THALIA

55. Creep

• WARREN RICO •

At what stage does somebody become a creep?

For instance... if someone told you that they couldn't stop staring at a girl who works in a cafe, would you call them creepy?

I've been to Seaside Coffee since I was a kid, so I wasn't expecting to be met with an absolute knock out of a girl.

I don't think I've ever seen a girl who's actually taken the oxygen out of my lungs. Who's stopped my train of thought. Who's made me... nervous. I'll never admit this though. Never.

(Actually... maybe to her if she smiles at me)

I live in a pretty secluded area, everyones pretty old money and let's just say... she didn't look like she was from around here. Thank god. I'm tired of meeting people, who feel like the same person, all the time.

And I'm fed up with surrounding myself with rich pricks who waltz about like they're on top of the world all because their daddies are rich.

Oh wait, that's me.

The beautiful girl really thought no one could tell she was ogling our table. But I don't think it was for the reason that the lads think it was. I think it was just out of blatant curiosity.

I stand up off of my chair, not bothering to give any of the guys an explanation, and waltz over to one of the stools in front of the counter.

I slide onto one of them and the girls eyes go wide.

"What's your name?" I ask her, getting straight to the point. Truth is, I need to know this girl.

"Why?" She replies, her shoulders stiff.

I roll my eyes, "don't act too excited about this."

She glared daggers into my soul, "excuse me, but how do I know you're not some creep?"

I shrug, "you don't, but live life on the edge. We're all gonna die at some point."

She smiles bitterly, "and I'd rather postpone it."

"Fair, then can you just trust that I'm not a creep?"

She shakes her head unapologetically, "hm, not really."

I tilt my head back, my girls a bit tricky. "Telling me your name won't kill you, babe."

"Well-"

I grab a napkin and throw it at her face, shutting her up.

"What was that for?"

"To shut you up. So what's your name?"

She huffs in defeat, "Thalia."

"Pretty." I announce without even thinking about it. It's worth it though because her cheeks tint red. "Aw, am I making you blush?" I taunt.

Now it's Thalias turn to grab a napkin and throw it at me. But I catch it, she wasn't exactly fast about the whole ordeal.

Thalia covers her face with her hands and mumbles a quipped "no."

I reach over the counter and wrap my hand around her wrist and tug it away from her face, "let me guess, it's hot in here."

She starts fanning herself, "yeah, someone must of turned up the thermostat."

I look over my shoulder towards the entrance of the cafe. It's clear that there a lot of rain out there. I turn back around to face Thalia. "Sure."

"You not gonna ask me what my name is?" I smile, tilting my head to the side.

She scrunches her nose, "nah, not interested."

"It's Warren."

She throws her arms up, "if I remember correctly, Warren, I didn't ask."

I swat my hand in the air, "sure but I know you were secretly desperate."

"Was not."

"Hm, sure."

Thalia redirects her attention from me to the table I just came from. "Your buddies are looking."

"And?" I ask, keeping my eyes locked on her and not turning around to look where she's looking.

"And they're probably thinking of a thousand different insults for when I go and give them their food."

I shrug, "let them, they're pricks."

She rolls her eyes, "it's not that easy."

"Sure it is."

"No, it's not. It might be hard for you to believe, golden boy, because everyone probably kisses your shoes."

I drown out everything she says except for the fact she called me golden boy. "Golden boy?"

Her cheeks tint red again, "dunno what you're on about."

I let out an amused laugh, "you keep telling yourself that."

A voice shouts from somewhere in the kitchen and Thalia disappears into somewhere behind a white door. I feel like I'm missing her already and we've only just met. Fuck me.

I decide that this is just temporary attraction so I head back to the table. Taking a seat, the guys instantly drown me with questions that aren't any of their business.

"Don't blame you, Rico, she's a stunner."
Darren, one of my "mates" says.

I ignore him and all the others and find myself waiting for my girl to appear back from behind the white door.

my girl - I'm down bad already.

Thalia appears and walks towards us with a big, black tray. I feel a small smile tug at my lips and I curse it away.

When she reaches our table she doesn't make eye contact with me once. If she wants to play hard to get, so be it.

She makes one more trip back into the kitchen and reappears with another full tray. Failing to meet my gaze, again.

The guys eat their food pretty fast and I practically drink my lemonade in one gulp so that I have an excuse to go talk to her.

I stand up and walk to the counter. She looks up and I see her shoulders tense. "What do you want to know now, my last name?"

I laugh, "not quite, but if you're offering..."

"I'm not," she says bluntly.

"Noted." I take a seat in the same bar stool and slide her my empty cup. "Could I please order another lemonade?"

She smiles bitterly, "of course, sir." She has a sickly sweet smile spread across her face.

My face features morph into a look of disgust. "Don't ever call me Sir again, ew."

"Sorry, sir." She taunts before swiping the glass of the table and disappearing behind the white doors again.

This girls trouble