CHAPTER THREE

CRAIG

WHAT THE FUCK is she doing? Attic girl sits outside on the fucking lawn, throwing grass at the birds like a grade-A nutjob.

I was like a fucking stalker now, watching her from a distance, but she had really pissed me off. Her last comment, “I’ll write it down,” had been said with an invisible ‘fuck you.’ I swear, I saw laughter in her brown eyes. She wasn’t ugly like I’d expected, she wasn’t winning any awards either, but her genuine non-interest in me had really thrown me. That’s what had led me to standing at a window, watching her hating on birds. It was confirmed; I was in a crazy house.

“Why are you staring at Laura?” I tense, not at being caught, but at having to burn my eyes again by looking at Virgin Mary.

“Why are you following me?” I ask her, seeing her reflection in the window. The black, elbow-high gloves she’s sporting are freaking me out. “And what’s with the gloves?”

“You’re so rude, Craig.” Michelle stands in front of Virgin Mary like a tsunami fighter, protecting her young. Right now, I just want both of them to fuck off.

“Yeah,” I say as slow as possible, still looking at their reflections in the glass while watching Laura as she kept harassing the birds.

“You need to leave Laura alone.” This time I turn to Virgin Mary, as she peeks out from behind Big Bird.

“You both need to leave me alone.” I form a gun with my hand and place it right at my temple. “Okay?” I say before pulling the trigger.

I walk out into the garden, not caring that the freak show still watches me. Instead, I keep Laura in my sights. She looks tiny against the tree, and better at this angle. From the back.

“Why are you torturing the birds?” I ask and her whole body jerks. I can’t see her face, her hair falls again like a curtain. I’m seriously hard up to be out here talking to a girl who clearly has some serious fucking issues. I just pray she doesn’t start off-loading.

“Why are you following me?” her comeback once again throws me. I move around the tree so I’m facing her. Hunkering down, I look at her. Her lips move and when they stop, she pushes back her hair. Once again I’m thrown with how pretty she is. Now I don’t know what to say.

“Look, Craig, I’m really happy with our arrangement. I promise I will tell Olivia whatever story you want me to.” She rubs her hands repeatedly along the leg of her trousers as she speaks. Wow, she really doesn’t want to hang out with me. I’m fucking stumped.

“Is that a nice way of telling me to fuck off?” I ask and her cheeks pinken slightly. Her mouth falls open, but she closes it just as quick.

“I don’t own this garden. So you can go where you want.” She holds my gaze; she doesn’t even blink. If I’ve ever heard a fuck off, this is one. For a brief moment as I hold her stare, I feel like I’m looking at a different girl completely. Her anger gives her confidence. I grin at her and she quickly looks away, her eyelashes batting down against her cheeks.

“Yeah, you’re right.” I sit down. Her eyes widen as they flicker to me. She obviously wasn’t expecting me to stay. Leaning back on my arms, I try to ignore the damp grass. Laura still looks at me as I glance at her light black trousers. She must be wet from the ground, not from me. That was for sure.

“You’re staying?” she asks.

“Try not to come out of your skin with excitement, ok?” I look at her and she opens and closes her mouth.

“What’s your deal?” she settles on the same question I had asked her.

“I’ll write it down for you,” I tell her with a wink.