Patch had been patiently listening to me for over 30 minutes now. He'd been properly answering the questions I asked him, and making good and valid points.
He had made no jokes, no innuendos and no inappropriate comments. He was acting like, dare I say it, a perfect student.
I found this immensely strange and decided to call him on it.
"Ok Patch what is it?" I said placing my pencil down on the dining table.
Patch shot me a quizzical look albeit with a hint of a smirk.
"What's what?" he asked
"You! Why are you behaving so….well?"
Patch frowned and then gave me smile, his even white teeth showing between his full and pouty lips.
"Do you have a problem with my current behaviour?"
"No, it's just-"
"Because I do believe that yesterday you were complaining about how brash and forward I was and that mentally, you were probably referring to me as a repulsive jerk"
"Yes I was but-"
"When I act in one way you don't like it but when I act in the complete opposite you don't like that" He shrugged "It seems like I can't win with you Nora, can I?"
He looked at me with a slightly dejected and sad expression in his dark eyes.
I couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. Only slightly.
His sad expression immediately turned into confident one as Patch gave me another of one of his infamous grins and my brief feeling of guilt quickly turned into a feeling of disdain.
"I'm thirsty" I said "I'm going to get a glass of water, would you like anything?"
"Actually I would like quite a few things from you" Patch answered with a suggestive wink.
Ignoring him, I got up from my seat and walked to the kitchen sink. I pulled out a glass from the cupboard and filled it water from the tap. I drank from the glass with my back towards Patch. When I was done, I washed the glass, dried it and placed it back the cupboard above the sink. I turned around to return to my seat only to slam into something tall and hard. As I stumbled back into the sink, Patch caught me by the waist and drew me closer towards him.
"You should really look where you're going Nora" He said with an obvious hint of laughter in his voice.
"I can see where I'm going perfectly well thank you" I said, furiously pushing him away "What were you doing standing behind me like that anyway?"
"The tag of your sweater was out; I was merely putting back in"
Yeah, right I thought to myself.
I pushed passed him and went to sit back down, muttering to myself. Patch sat in the seat opposite me and leaned forward onto the table.
"You don't seem to like me, do you Nora?" He asked
"What gave it away?" I snarled sarcastically
"Why don't you like me?"
"How long have you got?"
Patch let out a low chuckle, which I hated to admit, sounded incredibly sexy. It sounded almost like a growl, one you would hear from a lion or a panther. It suited him perfectly.
"Is it all people with a Y chromosome that you hate…or just me?"
"Pardon?"
"You heard what I said"
Truth was I hadn't actually heard what he had said; I wasn't particularly paying much attention to the barrage of words which were coming out of him. Instead, I was to busy gazing dreamily at his perfectly formed mouth, wondering what it'd be like to meet my lips with his in a tender yet passionate kiss. Immediately, I mentally slapped myself for thinking such a thought. Kissing Patch? How grotesque!
"Thinking about me Nora?"
"You wish!"
I saw that Patch had another one of his smiles plastered onto his face. This smile, unlike the others, made me feel incredibly uneasy; it was as though he had heard my previous thoughts about him. Suddenly feeling flustered I tried to change the topic onto something less embarrassing.
"How did you find the homework coach set us?" I asked, playing with my notebook "I personally thought it was quite easy, did it in about half an ho-"
"You didn't answer my question Nora; do you have a problem with all guys, or just me?"
"Just you"
Patch let out another low laugh "I like my girls feisty"
"I'm not your girl"
"You will be soon enough"
I narrowed my eyes at him in what I hoped was a threatening and intimidating look. I knew it was highly unlikely that I was able to frighten Patch. I mean I doubted that a 5 feet 5 inches girl with pale skin and masses of red- I mean masses of brown hair – would conjure up the feeling of fear in most people, especially in Patch.
"You've got goose bumps on your arms Nora"
"What?"
"Goose bumps" Patch reached out over the table, and ran a finger across the exposed, goose pimpled skin on my arm. "Are you cold Nora?" He asked
I was far from cold. In fact at the contact of Patch's finger on my arm, my temperature had risen by at least 30 degrees.
"No" I answered
"I guess you're scared then"
"Excuse me?"
"People only get goose bumps if they're cold or scared. Since you're not cold, I assume you must be scared"
"I must be scared of what?"
Patch leaned forward, his voice no more than a hoarse whisper "Me"
I couldn't help but give a snort of laughter. He was ludicrous sometimes, absolutely insane.
"Me? Scared of you? Please!"
"You're not scared of me exactly…you're scared of the feelings you have for me"
"And what pray tell are these feelings that I'm supposed to have for you?" I asked mockingly, but I couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy at his upcoming answer.
"Feelings of lust…love" Patch leaned backed his chair and placed his hands behind his head, his pose was cool…confident. "You find me irresistible"
"In your dreams! I find you repulsive and incredibly foul!" I said avoiding his gaze. I was well aware that a red blush had started to appear on my neck, steadily rising upwards.
"Are you really sure about that? That cute blush starting to appear on your neck seems to tell me a different story. Are you thinking more inappropriate thoughts about me Nora?"
"No!" I was beginning to get angry. I wanted him to leave. Now.
"Look Patch, I would appreciate it if you kindly left my home"
"You would appreciate it, but I certainly wouldn't"
"Would you please leave?"
Patch said nothing but gave me a smile which clearly said: Make me
The feeling of uneasiness which I previously had had suddenly came back, but this time much worse.