Mark arrived at the agreed place ahead of time. He sat down on a bench and nervously looked around. Moving his leg, he occasionally glanced at his watch, which indicated he was a few minutes late.
He was furious. He regretted agreeing to this at all, but hoped that Naomi would at least put him at ease.
Furthermore, he spotted her, even though she was wearing her usual clothes. Large, dark glasses were stuck on her nose, and her hair was hidden under a pink baseball cap. She walked briskly toward him, looking back sometimes, as if she preferred to make sure no one was following her.
She looked nervous.
- Why did you want to see me? - He asked as she stood by the bench and took her glasses off her nose.
- I need to ask you something. I want you to tell me the truth...
The brunet furrowed his eyebrows and put his hands together, nervously playing with his fingers.
- You promised to give me a break if I would rather not see you again. Were you telling the truth?
She looked disappointed, but nodded nonetheless.
- I'm keeping my word, and if that's what you decide, that's fine," she announced, sitting down next to him. Mark momentarily tensed up and moved away from her when she touched his leg with her knee. - This is important to me. I would like to know if there is a possibility that we have met before? The thing is, I know it's impossible, and I don't recall the moment when I first saw you, but I want to hear it from you.
- You talk as if you are crazy," he remarked emphatically, keeping his gaze on her face a moment longer. - We haven't met before. I may have seen you in advertisements or on posters, but the first time we met was in the store, when you wiped the glue off my uniform.
Naomi looked worried. She leaned her elbows on her knees and lowered her head.
- I must be crazy because I can't explain it any other way.
Mark didn't know what she was talking about, and when she unexpectedly lifted her face and looked into his eyes, he freaked out.
Maybe she was actually crazy?
- It is surprising that you clung to me, even though we are clearly different. Can you tell me: why?
- And can you explain to me how I might be crazy about you? - He saw an inscrutable glint in her eyes. - I can't stop thinking about you.
The boy was about to run away from there. She started to frighten him and when he wanted to get up from the bench, she grabbed his hand and held it by her side. She took his face in her hands and forcefully kissed him.
Mark opened his eyes wider, and the only thought that ran through his head was: this leech sucked on me!
The 18-year-old had never felt other lips on his mouth before, certainly not a young girl's. He was usually kissed by his aunts and sometimes by his mother when he was younger, but they were more watery and unsavory? This was entirely different from what he had experienced as a child, and he couldn't deny the pleasure.
Her lips were warm and at one point a pleasant shiver went through him. Although until now he had been unable to look at this girl, and she had aroused resentment, this moment changed something.
When she laid her head on his shoulder, he swallowed his saliva harder and felt his heart begin to beat harder. It felt so good that.... it finally scared him.
- Perverted woman! - he shouted, jumping off the bench. Naomi looked at him surprised, probably not the reaction she expected from him.
As he walked along the sidewalk, his legs tangled, and he would have fallen over several times on the straight road. He would have narrowly missed scoring a fall had the blonde woman not caught up with him. She grabbed his hand again and stood in front of him, blocking his passage.
- Tell me honestly: didn't you feel anything? - Breathing heavily, she fixed her large eyes on him, trying to read the truth from his face.
- Nothing," he lied, running his eyes away from her. He couldn't look her in the face.
- You can't lie, Mark," she declared, smiling under her breath. - I'm sure you don't want this to be our last date, and do you know why? Because our first meeting was not a mere coincidence. It was destiny. I'm sure of it, and I have justification for it. I think that in the near future we will be together.
*
Alex glanced at the building the girl ran into, and a loud sigh came out of his mouth. Twenty minutes had passed, and she still hadn't come out of there. He didn't know what he should think about it, but at some point he was overwhelmed with fear that perhaps she had felt bad and fainted in the cabin.
He preferred to make sure she was okay, so he got out of the car. Furthermore, he put a hood over his head and, with his head lowered, went inside. He carefully looked around the interior, looking for the bathroom. He spotted a sign, so he headed in that direction and went inside without a second thought, disregarding that it was a women-only room.
It was empty inside, so he opened all the cubicles until he finally found her. She was sitting on the floor, her hands resting on the restroom. She was pale and looked ill.
