(Disclaimer: This story, plot, and its characters are all copyright and owned by me unless otherwise stated.)
Chapter 9
"So...explain this to me once more, Sir?" Haydren sat in his seat on the tram, fidgeting with his neck tie idly. Trying to learn how Ana had gotten it tied this morning.
"We're going to school." Ana said simply from her seat across from him.
"But why 'we'?" He let the words hold a small snip of anger. Letting it be perfectly clear that he was not happy with this arrangement.
Good, that makes two of us.
"Because," Ana began, already feeling frustrated with him. "I don't feel comfortable leaving you in the house all day with me not there."
"I am not going to burn your home down, Sir. I am perfectly capable of taking care of the house while you are at school." He gave her level eyes, trying to find a way to squirm out of having to go to school.
"I'm not really bothered if you burn the house down or not." She shrugged, leaning her temple against the vibrating tram window. "And don't call me Sir." Her eyes shut as she crossed her arms as if cold. Hoping her body posture would cue him to drop the subject.
"You're worried your brother might come home and find me in the house." He noted, his tone going pleasant as if they were talking about the weather.
Ana cut her eyes to him at that, narrowing them in concentration. Lydon would kill her if he found out about Haydren living there. She was really going to have to think of a convincing story for him, without lying to her brother, or giving Haydren's secret away. Then again her brother wouldn't exactly rat him out. No, best to just keep him in sight for now.
"You're also going because Johnson said I have to make sure you get some real world experience. And for normal people our age, school isa big chunk of thereal world." She turned her gaze to look around the tram car.
They had gotten onto a different car than she normally rode, after they had dropped the girls off at daycare. This car was full off people she had never seen before, or knew anything about. There were no familiar faces here to comfort her.
She let out a small sigh, glad to see she'd found a reason that had shot Haydren's questions down. He was going to go to school and like it.
As her eyes continued wandering the car in thought, they fell on a young couple on the lower section of the car. The woman was napping, her head resting on the shoulder of the man she was with. He, himself, was half dozing off as he read from the book in his hand. Les Miserables.
Ana smirked softly in thought as her imagination began to wander. Were they actors by chance? Had they met on the stage, in front of the audience and fallen in love? Were they dance partners for some play? Perhaps they were leads in some romantic play. She'd stolen his heart with her song and he had taken her breath away when he swept her off her feet.
Ana's smile had gone lazy, cat like as she was daydreaming. Her eyes never leaving the two, though she was clearly not focused on anything.
"You're staring."
She nearly jumped when the bubble of her thoughts was burst. "I am not." She blushed a soft rose color.
Haydren chuckled at her embarrassment. What had she been thinking, he wondered. Probably fawning over the boy down below. "You've been staring at those two for nearly five minutes." He noted.
"Have you been timing it?" She retorted and her tone came out nastier than she had intended it to.
"As a matter of fact, yes." He shot the response back at her. "3:46 seconds. That's how long you were staring."
She narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance then sat up in her seat, pulling down on the hem of her vest to straighten the green material.
"What were you staring at exactly?" He asked as he slouched down a bit, like a psychiatrist wanting to here what his patient had to say.
"None of your business." She rolled her eyes at him as she rested her elbow on her arm rest, her chin propping on the knuckles of her fist. Her eyes danced back to the couple and her heart ached a little. It really must be something to be in love like that.
He shrugged at her reply to his curiousness. Rude, girl. He thought as he turned his gaze to the window as the tram bumped along the tracks, turning slowly as he saw a dim reflection of a man approaching them.
He was a large male, wearing the same school uniform as the one Ana had made he himself wear today. Must be from the same school, he thought.
"Hey there, Ana." The brute leaned a massive forearm on the back of Ana's seat, right above her head. Silently, Haydren assessed him and his posture. He seemed confident, but cocky. Most likely an athlete of some kind. The stereotypical jock. And judging by Ana's current agitated state he was not a close friend.
