Graffiti

Chapter Thirteen:

Alex had, thankfully, gone to meet a supplier about getting some more spray paint. Meanwhile, I, now determined to get Spirit in here without quivering, was sneaking up on her. Her petite figure was staring across the lake, her hair blew in the breeze. 

She wore blue jeans that matched her light purple sweater and white boots that complimented her legs. She was amazing; much better than me by far, why hadn't Alex gone for her? In addition to the way she looked, Alex knew her and she was the most kindest person I'd met here. So thoughtful and considerate. 

Couldn't we swap places? My ratty black jeans and grey jacket made me feel vulnerable and I really didn't like the sensation of being out here, surrounded by guys who I didn't know. "Hey! Spirit!" I shouted, cowering behind the bench like she'd throw a brick at me or something for disturbing her peace. 

Instead, she turned around, saw me and grinned. "I was wondering when you'd show up again," she hollered back as she started towards me. 

"Not too soon, am I?" I asked, as I flashed her a grin and dragged her off towards Alex's cabin.

"Now, that depends on where you're taking me. Because it seems like we're going to Alex's place, and we've already discussed this. I'm not allowed in there when he-"

"Just shush," I reprimanded her. "I got him to change his mind. You're allowed in, but only you. No one else outside of the crew." I repeated Alex's words as Spirit stopped dead in her tracks - or rather, my tracks. 

"You got Alex to change his mind?" She asked, like I'd just told her that I'd grown four heads.

"Yeah...?" It came out more like a question than a statement, but that didn't matter because Spirit wasn't even listening to me. 

"No. You're kidding, right? No one changes Alex's mind, Hell, sometimes he doesn't even let himself change his mind. I'm sorry, but you can't be that much towards him, he's a stubborn prick, NO ONE CHANGES HIS MIND!" Spirit was getting frantic now. 

I rolled my eyes and shook her. Hard. "Will you chill out? I changed his mind, big whoop. You'll get used to it when he finds a girl to love," I said. That word...Love... sent shivers down my spine. I'd never believed in love, never wanted to really. What was love? Something that made you unresponsive when others needed you. 

Something that gave you a weakness. A reason to be left behind. A commitment, there were too many negative connotations of the word, and only a few positive ones. With that, I shoved - in a friendly way - Spirit into the cabin and set to work on telling her everything. Well, maybe not everything. 

***

Three hours later and I was a bundle of nerves. I didn't understand why I was feeling this way; I'd been on dates before, Hell, I'd even asked a guy on a date before. This should haven been normal to me, I should have been confident; but I wasn't. Alex hadn't arrived yet, and since I had no way of contacting him I'd just sat here.

Spirit had left half an hour ago, claiming that I needed to be left alone to 'get myself ready' which, to me, was stupid. It was a date. Nothing more, so that really didn't explain my nerves. Was it because I was going on a date with Alex? Because we'd already kissed, more than once, so to feel nervous was ridiculous. 

I was wearing my relatively new grey on shouldered shirt with a white skull on, some black denim jeans that were ripped at the bottom and flowered tights with Alex's black converse; I'd stolen them because they were nice and I wanted them. It wasn't like he was wearing them. 

I walked over to the door, opened it and breathed in the fresh air from around me. The cabins surrounded Alex's and I couldn't help but be reminded of  the Percy Jackson series. Just then, a sleek black limousine rolled around the corner, sending dust everywhere. 

"Dude," a short ginger boy said to another shirt blond guy beside him. "That's a limo," he said it like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. 

"Yeah. Way to point out the obvious," the other guy said. His voice was husky and it reminded me of Alex, I walked over to the boys and introduced myself. "Hey. I'm Luna. I was just wondering, do cars usually come here?" 

The both shook their heads and looked worried, their names, I found out, were Lucas - the ginger one - and Austin - the blond one. "So that's bad, right?" I guessed. 

Austin turned to me with flat eyes. "Well, obviously." Lucas's eyes widened and he searched my face and I swore his jaw dropped. He elbowed Austin in the side. "What?" Austin hissed. 

"Look at her," Lucas said, I then became worried, was there something on my face? Or was it just the way I was dressed? I knew it was too much. 

"What about-" He stopped, his eyes widened and he took a step back, which made him bump into Lucas. "s**t. It's her." 

"Alex will kill you if he found out you were talking to her that way!" Oh. It looked like word had got around that Alex and I were... how would I put it? We weren't together, but we were... friends? 

"Can you chill out, I won't tell Alex if you're that bothered," I said, rolling my eyes. All that time, we'd forgotten about the limousine. A throat was cleared behind me and then Alex's deep melodic voice filled my ears.

"Won't tell me what?" I turned around to see that he'd made an attempt at effort, like me. He wore black jeans, a white shirt and a black blazer. His hair was still crazy, but I liked fit that way. He wore ridiculous blue trainers that really didn't match the rest of his attire. 

"What's with the shoes?" I asked, attempting to blow off his question about Lucas and Austin and if they had any sense at all, they'd run while they still had the chance.

Alex looked down at his shoes. "I couldn't find my," he stopped, looked up at me and frowned. "Are they my shoes?" he asked.

"Absolutely not," I said as I grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the  limousine. "Let's go."

We arrived at a fancy restaurant, the walls were mainly glass, and the seats were high backed and satin. The thought of Alex being able to afford this was ridiculous, so unless he was a secret millionaire I had a feeling we were going to have run after we had eaten. 

I mean, he was a graffiti artist! Not some business owner. We took a seat at a far booth, the dark walls separating us from everyone else. The table had a blue cloth on it, with one candle flickering in the middle, and a set of plates with silverware beside them. 

"Well," I began. "This is very fancy." I was actually quite worried about the expense of the whole thing. 

"Only the best," he said with a s smug grin. "Plus, the owner owes me a few favours, so I get this place for free," he confessed. I blew out a breath that I didn't know I was holding, so we wouldn't be doing anything illegal, then.

We sat down, looked at the menu and ordered our meals. He ordered a steak pie, with gravy and vegetables. I ordered spaghetti bolognese, my favourite. Then, as we ate, we sat and enjoyed our date.