By Chance (Accidentally In Luck #1)

9. Not Beautiful-Perfect - E

*E*

The last thing I was expecting on my so-called date was to run into Pip.

Turning away from Naomi after she called me a douche, I swung my sweatshirt on and pulled up the hood. It hadn't been cold today, but I had the feeling that I would need it tonight, so I'd brought it along with me. I was sure happy for my foresight now.

I didn't look back at Naomi and trudged forward, keeping my head down. There was a girl standing in the center of the sidewalk a little ways down and I briefly wondered how long she'd been there.

I moved to brush past her when she spoke. Actually, spoke doesn't do what she did justice. She practically threw the words at me, like she was disgusted with me. "You shouldn't be that rude."

I froze. "What?" I don't care if I was wearing a sweatshirt or not, people didn't talk to me that way and I wasn't quite sure how to react.

She squared her shoulders and repeated herself. "I said that you shouldn't be so rude, you jerk."

Now I looked at her, really looked at her. Everything about her was curiously familiar, even her voice, but I didn't recognize her. I had every feeling that I should know her, but everything about her seemed just a little bit off.

After a minute, I figured that if I didn't recognize her by now, I probably didn't know her at all and I told her to fuck off. I wasn't in the mood for more girls, especially not of the psychotic brand and I didn't want to stick around long enough to find out if she was one or not.

If I was expecting her to get mad and storm off in a huff, I was disappointed.

"Now see that's what I mean!" she exclaimed.

I looked at her again, curious to know why she looked and sounded so familiar if I didn't know her. I looked past the makeup and the dress and the hair and looked at the girl underneath. That's when it hit me. I'd only seen her twice before and she never looked anything like this before.

Pip.

That damn girl always managed to show up at every odd point in my life.

"What?" she said. "There might be little old ladies around who take great offense at words like that!" She paused for a breath. "Or! Or there could be small children and you'd be giving them a truly awful role model!"

I couldn't speak. I must've looked like an idiot, but here Pip was looking as beautiful as I'd ever seen her and that's saying something because I saw her in a bikini at the beach.

Her dress ended just above the knee and flared just enough to accent her hips. The top wrapped around her neck and hugged her curves snugly. The curls in her hair framed her face even better than the slight waves did.

I, Theo Archer, was starstruck.

As I stared, Pip lowered her gaze for a few seconds before returning her gaze to me.

"Sorry," she whispered. "Please don't kill me."

I realized that I still had my hood up and she probably had no idea who I was, and she was standing across from a 6'3" guy in the dark in downtown Los Angeles.

I pushed my hood back slowly, so I didn't make any sudden movements to scare her and she stared at me.

"Want to tell me why I want to kill you, Pip?" I asked.

She opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by a car door slamming and I remembered Naomi.

When I glanced back to look at her, she was gone. Disappeared into the limo, I was sure. I was proved right as it peeled away from the curb.