"Good morning, Gary." Ana didn't look up at the behemoth that now stood next to her chair. The words she spoke were perfectly innocent by themselves, but her tone clearly showed her annoyance as well as a slight hint of venom that Haydren had only heard in some of the female criminals he had hunted in the past. He marked this frigid coldness mentally as he turned to watch this scene unfold silently.
"You call that a greeting?" The boy, Gary, mused then turned his attention to Haydren. His eyes narrowing in that male glint of possessiveness as he continued speaking. "Who's the faggot?"
Haydren let the remark slide, but his eyes went to slits in an answering glare. Letting Ana handle this for now, but his eyes were now dark behind his curtain of shaggy red locks. This Gary was asking for trouble.
Ana had realized this as well and she shook her head at her companion as if to tell him to stop. "He's my cousin, Gary. He's transferring in today." Her voice had dropped to a softer tone as she spun the lie easily. Haydren was impressed she could lie so easily. Not bad, for a civilian he thought.
"Well," Gary stood straight as if to let his height be known. Like a dominant wolf needing the higher gaze. "You just make sure he keeps himself in line. Wouldn't want him getting into trouble on the first day."
Haydren stood at that, hand behind his back and Ana knew instantly what it was resting on and waiting to pull. Haydren was not taking kindly to the threats this boy was giving them both. His posture was rigid as if he were hunting. Getting ready to kill something and Ana had a good idea who.
She stood quickly, putting a hand on Haydren's arm as the tram continued bumping along. She looked at Gary nervously, giving a small laugh that sounded almost embarrassed, school girlish. "Don't worry, Gary. I'll keep him from stepping on your toes." And with that she shoved Haydren out of their sitting area and towards the stairs to go down and get off the train car.
Haydren obligingly followed, though he was hesitant to leave the fight and Gary. The brute barely let him pass, but Ana grabbed his sleeve and led him around the obstacle and down the narrow stairs that led down to the main floor of the car and stopped midway.
The stairs were just barely wide enough to go up one at a time and winded down slightly to save room in the tram. The little space was completely incased in light metal. It took him only a second to really why she had stopped. Privacy.
"What were you thinking bringing a gun with you?" Ana's voice was low, but the whisper harsh as she looked up at him. Their height difference now clearly substantial with her standing two steps below him.
"I'm not a civilian, Sir. I have to carry it with me for my safety and your own."
Ana nearly growled at his reasoning, but shook it off. "No, when you're in school you are a civilian, Haydren, like it or not. Don't bring it again." She ran a hand through her hair. "God, you are going to end up getting me expelled or something worse."
Haydren's brow rose, but he said nothing in reply. Thinking that last bit was spoken only for herself to hear. Instead, he changed subject. "That boy Gary angers you."
"Nice observation there, Holmes."
Haydren merely stared down at her with blank eyes. Not getting the joke, but he understood the sarcasm in her bitter tone. She was just biting back her angry, he realized. She seemed furious under the surface.
"Why are you this angry, though?" He lowered his voice slightly, leaning his shoulder on the stairwell wall.
"Forget it. He's just a jerk, Haydren." She crossed her arms, uncomfortable standing her like this with him. Just as she made to turn and go down the stairs, however, a hand came to rest on the top of her head.
Ana blinked, looking up to Haydren. His hand patted her head once like one might do to comfort a small child. "I admit, he seems to not understand what the term gentleman means..." He began as his gave a light curl of his lips. A gentle smirk. His voice stayed low in a whisper and also with a hint of something else. Almost...caring. "Do not let him anger you so much, Ana..."
"Haydren..." She stared at him for a long moment then blinked as the tram came to stop.
"St. Mary's. St. Mary's. Please exit the--" The PA was droning on and Haydren offered her a small nod before nudging her down the steps and through the crowd that was pushing off the car.
Had he just used her actual name instead of "Sir"? Her thoughts were racing about in her head and her heart beat was thundering in her ears as she got off the tram, Haydren at her back.
