ᴛʜɪʀᴅ ᴘᴏᴠ

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘙𝘪𝘣𝘣𝘰𝘯

♛♛♛

Hazel chewed on her bottom lip as if it were some sort of toy for stress relief.

Her misty, hazel eyes dragged along the screen, reading the phone number and contact name over again.

She was in a debate with herself. Whether she should message him or not.

For gratitude purposes, she wanted to thank him. Something she hasn't been doing for quite a while now, and to maybe also slip in the friend's question.

Though, she was nervous. Nervous about the outcome. Would he even reply? Or would he just ignore her? She didn't know. But she considered he would since he was the one to leave the phone number.

Dropping the phone onto the bed, Hazel picked up her chocolate bar and bit into it—her overthinking was overwhelming her. After the library today, Hazel had made it her mission to go down to her favourite chocolate store.

Derik wasn't working today but his lovely wife Scarlet was. Scarlet was just as equally heart filled as her husband. The couple were always people that could make Hazel truly smile.

Without paying a single dollar, Scarlet let her take the chocolate bar for free. Always the couple insisted on her not paying, but Hazel couldn't do it. So, without her seeing, she stashed the cash inside a little jar next to the counter.

Sighing, the milky chocolate absorbed in her mouth like butter spread on warm toast. The giddy feeling chocolate had over her was something she took advantage of in lots of situations. For example, one so much like this one.

Considering Hazel didn't know what to do about the essay, she relied on asking her friend, Julius. Maybe he would give her some closure on what to do. Confront the witch of a teacher or simply revolve around a new essay.

Figuring her teacher was already at a crossroad with her, she didn't even know if he would admit to fooling her. He has much more power over her, clearly—and even if he were to lie and fool her further, Hazel surely wouldn't have the guts to stand up for herself.

Looking back down at the phone, her finger unhesitatingly pressed on the call button. Hazel's heart pounded in her chest, she's never called a friend before—or anyone for that matter. Unless it was a coworker sort of thing, but never for her own purposes.

Dropping the foiled up bar on her bed, she listened to the dials. Every beat was like the thump of her pounding heart—up until it stopped when the dial's stopped themselves.

Suddenly her mouth went dry. Words hadn't seemed to form on her tongue, so she stayed silently red.

His frightening voice came out harsh and quiet. The deep tone threatening yet somewhat musical to her ears—and Hazel was so goddamned confused.

With a single thick gulp, she somehow mustered up the courage to say something.

"It's Hazel."

The soft hum of her voice flowed through the speaker, unknowingly to her, his tensed tone was now ever so slightly calmer.

"I'm sorry if I called you at a bad time. I just didn't know what to do with the essay situation..."

Hazel looked down at her clenched fist, which she had clenched so tightly that she felt she'd bruised herself. Her hand relaxed back into a flat palm, her heartbeats becoming more frequent and louder in her ear.

His somewhat bored tone caught her off guard. But then she remembered that's just how the man speaks, right?

Her previous ounce of confidence was slowly drifting away, nerves kicking in instead. Maybe he wasn't interested in being her friend. Maybe he just felt bad for the girl?

Shaking her head, she frowned at his previous response instead.

"You talked to Professor Diablo?" She asked him, voice curious under the circumstances. A low, deep hum came from the speakers, causing some sort of tingly feeling to go through Hazel's stomach.

He replied after. Voice still emotionless and lifeless—it had Hazel think if he was okay. He never seemed to smile, or never even had anything other than an emotionless or grumpy sort of look on his face.

"Thank you, Julius. I appreciate it." Hazel poured the words out with so much gratitude you would have thought she was thanking him for giving her a million dollars.

The other end of the line was silent, utterly silent. The only sound in the background was of some sort of engine, seeming as if he were driving.

He replied with a rasp to his deep tone. That was new. Undeniably, she couldn't help but blush at the sound—it was the least threatening he's ever spoken with her—the least intimidating.

"Well, I'll let you be now. I guess I'll see you around?" Hazel fumbled with the ends of her red hair, twirling the wave around her finger.

The young girl smiled, waiting for the man to hang up first—but he didn't. Blushing, she remembered the one other thing she had to ask him.

"Oh, wait!" She embarrassingly stammered her pale cheeks now a deep shade of red.A low hum exhaled from his chest, rumbling into the speakers.

"I was wondering...would you consider us friends?" Hazel asked nervously. Once again the other line went quiet, the low rumble of a car in the background was the only thing to make certain he hadn't hung up on her.

He responded nonchalantly.

"It is, as long as you want it to," Hazel fixed her gaze on the small spider in the corner of her room, which became more and more like a dot of ink the harder she stared at it.

Julius hadn't yet responded, and the nonsensical noises of cars screeching had abruptly shut short any communication between the two.

With each passing second, the sounds grew louder, and Hazel was certain she heard the man swear beneath his breath.

He said coldly, voice now strained with anger and virtue.

Gulping, she nodded even though he couldn't see her.

"Bye Julius, drive safe." She smiled hesitantly at the end of her reply, truly meaning the words considering the sounds she heard in the background.

It honestly sounded like a scene from one of the Fast & Furious movies.

The line went dead with that, leaving Hazel alone with her thoughts and a half-eaten chocolate bar.

♛♛♛

"Hazel!"

Gracie ran up to the girl and hugged her tightly around the neck—leaving Hazel to gasp for air.

