Falling For The Playboy

The framed quote hung on the wall of the staircase.

Death was inevitable. Everyone was bound to die at some point, some sooner than others. But art never died. It lived on continuously from one generation to another and the other, gaining more fame and recognition in its immortality.

Take Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Salvador Dali etc. They were long dead, yet they were remembered for their arts. And they probably would always remain in our hearts.

And I guess that short quote was what pushed me into making a decision, there and then, that I was going to become a published author one day. Even if it was the only thing I did.

I stopped abruptly when I saw a shadow looming at the foot of the stairs. The head lifted and I sighed out in relief when I saw that it was Dexter. Why had I been alarmed when I saw the person standing there? Perhaps I had thought it was Zoe? That was totally ridiculous of me because she didn’t have a violent bone in her body. But her words…

Words did more damage.

His eyes landed on me. “Finally. ”

“Finally? ” I echoed dumbly.

“I’ve been waiting for you. ”

What for?

He took two steps up towards me and I took one back. My heart slammed against my rib cage.

“Why? ” I gasped.

He stared at a spot over my shoulder, “For two whole years that I’ve dated Zoe, I’ve never seen her cry. Not once. She’s the strongest, most untouched person I know. ” he glanced at me, “But somehow, you made her cry. ”

Zoe cried? Jesus.

He smiled all of a sudden. A sadistic, creepy smile that gave me chills, “Do you know what I’m going to do to you? ”

A mad light entered his eyes and somehow, I knew he wasn’t human anymore.

This was wrong. So bloody wrong.

He pounced on me but I jumped out of the way before he could catch me, dashing up the stairs. It was hard running up the tiled floors since I wasn’t so accustomed to them yet, but adrenaline fueled me and I found myself on the second floor in no time.

I pulled the first door I found in the hallway open and dived in. I fell back against the door, closing my eyes as I tried to calm my erratic heartbeat.

Please, God, don’t let him catch me.

If he did, I was dead. I mean, I didn’t know what he intended to do to me. And I didn’t want to find out.

Hesitantly, my eyes fluttered open. I tried to take in the dark room but I couldn’t because it was, well, dark. Until the lights flickered, then came on.

“Rainbow! ” the guy, who apparently, had been in the room before I came in, exclaimed, “You go to school here? ”

My eyes bugged out. I rushed over to him, stretching to clamp my hand over his mouth. It was too late to pull back, however, when I felt his teeth digging into my flesh.

“Ow. ” I cried out, momentarily forgetting that I was hiding from a madman, my mouth dropping open in surprise and confusion.

“Don’t do that again. ” his eyes narrowed, but there were no heat in his words.

“You….. bit me? ” I shook my hand out, trying to ignore the sheen of saliva coating my palm.

“I will if you do it again. ” he said, not in the slightest bit apologetic.

“I won’t. Just shhhh. ”

He cocked his head, glanced at the door, then at me, “Mind telling me what’s going on? ”

“I do. ”

“Why? ”

“Because it’s not your business. ” I shot back.

I didn’t know what it was about him that made me talk back, but I liked it. Like how I’d forgotten myself with him in the boutique bathroom. It made me feel… normal.

“You know, ” he mused in Thinker Pose, “I could easily just push you out there, right into the arms of the person you’re hiding from, right? ”

My breath faltered. “Please don’t. ”

He smiled and his dimples showcased, successfully making everything within four feet of him fade away, “Relax. I was just saying. ”

My heart now beat at its normal pace as my fear subsided. Did Zoe know the kind of person she was dating? No. No, she didn’t.

The Dexter I saw with Zoe had been nice, calm and loving. Soft, even. So where had this evil version come from?

“Do you remember me? ” the simple question said in his low voice caught me off guard.

I nodded, “From the boutique. ”

He smiled again and it was then I knew why talking to him was so easy. He was free, quick with smiles and had that down-to-earth vibe.

“Why do we meet like this? ” he voiced out my thought.

I shrugged, “I don’t know. I should be asking you. ” I glanced around the cluttered room curiously, “What are you doing in here anyway? ”

He took several steps inside the room, flipped a bucket over, sat on it, then proceeded to stare at me like a creep, ignoring my question.

Him, fixing his gaze on me like that -I wasn’t even sure he was blinking- was disturbing, but for some reason, it didn’t grate as much as it should have. I didn’t feel the urge to hide behind a wall, neither did I want the grounds to open up and swallow me. Instead, I found myself wondering how I looked. If my uniform looked good on me and what his opinion on my eyes were. And that was even more disturbing.

“Stop staring. It’s rude. ” I threw his words from when we first met back at him.

I caught the glint in his eyes that told me he knew. “It’s not if the other person’s staring back. ”

I rolled my eyes. Such a hypocrite. “I’m pretty sure you were staring back that day, too. ” then I amended, “Not that I had been staring though. ”

“I was. ” he blurted, and my breath caught, “And you were. ”

There was something hot about him not denying. It had me feeling a certain type of way. I couldn’t look at him anymore.

“How come we both go to school here but have never seen each other before today? ”

I shrugged, refraining from mentioning that I was new.

“It doesn’t make sense. ”

Jesus. Did he ever shut up?