"You know, you don't have to answer if you don't want to, take what I said earlier as a joke," Lucia said after devouring her food with unholy speed. Somehow, she managed not to look vulgar while doing it, but her voracious appetite was still a strange sight to behold.
Kath heard this and looked at the girl in front of her. Lucia seemed sincere, clearly more focused on enjoying what was left of her coffee now than extracting any response from the redhead.
Kath found it strange; the brunette was kinder to her than many in her hometown. She showed an interest in Katherine that no one else had besides her two most cherished people. At the same time, as soon as she realized she was making her uncomfortable, Lucia backed off without seeming resentful.
All this finally made Katherine make a decision. She let out a deep sigh before speaking; only when she felt her heart rate return to some semblance of normalcy did she find her voice again. "I wasn't doing anything special... sometimes I just like to walk around town to be alone with my thoughts."
Lucia observed Kath with an intrigued, raised eyebrow. She knew there was more behind the story, especially considering the exact place where she found the redhead, but she decided not to press further. "It's a good habit. Sometimes, I also like to pump some blood to clear my mind, although I prefer to do it in the mornings."
The atmosphere between them began to relax little by little as they continued eating and chatting. Lucia ended up eating Kath's portion without much shame since it had gotten cold while the redhead ordered something else.
During that time, Lucia shared some funny stories from her travels, about the places she had seen, people she had met, and also a worrying number of fights she had been in.
This made Kath let out some shy laughs, partly enjoying the conversation but also wondering how true some of the more exaggerated parts were.
As the night went on, the initial tension faded, and a genuine friendship seemed to take shape. Despite Katherine's naturally submissive and shy disposition, Lucia managed to make Kath genuinely enjoy the moment with her voice and magnetic charm.
Instead of encountering any exasperation or pressure due to her lack of communication skills, Katherine encountered comfortable silence where Lucia continued her dinner while giving the redhead encouraging looks. Instead of questions that constantly doubted her weirdness and any inconsistencies in her stories, Kath received smiles and small positive reinforcement phrases. Lucia encouraged her to tell more but subtly backed off when the redhead felt uncomfortable.
"Do you have something to do soon?" Lucia suddenly asked after looking at the watch on her left wrist.
Kath thought about her curfew and the trouble she would get into if she was caught coming back late again, especially if a certain person learned about her trip to the cemetery. The redhead felt a shiver run down her spine at the thought, but seeing Lucia's smile and feeling the interest shining in her eyes, Katherine went against her instincts and responded. "I should have some free time, but not too much, why do you ask?"
"I suddenly felt like having a good beer and those meat nachos on the menu. We could drink together and share the food." Lucia said with a look of satisfaction that gave her amber eyes an irresistible charm. However, it was hard to tell if she was happy about Kath's response or just eager to keep satisfying her appetite.
She tried to hide it; Katherine really did, but her face betrayed what she thought about the bottomless pit that Lucia's stomach was proving to be, even though the redhead could swear she didn't see a single gram of excess on the brunette's waist.
Kath finally responded by coming out of her thoughts and trying not to think too much about the mocking look Lucia was giving her. "The nachos sound good, but I'll have to say no to the beer, I'm still underage, at least for a couple more weeks."
If there had still been the slightest drop of coffee in her cup, Lucia probably would have spit it out in surprise at hearing the redhead. It was one thing for the girl to look young, but both her way of speaking and the air around her betrayed an experience that could only come with age, so it was unheard of for her to hear how young Kath was.
"Well, age or suffering." She thought, but looking closely at the girl across the table, Lucia dismissed that idea. "No one who has known true suffering could smile like that."
As for how that smile was making her feel? Lucia decided not to think about it. Well, she thought about it but immediately buried those feelings along with the strange tickling that caressed her insides. "It's not something you can afford, and you know it, Lucia." That was the only comment she even made internally about it.
Unfortunately, as they continued talking, each with their own runaway thoughts, a group of rather young people entered the pub. They looked like students, around Katherine's age, part of their identity made clear by the sports jackets some of them were wearing.
The mocking sound of their voices made Katherine freeze in place, leaving the waiter who would take her order very confused. Puzzled by the expression of discomfort and the paleness that had covered Kath's face, Lucia followed her gaze to the group that had just entered.
Katherine recognized them instantly; how could she not, when it was they who made a sport of mocking and intimidating her? At the front, emanating a blatant attitude of someone who believes himself the alpha of his pack, was Jonathan Blacktorn, captain of the high school rugby team and boyfriend of the prettiest cheerleader in school, Samantha.
Young Jonathan, with his tall, athletic physique, golden blond hair, and magazine-cover face, seemed to have won the genetic lottery. If it weren't for his crude arrogance, his blue eyes would certainly be considered beautiful. The guy wore and flaunted his captain's jacket as if he feared someone might not know who he was.
Samantha, the girl with brown hair and hazel eyes, wore clothes that were probably making her freeze, but she clearly didn't care. She wanted people to see her body and figure, just as she wanted everyone to know who her boyfriend was, which couldn't be clearer by how she clung to Jonathan like a koala to bamboo.
Behind Jonathan and Samantha were their other three friends. Two of them were equally athletic boys named Mikael and Sergio, who were also part of the rugby team. The group's last member could be none other than Samantha's best friend, Keila.
The reason why Katherine had paled at seeing them was not because of how popular the group of five was or how much they used to mess with her, no, in reality, they never went out of their way to intimidate her; it was as if it wasn't worth investing the time and effort.
The redhead seemed to have seen Satan himself because of the group's cruelest habit, which was making sure Katherine remembered her place as the town crazy and also making sure she never had friends.