Chapter 5
Trence's POV
"Here we are. Good old Mace's!" I said with a grin. Taileen looked at me with an 'are you kidding me?' look and rolled her eyes. "Let's just go."
I chuckled and followed her in.
Once we came inside, a girl wearing a yellow maid costume greeted us.
"GOOD EVEN---"
'Wait.'
"Tailee! Oh my gosh!"
"Rin!" Taileen happily said.
Rin walked towards us and hugged Taileen. "You work here?" I said in surprise.
Rin giggled and placed one finger on her lips. "Hush it! We don't want teachers to find out about my new job."
"Is this why Jack wanted us to eat here?" I muttered.
"Nevermind that! Go sit down!" She said.
We sat somewhere near the windows, with Taileen sitting across me. "So, what do you lovebirds want?" She said teasingly. "I didn't hear you guys were friends already."
"Jones is just treating me 'cause I made him pass Arts class," Taileen muttered. "And we are NOT lovebirds."
I laughed a little. "Aww, I thought we were lovebirds already?" I joked.
Rin laughed a little. "Stop flirting! So? What do you guys want?"
"I just want the usual," Taileen said with a suspicious smile.
"What's 'the usual'?" I asked them in curiosity. Rin immediately grinned, "It's the same thing Tailee orders whenever I work in a fast-food restaurant!"
"And that is?"
"It's the Tailee Special! It consists of a special sundae, XXL fries, and cheeseburger with plenty of cheese!" Rin said with a VERY worrying grin.
"Is that even legal?" I said with a sigh.
"Long as a witch doesn't snitch then things won't be too illegal," Taileen smirked at me, which sent chills down my spine. "Oh, yeah...can I have a Tailee Special too?" I said, my voice trailing off.
"Sure! I'll be right back with your orders." Rin said, going back to her professional waitress mode.
As soon as the orders arrived, we ate in peace and quiet. The whole time though, I felt like I was committing a crime. It was delicious so I didn't mind it that much.
As we were eating, I glanced at Taileen, who was happily eating her sundae. I chuckled a little, which made her look at me.
"What now?" She snarkily said.
I rested my cheek on my palm as I said;
"Nothing, I just thought you were cute."
~
Taileen's POV
~
'Just thought?'
'Ugh, what am I thinking of? It's not like I care about what that NCS thinks of me.
Like, he can think of me like a tiger, or a clown, or a
princess, or something...'
"Whatever! Stop talking nonsense, stupid NCS." I rolled my eyes and took a piece of fry.
He only laughed at me, making me redden up a bit. "Why are you laughing, huh? Do you want me to shove this fry down your throat?"
"You're really adorable, you know that, right?"
"If you think I'll fall for your flirty act, no." I looked away.
"Oh really now, little Tsuny?"
I averted my attention to him. "Tsuny? What the heck? You're a walking cheese bar."
"If you aren't aware of it, then I'll tell it right at your face; you're adorable."
He stood up after eating and so did I.
"I'm gonna punch you if you keep speaking nonsense!"
"It's actually unique, but in a cute way." He smiled; a genuine smile.
"S - Shut up!"
With a swift swing of my arm, I punched him, making him collapse to the floor. "N - C - S!" I yelled,
'What's with him?!' I thought as I stormed off.
~
Trence's POV
~
I was still groaning in pain on the ground when Taileen turned around, red as a tomato, and left me.
One of the worried personnel went to me, handing me a pack of ice as they asked where the pain was. But I was so amused as to why Taileen was blushing so hard, so I told her I was fine, but I took the ice with me and placed it on my face.
I stood up and went to Taileen.
"Hey, Taileen! Taileeeeen!" I called her.
She stopped walking with her fists clenched and turned to look at me. "What the hell is your problem, freaking bean sprout?!"
'Bean sprout?' "New nickname, huh?" I told her, amused.
"I'll give you as many nicknames you want, just screw off!"
When she turned around and stormed off, I followed by her. "Hey Tai---"
I didn't notice that Taileen was standing across a group of three gangsters.
"What's your problem, you goon?" Taileen said with a scowl.
"You see, we were walking peacefully when you bumped onto us. You made me drop my beer, yanno?"
"I missed the part where that's my problem." Taileen sarcastically said with a smile.
"Oh y --- Oh! Is that your friend over there?"
Taileen turned and saw me, who was just standing a few meters away. Her face hinted worry, which confused me at first.
I heard her curse under her breath before taking something out of her pocket. When she swung it down, it grew long.
'The baton!' I thought in an odd delight, which was likely the same as meeting an old friend.
"Look at that! The cute girl has a stick!" The obviously drunk gangster said and pointed Taileen's katana.
"It's an expandable baton, idiot," Taileen said and rolled her eyes.
"Woah, feisty!" The gangster with a lot of golden accessories exclaimed, amused as I am.
But scared as heck.
"You know what, girl? Just leave the boy and come with us, we'll only have fun!" The old gangster said. The drunk gangster held Taileen's arm, which in some way irritated me, though I don't have the slightest idea why.
"And you, boy, just leave this girl alone. You two don't look good together, anyway!" The guy laughed his ass off, making me agitated.
Taileen hardened her grip. She backed away and suddenly swung the baton on the hip of the drunk gangster.
The guy with...bling-blings, to put simply, charged and tried to hit Taileen, making me shout, but she dodged and kicked the guy with bling-blings on his leg, making him drop on his knees and lay down while groaning in pain.
She suddenly looked at the old gangster. He was in his 50s, I guess.
He slowly walks back, and Taileen comes closer.
He's obviously frightened because he didn't notice he was walking backward and towards the wall.
He fell to his ass, and Taileen pointed her baton on him.
"Don't show yourself and your goons to me again." She said seriously, making the gangster nod frantically. She turned her back on him and went to me.
The way she said it didn't look arrogant or cocky at all. It actually looked so cool and threatening.
"They didn't touch you, right?" She asked.
I shook my head no.
I couldn't speak...likely because I was embarrassed that I didn't do anything.
----
While we were walking home (Taileen still held her baton, but it was on her shoulder, as of now), I knew that I should say thank you. But I didn't say it.
"B---By the way, what I did earlier to those goons, i---it wasn't for you, a---at all. T---They just bumped me first, t---that's all!!" She told me, though wasn't looking at me at all.
I chuckled silently. "Thanks anyway."
She looked at me. "L---Like I said, it wasn't for you--"
"Though it 'wasn't for me', the fact that you saved my ass is something to say thank you for. I was too scared to do anything...I'm sorry about that," I said shyly. She pouted and looked away.
"Plus, you looked awesome there, watching it was like watching an action movie for free." I reasoned out, embarrassed over being too sappy.
When I reached my house (which was surprisingly close to hers), she whispered just one word in reply;
"Idiot."
----