Malene walked right up to the counter and smiled at him. He noticed upon closer view just how pretty this girl was. Although he had seen a couple beautiful mature women including Demi and his home room teacher, and a few beautiful young women like Kennedy, this girl was in a cla.s.s all on her own.

Her hazel eyes were s.h.i.+nning in the store's light and he couldn't help but be drawn to them. Although she didn't say anything at first, Laz knew that she had things on her mind. Although his blood was running a bit hard, he kept his cool and waited.

"Hi, I'm here for my order," was all she said. Her bright, pink lips gave out a fatal attraction that screamed innocence and splendor. Although it was obvious her body wasn't done developing just yet, her chest already had a healthy curve to it that was quite prominent through the white s.h.i.+rt despite the jacket. If Kennedy was described as firey hot, then Malene would be called pure enchantment.

"Sure, what's your phone number?" Laz had done this enough to not lose his cool no matter what. Since names can be confusing, they always did everything based on phone numbers.

"Excuse me?" Malene's expression turned a little less friendly at this moment as she looked at him. She knew he was the boy from her cla.s.s and felt that feeling inside that he was like her. Although this didn't immediately put her on guard, she was never the less a bit wary around him. When she heard him as for her phone number so straightforwardly, she couldn't help but think he had some sort of intention for her.

There were reasons her family moved here all of the sudden, but Laz had no idea about any of that.

"The number from which the order was placed? We keep track of orders by phone numbers," Laz smiled back in response, a bit warmer. The fact that she was wary of him proved that she knew who he was. He wasn't looking to make friends with others like him as the Joey incident was still fresh in his mind. The reason he turned warmer was because it seemed like he didn't have to worry about her.

"Oh, oh right. Sorry." Malene pulled out her phone to look at a text. She didn't place the order, she was just here to pick it up on her way home. Giving the phone number to Laz, she put her phone away while Laz walked to the kitchen door to get Grandpa Chu's attention.

After talking with him for a moment, Laz walked back to the counter and began getting a box ready. It seemed like she had ordered quite a bit.

"It's almost ready, just one moment. Would you like sauce?"

"Yes, please. And chopsticks too." Malene replied as she sat down on a nearby seat.

"Of course! How many sets?" Laz responded while picking a selection based on her order.

"Just one. My parents like to use silverware, but I think it tastes better with chopsticks." Malene replied, pulling out her phone again to look at it to kill time.

"So do I," Laz replied without thinking. He was just making small talk with a customer in his own mind, but to Malene it felt like he was. .h.i.tting on her. She turned her head over to look him with a colder glare, but Laz was just a.s.sembling the containers that were being pa.s.sed up from the kitchen without even looking at her.

She put her head down as she realized she was over thinking it. She had commented about why she like chopsticks first without a reason and he just replied back. 'Maybe I'm too jumpy because of this feeling of threat from him,' she thought to herself.

That's right. Although Laz didn't know it, those who could experience the vibe got different feelings from different people and the feeling Laz gave off was one of a huge threat, but not danger. It was like coming face to face with a dangerous animal at the zoo. Although you knew you were safe, that didn't mean that the animal itself wasn't a threat. It just couldn't do anything to you.

Malene had experience with many more of the people like them since she came from a big city, whereas Laz had only come across a total of four. She could read people much better because of that.

"Alright. You are all set. How would you like to pay?" Laz said, bringing the box over to the checkout counter.

"Uh, do you accept electronic payments?" Malene asked a bit hesitantly.

"Like credit or debit cards?" Laz responded back while still smiling. Although his face was slightly hidden, his blue eyes were looking straight at the girl in front of him as he lifted his head fully for the first time.

"Uh, like google pay.." Malene just realized that in this somewhat remote town, small stores might not accept these modes of payment yet. She also seemed a bit taken back as she looked into those deep blue eyes of his. It was hard to tell unless you were looking straight at him, but his eyes were captivating.

Laz knew what she was asking to begin with, but since he had already written her off as not being trouble, he couldn't help but slip into his rather playful mood.

"Is that a type of credit card?" Laz asked as he stared at her without blinking, making her feel a bit uncomfortable.

"No, it's my phone..." Malene held her phone up as though she was trying to show him something and she seemed to be a bit nervous. It felt kind of uncomfortable to have ordered food and not be able to pay.

"Your phone can pay for food? I don't think that will fit in the card swipe." Laz had the feeling of corning a small animal in the forest and almost started to feel like a bad guy. Almost.

"No. No.. It's an application on my smart phone that can be used to for things by connecting to a digital wallet that stores information.." Malene's voiced trailed off as she looked at the rather brand new credit card reader in front of her on the counter. Since she had been looking at Laz's eyes, she didn't notice how new it was a first, or that that it had the digital screen to pay by digital wallet.

Bringing her head up quickly, she gave Laz a death glare that would have been sure to kill him had his skin not been as thick as it was.

"Oh, that. Sure thing, just use the reader in front of you." 'They have these things on the vending machines at our school even, obviously we will have them as well. Still, seems like she's a bit less mature than I originally thought,' Laz thought to himself while watching her pay for the food.

Grandpa Chu had walked up out of the kitchen just in time to see Malene pay and Laz slide the box over to her.

"Boy! Go be a gentleman and help her out to her car," his grandpa scolded after noticing Laz intended to leave her to do it herself.

"Alright," Laz knew he probably should have done it that way to begin with, but he was feeling almost a bit offended at her thinking they were that far out in the middle of nowhere. Laz had lived in many different places as well so he knew what remote was. This was far from that.

Taking the box off the counter, Laz walked around and stood there for a moment, completely indifferent to her death glare.

Malene finally turned around with a "hmpf" and made her way to the door. Even though she was somewhat upset at his rude behavior, she still ended up holding the door for him since she felt that with the full box, it would be hard for him to open.

'I guess this girl isn't all bad huh?' Laz thought as he walked out the door.

Malene gestured to a parked black Lincoln in one of the parking s.p.a.ces. As they approached the car, the trunk popped open and Laz set the box down gently. When he was about to reach up to close the trunk, Malene put her hand in front of him and told him to back up. Doing so, Laz was momentarily surprised to see the trunk could close itself as well.

"Oh," was his only response. he couldn't see inside the car since the windows were darkened so he didn't know that he was being watched by Malene's mom the whole time.

"Thank you and please come again," Laz recited as he made his way back to the shop.

"Wait a sec," Malene called after him, walking towards him slowing as though she was reaching for something.

Laz didn't feel anything off about her behavior as it looked like she was going to give him a tip, so he just stood there facing her without moving.

Malene brought her hand out of her pocket as though she was holding something and brought it forward as though to hand something to Laz. In the next moment, his sight narrowed quickly to focus on her hand as he sensed a big threat coming from it.

Despite his quick reactions and enhanced senses, he wasn't able to make out what it was. The only thing he could tell was that it smelled like metal that shot out from her hand and sc.r.a.ped against his cheek before quickly disappearing.

With practically no pain, all Laz felt was a small trickle, like a water drop ran down his cheek.

"Don't get close to me. Don't come find me. If you say anything about me to anyone, I will kill you before you even figure out how you died."

Malene turned around and walked back towards the car, opened the door and sat down before pulling the door closed while Laz just stood there in shock.

'What the h.e.l.l was that?' He thought to himself while reaching up to his check. After touching the wet spot, he brought his hand back down and realized it was a drop of blood. She had cut his cheek with a blade so fine, it didn't even leave a scratch, just a single drop of blood.

For the first time since he had seen this girl, he realized that she was an entirely different kind of trouble.

'G.o.d d.a.m.n it,' he thought.