His face was inches away form Jennifer's face, putting both hands on the row of shelves. Jennifer was trapped. Jennifer stared into his eyes before looking behind him, looking at another book, she gasped and he backed away. "This one." Jennifer picked up a book. 'A time to kill.'
"This is the best one I read so far." She handed it to him. With that she walked off to the couch, "Oh and don't go for books without reading it. Its blurb." She said before walking off leaving him in the aisle. Adrian flicked through a few pages. "Hmm… Why haven't I ever noticed this.."
The store was dead silent, Jennifer and Adrian sat in silence, as they read their books, snacking on the food provided by the store. Jennifer realized that the half eaten noodles were Adrian's. Jennifer couldn't stop thinking about what she was when she stared into Adrian's eyes. She wasn't able to concentrate in her book. Her mind kept drifting off to the emotional pull she felt when she stared into Adrian's eyes, as if she was tied to Adrian.
The passion. The desperation. The feeling that they couldn't bear to stay away and the sad fact that they couldn't get any more near than they already were. The tussle between what's right and what's nice. Adrian's eyes always got Jennifer hooked. This time more than ever. She decided to break the silence.
"Did you…" Adrian looked up at her with an expressionless face. "Sit in my spot?" "Your spot?" he said, leaning back on the chair. "This." Jennifer gestured to the spot she was sitting on. "I did." He said proudly. Jennifer scoffed as she got up and packed her things.
"Enjoy your hairy butt.." she said in a low whisper. As she got up Adrian noticed a sign behind the couch, "This is Jennifer Williams' seat. If you sit here, you get a hairy butt!" he chuckled. Cute ..
"Ahh.. Jennifer when did you come?" Mr. Henry said, surprised to see Jennifer visit the store after such a long time. "After school…" she said with a smile. "I was in the storage room, organizing some boxes" Mr. Henry sat down at the front desk. "Ahh.. it's late.. I'll be going now."
"So soon. Why do-" Before he could finish his sentence, Adrian walked past them about to head out. "You're finally back, Adrian."
"Back.." Jennifer tilted her head in confusion. "Adrian had been coming here for seven months now. He's a total book addict. Hahah" Mr. Henry said, laughing hysterically. "What!!" Jennifer took a glance at Adrian who was already out of the door. "He acts like such a bad boy in school, but who knew he had such a hobby."
"Aish… now I'm really exposed." Adrian thought. He checked the time. 7:45 pm. "I better get home. James must be waiting." As he walked quite a distance from the store he stopped as someone called his name.
"Here.." Jennifer ran to her with a keychain in her hands. It was the limited edition of "The evil skull" keychain. It must've fallen when he left in a hurry. Adrian took it from her without saying anything too embarrassed to face her. Jennifer folded her arms and walked away. Adrian had broken her heart and yet, she cared about him so much.
"He could've said thank you.." Jennifer thought as she took a quick glance at Adrian as they walked their separate ways. Adrian took a quick glance at Jennifer to see she also had the same keychain but purple. He chuckled and shook his head. He turned around and yelled, "Hey Jennifer." She stopped walking and looked back at him, "I loved the book."
Adrian shouted from a distance, she smiled widely and nodded before taking off.
"I knew you would…" Jennifer thought in her mind.
Adrian looked at the keychain in his hand. "I'm sorry Jennifer. I love you and that is the reason I had to reject you. As euphoric as it is, I can't be with you right now. I promise I will make it up to you. When the time is right, I will shower you with my undying love for you. I will make you feel special and loved. I promise. Please bear with me, until I make this safer for you. I need to do this. Please don't go…."
With a heavy heart and a soul drunk in melancholy, Adrian took hasty steps until his home came into view. The lights were on. Silhouettes of servants, rushing here and there, attending to the errands. The fountain in the garden was sprinkling water in all directions. The evening was supposed to be pretty and relaxing. It was supposed to soothe him but it was having a totally opposite effect. The light from the setting sun appeared as whips, tracing Adrian's skin, leaving scars on his soul.
"Hey buddy." James spoke as he saw Adrian enter the room. Adrian just nodded. He was too tired to keep up with his acting. He could, at least be honest with James. "The news has spread all over the school that you rejected Jennifer. A lot of criticism had followed. It must be pretty bad for her." James said with a sigh. He was sad for Adrian and Jennifer both.
"I know." Adrian managed to say these words as he stared at his shoes, not knowing what and when to do. "I'm really sorry. It is my fault that you both are suffering." James apologized for the thousandth time in that day. And for the thousandth time Adrian replied, "Don't beat yourself up. It's okay. We've seen worse. We'll make through this."
"Only if I had managed to kill my ex, you and Jennifer could have been together now." James was drowning in guilt. "Feelings suck. I know." Adrian could empathize with James. He would die a thousand deaths before laying a finger at Jennifer. How could he expect James to kill his ex, whom he still loved, in cold blood. It wasn't right. As much as, it was true that if James had managed to muster up enough courage to, at least injure her, Jennifer would have been safe.
"What about the book store?" James asked. "We guessed it right. She was there. The whole evening, she was under my watch." Adrian admitted to the only good thing about this wretched day. "At least your hard work of 7 months paid off." James sounded almost dead. " Mine and yours. It was you who decided to pursue that path. Right?" Adrian reminded James that this success wouldn't have been possible if James hadn't given the brilliant theory of similar interests.
"What about the party? Are you going to attend it?" The answer to this question demanded all the strength that Adrian had. "Yes." He gritted through his teeth. "I would like you to come as well." Adrian offered him this in hopes that James would cheer up. "I'll pass. I have an ex-girlfriend to kill." James looked up to meet Adrian's eyes.