annoyed with her. Only giggly schoolgirls swooned and sweated when a cute guy came around, and the thought of him putting her in that category for any reason at all was stomach-turning.
“ Well, whatever, I’m not going to lie,” she said. “You have a decent smile. Anyways, I’m sure my judgments aren’t far off. Before you even got on that plane to come here I’m sure you knew all the girls would be stalking you, looking the way you do.”
“ I’m not into that whole stalker, childish bit. I like down-to-earth girls with a little more to them. I don’t need plastic girls who think they’re perfect.”
“ I’m not down to earth. I’ve always been in space.”
A charming laugh left his lips. “On the contrary though, you’re a challenge. Also another thing I like.”
She was incredibly flattered but hid the feeling behind an audible scoff. “You know you probably want a model.” That thought troubled her briefly. If a model was really what he liked, she did not fit the criteria at all.
“ You’re lumping me in a category. What guy wants a fake girl? Besides, a model wants a perfect guy. I’ll admit any day that I am far from perfect.”
That’s debatable , Maria thought, but his humble comment gave him points.
“ Oh yeah?” she challenged. “What kind of imperfections could you possibly think you have?”
He said with no trouble at all, “I have a bad scar. Certainly no model could have that. I busted up my arm and my back a few years ago.” His tone suddenly became coated with solemnity.
Alarmed, Maria looked down and over her shoulder at him. “Badly? How did that happen?”
“ Doesn’t really matter. Just did.” He let go of the ladder, lifted the sleeve of his shirt and turned.
Maria was shocked to see a large prominent mark that began at the back of his left shoulder blade.
“ It continues all the way down to the middle of my back.” He looked at her now and seemed a little taken aback by the genuine, apologetic look she gave him.
“ I’m sorry. Could you have...died from it?”
He glanced away only for a moment before returning his eyes to her. “Yeah, well...I could have died just from the pain of it.” A muscle tightened in his jaw and a disheartening expression darkened his already tanned face. “I guess shit just happens sometimes.”
Maria became silent and awkwardly continued working. She did not want to stir up any difficult memories in him, and by the look on his face, troubling thoughts had invaded his mind because of her stupid inquiries.
He gripped the ladder again, his eyes focusing in on his hands with pupils blinded by a slowly building fire. “You ever experienced pain, Maria?” His eyes watered slightly.
“ Well, yeah of course, but nothing close to something like that, though.”
He felt his blood stirring. Eager hands tightened around the ladder, his teeth grinding away enamel. “I have a good tolerance for high bouts of pain.”
“ Lucky you. Paper cuts are my limit.” Maria looked at the wall. “That’s the last balloon I’m putting up. Tough luck if Trisha hates it. Yippee for us, we finished! Good job, teammate.”
“ Everyone,” he began, his voice a slow rolling thunder, “should experience something painful just so they know how it feels.”
“ What?” she asked absentmindedly. The idiot was still staring dumbly at the wall. “What did you say?”
“ I’m talking about real pain, Maria,” he muttered under his breath. “Real pain.”
Alan shifted to the right.
A cluster of noises came, a clatter and a loud bang. Eyes went searching and heads went turning. The students had heard but hadn’t seen. A sea of gasps became audible when they saw a ladder on the floor and Maria lying unconscious near it.
Before their confused eyes could try to decipher what happened, he dropped to his knees with masterful urgency and started shaking Maria. So quickly she had been turned into an unresponsive shell beneath him, and
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Murder by the Book