- One should know one's moderation in drinking. Apparently whiskey doesn't do you any good, girl," he declared, helping her to her feet. He led her to the sink and brushed her hair back as she rinsed her mouth with water.
She looked in the mirror and put her hands to her face, noticing how awful she looked. Moreover, she felt awful and dreamed of nothing but going home and going to bed.
- When I woke up, I didn't feel as awful as I do now.
- Whiskey is too heavy for you. Remember for the future not to drink that alcohol again.
He helped her walk to her car and before driving her home, he stopped at a drugstore on the way. He gave her the medicine, which she immediately took.
She had to admit that at that moment Alex was entirely different. Had she gotten to know his other, more human and emotional side? She was grateful to him for the help he gave her.
The neighborhood she lived in was not a place she was eager to tell her friends about, so she felt all the more embarrassed when the famous model drove her home. She noticed that he looked around, but from his face she couldn't read the reaction the neighborhood had on him.
Did he look more indifferent?
- After the medicine I bought you, you should feel better," he said when she got out of the car.
- Thank you and if you wait a while I will give you the money for it.
- I'm not the kind of guy who accepts money from a girl. If you want to repay me, just invite me next time for something sweet," he announced, winking at her. His attention was caught by neighbors who came out of their houses to look at who Samantha had come with.
The boy laughed under his breath.
- I'm going because in a moment they will burn a hole in my car. Their curiosity is so intense that it's starting to get embarrassing.
The eighteen-year-old nodded and opened the door. Before entering the house, she looked over her shoulder. The boy backed out the car and raised his hand, seeing that she was still watching him. She smiled and went inside as he drove away.
She might have expected to be caught up by her mother at the door, who started slapping her on the arm.
- Are you crazy, horrible girl! - she screamed, measuring her with a furious look. - You didn't even notify me that you wouldn't come back for the night! To a friend, you went? This girl seems to have changed sex!
- Mom... I feel bad. Let me lie down, and when I rest I'll explain everything to you.
- What do you want to explain to me? Where have you been all night? Who is the rich boy who drove you home!!!?
- My head is going to explode from all the shouting," she muttered, massaging her forehead.
The woman could not stand it and once again hit her daughter on the shoulder.
- You nasty girl! Do you know how worried I was about you? I thought something had happened to you!
- I am all right, mommy," she stated, patting her on the shoulder. - Well, maybe not quite healthy because I feel like I spit out all my insides, but the important thing is that I'm alive.
After these words, she headed to her room, dreaming of going to bed, but she knew that her mother would not give her peace for a long time.
*
Keeping his hands in the pockets of his pants, he directed his steps towards the house, kicking small pebbles with boredom.
Naomi surprised him. It was all so unexpected and strange; however, he could not deny that he did not like it. Even though he was eighteen and ashamed, it was only at this age that he experienced his first kiss.
She took away from him something so wonderful, what girls in movies usually called a nightmare, when they were kissed by a boy they were not in love with.
Except that Mark actually felt something, but couldn't admit it.
He pulled down his eyebrows when his attention was caught by Samantha. Pale as a corpse, she was sitting in front of her house, bending in all directions. She looked as if she were sick, and her lack of interest in her boyfriend confirmed that she was indeed unwell.
The brunet snorted under his breath, thinking that she deserved such suffering, since she wanted to spend the night in the company of people who were clearly different from her. He had no doubt that she had overindulged in alcohol, and this had led to her bad mood.
- I don't know if the air will help you recover faster, but you'll be more comfortable in bed," he spoke up, blinding her to the sun.
She pulled her nose and lifted her face to look at her neighbor.
- Mom makes me sit here until evening as punishment. She stated that I should suffer since I am thoughtless.
- Stupid," Mark corrected her. - You are stupid and you deserve it. Your mother should slap you down for what you put away.
- She would want me to sit at home like you and not have an entertaining life," she announced, puffing out her lips. - She would be happy if I were a bore who has no friends and knows no nightlife.
