I start to sweat and it isn't because of the heat. I don't want to be alone with him at all. He makes me nervous! I look at my aunt who is smiling at Levi.
"Go on, Emery." Alice insists, her eyes widening a little. Inside, I am furious.
She promised not to leave me alone because of what happened last night. Now she is sending me off with this thug.
I stand and follow Levi. He is heading towards the maze again. I turn in surprise at Alice and Sandy. They are both giggling about something. My heart races as I hesitantly walk behind him. He turns and grins at me.
How am I being led to the same place? The place that will haunt me for days to come and Levi knows this.
He walks casually into the maze, his hands in his pockets. I continue to follow carefully watching him from behind.
I do NOT want to be here! This is beyond awkward and the tension is so thick between us. It's apparent that we don't want to be near one another also. I see through that ingenuine smile of his.
After several turns through the maze, we make it to the garden. Levi walks to the fountain and crosses his arms. He looks pensive at the angel statue. I take a shaky breath and walk towards the shady bench, sitting down and looking up at the blue sky. Not a cloud in sight.
It feels so good sitting in this spot. A nice break from the horrible, scorching sun. Why anyone wants to be out here when it isn't necessary is beyond me.
I exhale and smile to myself when I feel an odd, calming feeling. I look up at Levi. He is staring at me intently.
My brows furrow as I look away. What a creep!
"Fancy a dip?" He smirks at me, splashing the water my direction.
I chuckle wryly as I sit back on the bench, looking at the emerald green grass. Wow, this place is truly a marvel. "Please don't talk to me! I don't want to be anywhere near you. I'm sure you feel the same way." I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Well, that's rude," he says unamused, taking a seat on the edge of the fountain. He faces me and bends forward.
My blood begins to boil. "Rude?! Were you not rude when you stood behind me and scared me? Were you not rude when you didn't help me out of the fountain?"
Levi tilts his head slightly and mulls over my words. "Why would I be nice to an infiltrator? How you even got in here is a mystery itself." He looks away.
He makes no sense. Is there a gate that I jumped over to get in here? What mystery is he talking about? Every second I am near this man, I feel like I want to drown him. "Infiltrator?! Do we live in the eighteen hundreds Russia or something?!"
Levi looks back at me, biting the inside of his mouth. He conveys no emotion at all.
"No. I suppose we don't." He sighs and stands, pulling out his cell phone.
I also stand. Only because something catches my eye. I take a step forward.
There are a bunch of butterflies flying around the angel statue. My mouth opens in awe. Where they here the entire time?
There are so many of them. Different types of colors and sizes. They all circle the golden statue and slowly begin landing all around it. It was then that I get a good look at the statue.
The angel had huge, closed wings and its holding a sword. The tip of the blade is near its feet. The angel's hands are resting on the handle. The statue is gold and the sword was black.
Levi follows my gaze and turns. He put his hands in his pockets and stands next to me. "Do you see it? The Seraphim."
"See what? The statue?" Of course! I'm not blind.
"Seraphim. A guardian angel if you will. They protect the edge and boundary."
I look at him confused. "Don't those two words mean the same?"
Levi put his hand up and a big, yellow butterfly flies around him and lands on his pointer finger. He brings his hand closer to his face, examining his new friend. He smiles and the butterfly flies back to the statue.
"The boundary is the place between earth and hell. The edge is the place between earth and heaven." His gaze follows the butterfly that is now circling me.
"I didn't know heaven and hell had security checkpoints," I chuckle wryly as I shake my head and cross my arms. I know little of the bible but I never heard of that. It sounds ridiculous.
"It's a story I've heard. I guess." Levi takes his sunglasses off. He looks over at me.
I am uncomfortable but this man is seriously gorgeous. Being this good looking has to be a crime. My mouth dries up and goes slack. I forgot about him being a creep and look right into his beautiful blue eyes.
Levi rakes his hair and I see a strand of blonde hair on the front of his head. So weird. Is this a new trend now?
"So what do you do for a living, Miss Summer?" Levi asks, breaking me out of my reverie and I notice he is extremely close.
"Uh, what? Sorry." I clear my throat and look away from him, sitting down on the fountain edge. How embarrassing! I hope he didn't notice me gawking at him.
"Do you work?" He asks, looking down at his phone again.
"Yes. At the farm. I manage everything. Well until the end of the summer. I plan on going back to school."
I am definitely rambling. I'm sure he doesn't care about anything I just said. A simple yes or no would've sufficed.
"Does it bring you joy?" Levi looks down at me. His brows furrow. "Working with your family? Never having to leave your home in order to work." He sits next to me on the bench. I stiffen.
"No. Yes! Yes, it makes me happy! And there is always so much to do that I forget where I am half of the time. I personally find it relaxing." I shrug as I relax a bit.
Levi puts his phone away and rubs his hands together. "Riveting! Working with animals is soothing? I highly doubt that." He chuckles wryly, crossing his legs.
I turn in disgust. Who the hell does he think he is? I stand and face him. I am livid. "Of course you think that! You are a spoiled brat who has mommy and daddy doing everything. The hardest thing you've ever done is probably swipe a credit card. I'm sure you've never worked hard in your entire existence."
He chortles and stands. "Words can cut deeper than a knife, Miss Summer."
Why did he put emphasis on the word miss?
"Stop saying my name like that! It's annoying! You're annoying!" I walk away and head for the opening to the shrubbery. I detest being anywhere near Levi and wouldn't want to be with him for another second.
"My apologies, Miss Summers! Contrary to your beliefs, I was brought up with manners!" Levi shouts behind me. I don't bother to turn around.
"I can't believe I fell for this," I whisper out loud. "The nerve of him. Insulting me?! He doesn't even know me." I am so mad I completely forget how to get back. I throw my hands up and suck my teeth when I keep hitting dead ends.
I turn around and go back the way I came. I hit another dead end. I yell in frustration! At this rate, I'll never get out!