Crow

Mysterious

Maria saw Adrian as soon as she approached the alley. He had his back resting against the wall of the old mansion and looked towards the streets of the town. He looked as if he had been waiting for her.

" Why would he be waiting for you" Maria reprimanded herself for thinking so foolishly. As she got closer to alley, Maria noticed that the young man seemed to be wearing the same, or similar clothing as the previous night. He also was, once again, barefoot which seemed to not bother him at the least.

Maria could see the young's man face more clearly this time, and she was surprised to see how beautiful his skin seem, a little to white, but beautiful. " He need to go out more during the day too" Maria thought, and then smiled, thinking that she was doing now what she disliked about other people, which was to criticize others based on their looks. Maria could not help it, he was the most handsome and mysterious looking guy she had ever seen. He had one of those "bad boy" vibes, with his dark hair that framed his pale face, a those dark eyes that seemed to absorb all details.

" Hi Maria," he said to her as she approached. Not knowing what to say, and feeling as if her last two brain cells were malfunctioning, Maria just waved her hand as a answer. " I had been waiting for you." Adrian stated, surprised her.

" You had? " She asked with an incredulous tone of voice.

" I have" he simply offered as he started to walk by her side.

" Why?" Maria asked him after a few moments, and realizing he was not offering any more explanation.

" I have seen that you always take this way home, so I was hopeful to see you on your way back home".

Maria didn't answer, but her mind was in a ruckus, having someone that she didn't really know telling her that he had been observing her with out her knowledge was a bit unnerving. She turned to look at the boy walking next to her, and found him looking at her with a sweet smile plastered all over his face. The unnerving thoughts disappeared in an instant.

"Let's take this way again," Adrian told Maria as the approached the cemetery gates and noticed that Maria pretended to take the longer route to her house. " I like the view better"

" You like the view of the cemetery better?" Maria asked incredulously, but still followed him.

" What's not to like, the trees, the paths, the nature, and the history of this twon written all over on those tombstones," he simply explained " way better looking than two old and decaying walls".

Well, Maria thought, he was right once again. The cemetery was so surrounded by nature that looked almost like park. If it were not for the tombstones that creeped Maria out, the cemetery would be a beautiful place.

" It still creeps me out" Maria defended her thoughts out loud. She looked as Adrian opened one of the gate doors just a bit, just with enough space to let both of them enter.

" Dead people don't do much but be death, it would be more logical to be scared of the lives ones"

" So, should I be scared of you then? " Maria asked, half teasing, half wanting to turn back and run away.

Adrian smiled, his handsome face illuminated with that smile. Maria had two thoughts at the same time, one was that the smiled looked cute on him, because of his handsome features. Two, was that if she would have seen that kind of smile on anybody else, on the type of situation they were in, it could have been interpreted as a creepy smile. Maria shook those thoughts out of her mind.

"It may be smart to be scared of me, after all, you don't know me." Adrian answered her with a non threatening tone of voice, as he continued to sweetly smiling at her " But, if it means anything, I mean you no harm. To be honest, I've seen you around town a few times. I try to keep to myself, but I couldn't stop myself from talking to you."

" Me? Why?" Maria asked surprised. She couldn't think of a reason why such a handsome guy would be interested on her, when there were much more beautiful girls around town. Her friend Luz being the first one to come to her mind.

"Why not?" He simply asked, then seeing Maria's incredulous expression he added "You are a beautiful girl, you know, and to that add that you seem to have a really honest and sweet personality. It irradiates from you. Anybody would want to get to know you better, to get an opportunity to be your friend, maybe something more..." he said the last few words with a quiet voice. So quiet that Maria wasn't even sure if she heard it, ir imagined it.

"Sweet and honest..." Maria said more to herself than to the mysterious guy that walked by her " I don't think I've ever heard anybody describing me with such words."

" Maybe it's just implied, they assume you know you are who you are... sweet and honest, and beautiful" He reminded her the 'beautiful' part. Maria blushed when she heard saying those words for a second time. She was glad that the sun had already set, and their surroundings started to feel with shadows. She was sure he could not see her blushed face anymore.

" Well, thank you, I guess."

Both of them walked the rest of the path that crossed the cemetery in silence, just enjoying each other's company. Maria noticed it was not an awkward silence. The soon arrived to the edge of the cemetery, Maria noticed that Adrian stopped walking. She smiled to herself, thinking that if she continued to see Adrian only in the alley and the cemetery, she would really start believing that she had been talking to a ghost.

" Walk with me to my house? " She asked unsure. Wishing with all her might that he would say yes. Part because she wanted to be accompanied by him longer, and part, even if it seemed silly, to prove to her mind that she was not talking to a ghost.

" Are you sure? " He asked with a timid smile. Maria nodded. " I don't want to cause you any problems" he added unsure. Maria noticed that his eyes drifted to the direction of her stepfather's car. Once again she blushed. This time feeling miserable, thinking that even a stranger, someone new in town, knew of her troubles with that man.

" It doesn't matter, we can go around and walk towards the tree by my window, I'll just climb it and go inside the house that way. He will not see us. " Maria explained to him, she didn't see her mother's car, which meant that she was still at the store. She didn't feel like dealing with her stepfather yet.

" Really?" He asked with a teasing smile, " you climbing a tree? That's something that I would like to see." He added and the started to follow her.

" How can you walk so comfortably like that? " She suddenly asked her companion, as she remembered that he was walking barefoot in a dirt road. He was probably stepping on sharp little rocks, but it didn't seem to bother him.

" I have walked barefoot for a long time," he explained while shrugging his shoulders in a non-caring manner " I am used to it"

"Why?" She asked curious.

"It's a bother to have to find shoes, take them off and them putting them on" he explained, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. His explanation confused Maria even more, everybody had to find shoes, put them on, take them off. To Maria, his explanation didn't make sense, but she decided to not push it. Maybe he had a reason he was embarrassed of, and she was making him uncomfortable.

"Maybe he is poor and doesn't have shoes?" Maria thought, she quickly glanced at him, trying to notice what kind of clothes he was wearing. Where those a poor person's clothes? Not really, his clothes seemed normal enough, no wholes, no rips, just a little bit of dirt. " Well we are here" She told Adrian when they arrived at the foot of the tree. Maria turned to say goodbye to her companion, she did not want Adrian to look at her while she climbed.

" Okay," Adrian answered with a smile, as he leaned into the tree, he knew Maria wanted him to leave before she started to climb, but he had no intention on leaving.

" Really? " She asked annoyed.

" Yes." He simply answered

" It's not fair that you stay down here and see me climbing" she protested.

" Is that your only problem? " He asked laughing, then with out skipping a beat he turned and started to climb the tree in a agile manner. " Then I'll climb it with you."

" Oh! Okay." Maria exclaimed in a shy manner, then started to climb after him.