Chloe and Aria made their way across the packed café. As they neared, Aria sensed the tension between Jace and the pretty girl in front of him but Chloe seemed clueless.
"Hi! Hi! Hi! Is this our table? We are not late are we?" Chloe waved as she chattered. "Hi Jace. Hi Rose. This is Aria. We are in some of the same classes." Chloe introduced them as she knew everyone there. "Are you joining us Rose? Where is Ash? He must be here somewhere. He said he had already arrived, right Jace?" she craned her neck distractedly, busy looking for the handsome blond youth.
Jace had fallen silent.
Rose and Aria took an instant dislike to each other.
Rose's eyes narrowed as she took in the petite yet ruggedly dressed girl who had come with Chloe. Her jet black hair with blue highlights fell in perfect symmetry past her shoulders in soft waves. Black eyeliner enhanced her attractive dark brown eyes, highlighting them in a flawless pale face. Aria was clad in ripped jeans and a black oversized T-shirt that did nothing to hide her figure. Leather and paracord bracelets worked with metal beads flashed on her wrists. Rose noticed Aria had her eyes on Jace. Same classes? That meant that the goth girl was older than her.
"Hello, Rose." Aria smiled faintly extending her hand politely towards the younger girl, reacting to Chloe's bubbly introductions. Her hand stayed in the air for a few awkward seconds before she withdrew it. Her friendly expression faded turning to confusion then understanding. Her smile disappeared completely as her eyes hardened to match Rose's sour expression. Something clicked in her. Silent alarms blared in her head. If that was how she wanted to play it? No problem. Game on, Rose.
In that split second, Aria understood several things simultaneously. Call it a girl's intuition but she knew without a doubt that, one, Rose and Jace were in the middle of an argument. They had arrived at an inappropriate moment. Two, by the expressions on their faces, Rose and Jace had romantic history together but not anymore. And three, the carefully controlled blank mask on Jace's face told her that Rose had somehow hurt him.
The last fact triggered something in Aria bringing forth her maternal instinct forcefully. How dare anyone hurt Jace? How dare she? The sudden intense desire to protect him startled her momentarily. She had never felt like this before, ridiculously protective yet aggressive at the same time. She took a silent calming breath and sneaked a look at Jace her heart still beating wildly. What was he doing to her?
Aria mentally shifted to survival mode. This was going to be an all-out no holds barred girl fight. She knew girls like Rose, sweet pretty girls with a superiority complex who look down on 'weird unorthodox' girls like her. They evaluated people based on their physical appearance, dressing and style judging blindly before getting to know the person. She lifted her kohl-lined dark brown eyes to meet Rose's perfectly made-up hazel ones, She didn't like the way Rose had upset Jace. He had frozen in a tense posture. She didn't like the way Rose was eying her, assessing her like a piece of trash. She didn't like Rose, period.
"No, Chloe, Rose will not be joining us," Aria said firmly in a clear voice.
The two girls glared at each other defiantly until Jace stepped in between them cutting short their staring contest.
"Hey, cut it out you two," he said firmly.
Jace pulled out a chair and ushered Aria to it. "You can sit here Aria, Ash and Lorenzo will be back soon with the food." Jace turned back to Rose. She was glaring at Aria. That was supposed to be her chair.
"I think we are done here, Rose. Please go."
"We are not done ..." she said petulantly turning her attention back to Jace. Rose had noticed Aria had moved very close to Jace but was not actually touching him. So she knew him that well did she? That fact immediately increased Rose's dislike for the dark haired girl. The goth girl did not sit. Her aggressive stance made it very clear that she had no intention on backing down ... or listening to Jace.
YOU ARE READING
Orc Wars 2 : Lazarus
Fantasy~WARNING~ This book contains SPOILERS, please read 'Orc Wars : Uprising' first. Don't say I didn't warn you. The legendary assassin, Lazarus was dying, slowly, inevitably. There was nothing he could do except survive for as long as he possibly could...
