, as if she was afraid that some of them might recognize her, even though that was close to impossible. A few seconds later and he was back by her side.
“Okay, I’m ready to go.”
For a brief moment, Mina had second thoughts. She remembered the threat she’d received from the twins and she knew she needed to take it seriously. A girl’s jealousy knew no bounds - that’s usually the case. Women had a tendency to go crazy overboard when they thought they were losing their man and this went double for teenage girls.
Mina sighed. Was one coffee really worth trouble with the school bullies? Probably not, but then, her ego surfaced. Who the heck were they, thinking they could dictate who Mina could and couldn’t see? That was just ridiculous. Mina had every right to see, kiss or even fuck whoever she wanted. Wasn’t that everyone’s right?
Her nostrils flared. Her blood boiled. She was free to do whatever the hell she wanted.
“I’m ready, too,” she smiled at Raphael.
Chapter 13
It was the night of a half moon but the area before them was clearly illuminated. Mina was seated on the grass, next to Raphael. They were near a small lake and a few ducks were gliding peacefully on the surface of the water, which reflected the dark skies. Mina’s coffee cup rested next to her. It’d been empty for almost two hours now.
The time just flew by. At first, their conversation seemed strained, like neither of them knew exactly what to say or ask, to start off a proper conversation. Then, they’d cut each other’s sentences, stop talking, start again at the same time, then they’d burst out into laughter. It was fun, but almost pointless to talk as it got them nowhere. Still, she felt like her body responded well to his proximity. She was calm and composed, and she liked how he wouldn’t let her pay for her coffee. It was a matter of principle, really, not that this coffee cost an arm and a leg. How lousy it was, they should be sued for even charging for it.
After getting the coffee, they walked out of the cafeteria and toward the lake. There were still people around, just hanging out. The campus was brimming with life. Somehow, Mina didn’t mind. She didn’t care about any of those people. She didn’t really care about Raphael either. Or, did she? Looking at him now, his walk wasn’t as cocky as before, his whole posture changed, when he wasn’t with his audience. He was almost normal. If he could ever be considered normal, being so handsome.
They finally sat down by the lake. He offered a bench but she always preferred grass. The texture was much softer. She took off her shoes, then her socks. He eyed her weirdly, but didn’t say anything.
“You don’t mind, do you?” she asked innocently. “I just love the feel of grass on my bare feet. I get to do it so rarely.”
“Did you do it often before?” he beamed.
“When I was a kid, yeah. Not so much anymore.”
“I know what you mean,” he sighed, looking into the distance, trying to find an invisible spot. “Life seemed so much simpler back then, no?”
“Yeah,” she nodded, trying to find that same spot.
“You’d just play and worry whether your mom and dad would get you the toy you wanted for your birthday,” he continued.
“If you had parents,” she replied, not looking at him.
He turned to her. She was still faced forward but she could see with the corner of her eyes that his gaze was glued to the side of her cheeks. Her answer surprised him.
“Your parents are…” he asked, not finishing the question.
“Yes.”
She felt like that wasn’t a lie, so it was easy to confirm. She wondered about him but dared not ask.
“Mine, too,” he replied, as if he read her mind somehow.
Now, it was her turn to face him. He wasn’t sad, though. It was like he had come to terms with his loss and, now, it was simply a fact, just an honest answer to an honest question. What neither of them realized was that this was one of those questions that brought people together.
“I guess we all have a similar story. Parents killed by slayers, right?” he asked and she was grateful that he faced into the distance again.
She felt like she couldn’t lie about this. So, instead of a reply, she just murmured something barely audible. This was a sensitive topic and when she signed up for this mission, she didn’t expect that she’d have to wear her heart on a sleeve.
“But, you know…” he continued. Obviously, it wasn’t his intention to let this one go. “I can’t even hate them.”
“Hate who?” she asked, afraid that she already knew the answer.
“The slayers.”
