Annie POV

He grabbed my hand, walking me down the commission hall.

I shook it loose. 'Who even are you?'

We stopped. He smirked at me as we stood there in the middle of the hall.

'Somebody you wanna' know.'

I tilted my head a bit. 'Confident, are we?'

He shrugged. 'I consider confidence a virtue.'

I folded my arms as we stood there, forced to look into those deep brown eyes.

'Well?'

'Well?'

'Where are you taking me?', I asked, frustrated, yet unable to convincingly act upset because of how enchanted I was by this boy's face.

'Lunch.', he said. 'You heard her.'. He looked me up and down. 'But we're getting you changed into something else, first.'

I looked down at myself, grabbing my baggy hoody. Converse, ripped jeans, big hoodie. What was wrong with this?

'What's wrong with this?'

He stared at me for a second.

'It's a bit grungy.'

'Grungy?'

'Maybe that's not the word.' He thought for a moment. 'Slouchy, that's the word.'

I laughed, a little bit offended. I examined what he wore quickly.

'And you look like a goth frat-boy.', I said, looking at his black khaki, black polo with a black sweater tied around the shoulders. 'Like black much?'

He smirked.

'It's clean.', he said, stepping forward. 'Mysterious.'

'It's depressing.', I said. I sounded like Joan. I actually liked black, but I was trying really hard to insult this beauty back.

He smiled, then grabbed my hand again smoothly, leading me away down the hall. I didn't shake it away this time. He had smooth, big hands.

'Here.' He said, stopping me in front of a certain door. 'Wait here in your grungy getup.'

I shook my head. 'Don't you have anything better to do than drag me around an insult me?'

'Oh, plenty of things.', he said, putting his hands on his hips. 'But I'm being forced to escort you around.'

'Oh, I apologize for such an inconvenience.', I said, sarcastically.

'Thank you. It's really very draining.', he said, giving the sarcasm back, placing his hand on his chest. I folded my arms once more as he walked across the room, digging through drawers to find something.

'Don't you have a girlfriend to annoy, or something?', I asked, assuming.

He looked up from his task.

'No.', he said, smiling shyly. 'I don't have a girlfriend.'

'Oh.', I said, almost embarrassed at having made that assumption. 'Well I can see why not.', I said, finally finding some weak way to insult him back, but he only laughed.

He went back to his task, and I felt my cheeks blush red.

'Ah!', he said, dangling a ring of keys. 'Found 'em.'

'Found what?', I asked, not understanding.

He put the keys into a lock in the door behind him, and opened it up.

'I'll be back.'

'Where are you going?', I said, but he was already gone into the room.

I stood in the room by myself, a hum of a computer system which lit up the wall to my right, with a posh looking set of white leather furniture arranged in a circle to my left. It was silent for a long while, and I stepped into the doorway.

He stopped me as I almost started to walk in.

'Gotcha.', he said, smiling, holding a bundle of clothes in his hands. 'Remember the rules.'

'Which are?'

He closed the door behind him, locking it back. 'No going places without me.'

'But you were in there...'

'Oh, but was I?'

'Yes?'

He smirked, shrugging. Holding out his hands, he offered the pile of clothes to me.

'Put these on.'

I took them from him, looking up.

'Go on.'

I looked around the room.

'With you in here?', I asked, nearly blushing again.

'I won't look.', he said, smiling slyly.

I was red, I just knew it. It was a really good thing it was dark in this room.

I took the pile of clothes off into the corner of the room, sheepishly beginning to take off my shoes and pants.

'Stay turned around.', I shouted from across the large room. I tried to change quickly. I took off my sweatshirt next.

'I'm not looking.'

'Good. Stay that way.'

I put on the shirt he gave me. A long sleeve black shirt, with ruffles around the neck. Ugly. Why?

'Still turned around?', I said, as I turned to face the room again after pulling the shirt over my head.

He was staring right at me, arms folded, smirking.

'Nice care bear panties.'

I covered myself up, nearly screaming.

'I told you to stay turned around, you dipstick!'

He threw his hands up like he was innocent.

'This is a small room, Annie.'

'This is a freaking ginourmous room, you pervert.', I said, flustered. 'Turn around and let me get my pants on.'

Black ripped jeans. At least he got something I liked. Shoes were next. Black heels. What was this, some sort of spy corporation?

He approached me as I finished dressing, grabbing my hand, examining. I protested, flinching away.

'Chill out.', he said, laughing smoothly. 'Why are you so up tight?'

'Maybe because you're a gross little jerk, and I'm stuck in here with you and I really would rather stick three forks into a toaster and let it fry me to death.'

He closed his eyes, laughing once. 'Ouch.'

'Let me see your hands.'

'Why?', I protested. But he grabbed my hands, turning the palms up, tracing my tattoos with one of his fingers.

'Hello, goodbye.', he said, under his breath. 'What's this for?'

'My dad has the same ones.', I said, pulling my hands away from him.

'Alright, so why's your dad have them?'

I thought for just a second, and then huffed. 'You know, you ask a lot of questions.'

'Knowledge is a virtue.'

'Everything is a virtue in your mind.'

'Can you just tell me what the freaking tattoos mean?', he said, shaking his head and smiling in frustration. He hadn't made a face yet that wasn't absolutely breath-takingly gorgeous.

I huffed again. 'My dad and I, we can commune with the dead.', I said, looking him in the eyes. He didn't respond. 'You know, like spirits and stuff? Ghosts?'

'I already knew that, Annie.'

'Then why'd you ask?'

'Clarification.', he said, straightening his collar. 'So it's a Ouija board type thing?'

'Yeah, I guess.'

His eyebrows questioned me. In this moment, he looked so much like Diego that it was terrifying.

'You know, you're a whole lot like your dad.'

He paused, his face growing colder.

'My dad?'

'Yeah, Diego?', I said, expecting him to know. 'You don't-'

'You know my dad?'

'How could you not know that I knew your dad?'

He looked down at the ground. 'Mom told me he died when I was a baby.'

'Well, she flat lied to you.', I said, no sympathy in my voice. 'Sorry.'

He bit his lip, looking up. 'What's he like?'

'Sarcastic.', I said, smiling. 'Ambitious. Kind of a jerk. Basically you.'

'And does he have a warm, sensitive, soft side? Like me?'

I laughed at that. He rested his hand on his heart.

'What?', he said, laughing, questioning me.

'I'm not seeing that bit yet.', I said, scoffing.

He smoothly lifted a hand to my ear, tucking a lock of hair behind it, then taking his hand down and smiling warmly.

'Maybe you will.'

'I have a boyfriend.'

'Yeah, I know.'

I scoffed. 'Then stop coming at me like this!'

He put his hand on my shoulder. 'You think I couldn't steal your heart if I wanted?'

I aggressively brushed the hand off.

'I think you won't be given the chance to, buckaroo.'

He smiled. 'We'll see.'

'We will.', I said, confident in my ability to resist him.

We were silent for a few moments.

'So, lunch?', he asked, changing the subject and rubbing his hands together.

'If you say so.'

And he led me down the commission hall, unwanted company in an undesired situation.