Mark felt offended by her words. Even though there was truth in it and an eighteen-year-old was different from today's youth, there was something in her words that hurt him. He would like to change. He dreamed of nothing more than having more self-confidence, being liked by his peers, and working weekends at a casual job. Furthermore, he wanted to earn money with which to relieve his tired mother, but so far, he was afraid to take on anything because he had low self-esteem. He believed that he would not meet the employer's requirements.
It boiled up inside him so much that he clamped his mouth shut and took his phone out of his pants pocket.
- Do you think I'm not fit for anything? That I won't manage in life and gain confidence? - He asked her in a raised tone, and his hand trembled. - Do you think you are better than I?
A grimace appeared on her face. Her neighbor was acting strangely, so she began to wonder if they had accidentally sprayed something in the air. First Alex, who surprised her with his protectiveness, and now Mark, who turned so red from anger that he looked like he was going to explode.
- Go home and have some herbal tea," she replied, taking in a breath of air.
Brunet dialed from his contacts the last number that called him today. Naomi answered after three signals.
- Hello? - In her voice he heard clear surprise.
- I want to see you. Now," he declared, glancing furiously at his neighbor. He gave the model the address, then hung up.
- Something possessed you? - The teenager wasn't trying to be funny, as her mood was not good today, but Mark's behavior was so strange that she began to wonder if an evil spirit had entered him at night.
He didn't answer. He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall of her house, awaiting the girl's arrival.
Samantha wrinkled her nose, out of the corner of her eye glancing at him as he looked at his watch.
- Are you feeling well? Your eyes are flying in all directions.
He ignored her because he was sick of her constant rants in which she humiliated him. She thought he was unfit for anything and would spend his whole life at his mom's side. He wanted to finally prove her wrong.
Twenty minutes had passed when the car pulled onto a rough road, and Naomi got out of it. She was dressed in the same outfit she had worn during their earlier meeting. She tentatively looked around, clearly shocked by the conditions under which the 18-year-old boy was living.
- You surprised me with your phone call. I thought it was our last meeting, but I won't deny it because I was happy.
Mark bit his lip and, shaking all over from the inside, approached the model. If she hadn't made a move before, then he wouldn't have dared, but he knew that she was interested in him, so it gave him confidence. He wanted to show his neighbor that he, too, was someone, not a gammon who can't manage in life.
He felt his heart go up to his throat as he walked towards her with a jaunty step. Furthermore, he was afraid to give up at the last moment, but when he glanced at his neighbor and saw the idiotic smile on her face, he couldn't give up.
Naomi looked confused. She stared at him with wide-open eyes, and when he grabbed her shoulders and leaned in to kiss her, she felt like she was stuck in a dream.
The teenager timidly mussed her lips, and although the kiss was very innocent, Samantha was so surprised that she fell off the bench from it all. She shook off her hands and raised her face to make sure it wasn't a prediction caused by alcohol poisoning.
- Mark! - she yelled, and the neighbors came out of their houses again to look at what interesting things were happening in the neighborhood. They were amazed at the sight they saw and gossiped feverishly among themselves, wondering who this rich girl was.
The boy moved away from the 20-year-old and felt that he had become breathless from all this.
- Did you want to prove to me that your earlier words were a lie? - A happy smile appeared on Naomi's face. She brushed her hair behind her ear and caught his hand. The boy blinked his eyelids, but did not react in any way. - I told you that our meeting was written in the stars.
Samantha walked up to them and pointed her finger at the model.
- Tell me, what did you do to him! Is this some kind of ritual? - She asked, squinting her eyes. - Did you cast a spell on him?
In response, she sent her a smile, with which she suggested that her questions were idiotic and she should shut her mouth.
- Do you think we should finish our date? - she turned to Mark. The boy was not ready for this step. The thought of spending extra time with her terrified him. He just wanted to prove to his neighbor that he wasn't the underdog she thought he was, but how could he give up now?
- Let's go," he replied, swallowing his saliva harder.
Samantha opened her eyes wide, making her look like a madman at that moment.
- Mrs. Anderson! - she hollered in the direction of the boy's house. - Mrs. Anderson! Something bad is happening to Mark! Everything indicates that he is possessed by Satan! - she added, watching the boy take the passenger seat.