Terrestrial Alien ✔

Chapter 45: A Pinstriped Mob Boss

M a g g i e

    "Ignore him. Just keep walking and don't look at him." I press Ying forward with a hand at her back, and she moves quickly, clutching her books to her chest.

    I glare at the man across the hall as we follow the flow of students out of the English classroom, and I continue to move briskly with Ying at my side. I try to put a good number of students and meters of hall between us, but even then, I know meeting him is inevitable now.

    Perkins leans against the wall across from the door to the English classroom, waiting patiently for the students to pour out. His arms are crossed, and he's dressed in a black pinstripe suit that makes him look exactly like a redheaded mob boss. If Scotland had mafia, he'd be all set.

(Does Scotland have mafia? No, don't get distracted, Maggie.)

His gaze has settled on the two of us, and I internally cringe. So much for hiding.

I see him lift an arm and flip his wrist, checking his shiny silver douche watch. Why, yes, Perkins. It is lunchtime. How observant of you.

"Has he seen us?" Ying whispers to me, pressed close on my other side.

"Yes. Keep going." I whisper back, ducking behind another student and directing her around the corner of the hall into the next.

Just as we get around it, I glance back one more time, hoping to find him looking for us with confusion. But no, his gaze is locked on us, and I get a snapshot of him pushing himself off the wall, stepping forward and making confused high schoolers part in his wake. Then Ying and I are hurrying down the hallway, passing lockers and more baffled high schoolers.

If we can find somewhere to hide, maybe we can avoid more of his questions. The girls bathroom worked last time—at least, until we had to go back to class. He staked out outside the rest of the day, and in the end, it was Ying and I who got in trouble for skipping class. It was a terrible day. We didn't even get to eat lunch.

"What does he want now?" Ying asks, already out of breath.

"I don't know." I look back to see if he's following us, and to my surprise, he isn't. "Huh." I mumble.

"What?" Ying asks, slowing to look back as well.

"We lost him. Whatd'ya know. Stupid bastard." I slow as well, grinning at Ying. "Come on, let's see if we can find Connor to get something to eat."

We've stopped eating in the lunchroom lately. Mostly to avoid being easy pickings for Perkins, but also to avoid the judgemental stares of Ying's friends. (Excuse me. Former friends.) So far it's been kind of fun finding a different place every day to eat.

"Sure," Ying says, and I catch a glimpse of the smallest of smiles from her. It makes me feel like the coolest person in the world, to earn one.

My dumb grin is still on my face when we turn another corner, and it's instantly knocked off as I run literally into a pinstriped chest.

"Fuck." I curse under my breath, stumbling backwards, and I immediately feel Ying's hands nervously grasping my arm, pulling me back away from our confronter.

Perkins looms in front of us, tall as Jack's beanstalk, and from way up there, he smiles curtly.

"Ladies," he says, adjusting the lapels of his suit that I rumpled.

Guess there's no room to run around the bush anymore.

"What do you want, Perkins." I scowl at him. "You already asked us questions. We've got nothing else to tell you."