My Artificial Love [ON HOLD]

Chapter 12

The living room was large, filled with plush seating and a large leather couch. A flat screen was on the opposite wall just above a table filled with pictures of Dallen, Nicole, another boy who looked much older than the two of them and his parents. The boy looked like an older version of Dallen and a replica of their dad.

Their mom, on the other hand, had striking blue eyes that stood out and dark hair which Nicole inherited. Her picture stroke an odd sense of familiarity in me. I knew her. I swore I knew her, but her name and how I knew her was just beyond my grasp, taunting me and giving me a sense of vertigo as I tried desperately to remember.

I shook my head and blinked a few times before turning to my left and finding Dallen standing on the other side of the coffee table with his eyes trained on me. He had a twisted, almost pained look on his face as his eyes met mine, almost as if he was waiting for something.

I furrowed my eyebrows and brushed my hair back, suddenly and inexplicably self-conscious. "What?" My voice came out cross and for a split second, I regretted it before his expression morphed into a scowl and I shook that away.

"Nothing." He snapped, flopping down onto the couch. I stared at him for a moment, unsure on whether I should leave before something terrible happens or if I should stay. His green eyes found mine again and he grimaced at me. "Come on, New Girl! We haven't got all day!"

I rolled my eyes at the nickname before taking a few steps and settling on the couch a few spaces away from him. Since he was obviously unprepared for this project, I pulled the rubric from my backpack and setting it on the couch in between us, my eyes skimming over the instructions.

A few moments of awkward silence passed before I swallowed loudly. Strangely, my heart was thudding against my ribcage a thousand miles per hour and I think it was from fear. Now I realized that dark, intense feeling I had gotten standing in his driveway, wasn't from his house. It was from him. He sat on the couch only a foot and a half away from me, his arms crossed and his eyes glaring at something across the room.

He just looked intense. And suddenly very intimidating. Now, of course I'm intimidated. I mean I'm in his house. But it scared me to think that I'd still feel extremely intimidated by him even if we were in my house.

I shook my head. Come on Adelaide. You've known him for two days and you've had plenty of fights with him. You can handle Dallen Cady. Nothing to be afraid of. Nothing to be afraid of.

And yet, when I opened my mouth to describe the project, it took me a moment to actually get anything out. I had to swallow a few times and lick my lips before continuing on course. I took a deep breath. "Okay." I gave myself a mental pat on the back for keeping my voice steady. "This is a very simple and easy project. If we do it all today, we won't have to do this-" I gestured to us on his couch. "-ever again."

Dallen snorted, rubbing his eyes as he sat up. "Whatever gets you out of my house fastest, I'm down for." He glanced down at my sheet. "What do we need for the project?"

"Uh...a bunch of chemicals I can't pronounce..." My eyes trailed the materials list. "Scissors, tape, a ruler, a beaker, and a test tube."

"Okay." Dallen cracked his knuckles. "We have everything but the chemicals. That can be purchased at our local drugstore."

I refrained from asking why they had test tubes and glanced up. "Alright. When are we going to do that?"

He snorted again. "We?" He laughed before shaking his head. "No...you, will be retrieving the ingredients we need for the project. There's a neighborhood convenient store four blocks down past the Rickety Oak and Harold St."