Wincing, Gracie pulled away and gave her a half-smile. "Sorry, I forget my strength sometimes,"

Hazel grinned and pulled her back into a hug, a less tight one. Never has Hazel hugged a friend before, and never has she had friends come and visit her at work.

Trace'aline hugged Hazel right after Gracie stepped away. Trace's hug was far more delicate than Gracie's passionate one. Nevertheless, Hazel loved both.

"How have you been beautiful?" Trace asked, twirling a piece of her red hair as she pulled away from her embrace. Hazel blushed and shrugged lightly.

"College and work," She replied simply. Hazel's life was really not that exciting. Besides her hectic home life, which is expressed more as traumatic than exciting.

"How about you both?" Hazel sat back down in her chair, gesturing for the two girls to take a seat on the chairs in front of her desk.

Gracie sighed, flopping down into the seat and bringing her knees to her chin as she unwrapped a bar of chocolate. "We've been good, love." Trace replied, sitting down in the seat beside her girlfriend—much more delicately.

"I want us to do a girls night. We can order pizza or Chinese and watch hilarious videos on youtube,"

Trace hummed in agreement. "Yeah, or we could watch sappy movies. I feel like crying." She sighed, smiling up at the ceiling.

Hazel glanced between the two. Emotions ran through her like crazy as the previous talk they had only moments ago registered.

A girls night? Goodness, Hazel had only ever seen those in movies and such. It shocked her that she was going to be a part of one.

"You up for it Hazel?" Gracie rose a brow, tossing the heart-shaped chocolate into her mouth. "Yes!" Hazel said rather enthusiastically, before coughing and blushing as the two other girls laughed at her eagerness.

"I'd love to," She said calmly. Gracie grinned, sitting up and rubbing her hands together. "Great!"

"Because both Trace and I are working tonight, how about tomorrow evening? You can come to our place? I'll message our address to you and we can send someone to pick you up."

Her lips were barely parted. "Uh, yeah, sure," Hazel rushed out, her eyes wide with excitement. Trace grinned at the girl, her heart-melting as she saw how thrilled and startled she was.

"Yay! I'm excited girls!" Gracie said, clapping her hands and standing. "Me too! I can't wait. We can talk all the shit we want, fill our luscious bodies with disgusting food and sob."

Hazel giggled loudly, having both eyes of the women go to her. Suddenly, they were taken aback by her innocent nature—knowing well enough the two were far from it.

"You're so adorable," Gracie gushed and hugged her again. "I'll text you the details tonight, we'll see you tomorrow." Gracie pulled away, Trace now replacing her position.

The two smiled once more before leaving, Hazel smiling at them back. "Bye Hazel!" Trace yelled over her shoulder as they exited.

Hazel sighed softly before sinking back into her leather seat. Any previous thoughts she had were drowned out by new ones of her new friends.

That was until she was startled by a knock at the base of her desk, which caused Hazel to jump in her seat. Daniel, her employee, leant resting against the wall and smiled down at her as she looked up.

"Hey Hazel," He gave her a warm grin, which confused her. Hadn't he ditched her a night ago?

"Uh, hi," She mumbled as she pulled her red hair back into a loose ponytail behind her neck and began reading the current documents to fill out.

"I'm sorry about the other night; I was extremely wasted" He chuckled sheepishly, and Hazel simply replied with a faint smile.

"It's fine; I made it home safely." She pointed out. Daniel shifted awkwardly in his seat and took a step away from the desk, feeling uneasy with the lack of attention she was showing him.

Normally, Hazel would be smiling and talking to him—though she was only recognising his presence and giving him only a half-smile in her approach of being cold.

"Well, I'm glad that you did,"

This had Hazel's eyes shot up to him. How come he ditched her then? If he was glad she made it home safely, why didn't he help her home instead or even just stay at the venue?

"Anyway, I'll let you get back to work. Give me a shout if you need anything." He shot her one more friendly smile, and she smiled back—the look not reaching her eyes.

She watched him walk out, heading back into his station while Hazel only sighed after. Everything was becoming overwhelming for her—all these new emotions and new things happening, she needed time to process it all.

Maybe a relaxing bath tonight? She thought.

Nodding to herself, she agreed and decided to grab her dinner before she left to go back home.

Retreating to her work, she looked down at the pages—scanning over them and filling them out, even though her mind was consumed somewhere else.

♛♛♛

Only a few icicle lights lit up the area, surrounding it with dim red lights. Hazel untied the black ribbon in her hair and knotted it loosely around her wrist.

Hazel smiled up at the woman behind the counter as she took a seat inside the little diner.

"What can I get for you?" She asked, blankly chewing her pink gum with a sarcastic smile. Hazel swallowed and raised her eyes to the menu, carefully reading it with her eyes.

"A caramel milkshake and just a regular cheeseburger and fries," Hazel replied.

Jotting it down, without looking up once, the girl wandered off to the back room.

Sighing, Hazel wrapped her coat further into her body as she glanced towards the small television above her head. The local news was on and Hazel chimed into it.

"Two bodies were discovered under an abandoned bridge not far from the Galleria roadways, where multiple shootings were taking place only a few days before..."

With a low frown, Hazel churned her lips up in disgust. The news lady continued to describe the crimes, and instantly the channel was changed—catching her attention.

She looked around the diner, confused, up until she became aware of another person sitting beside her at the counter.

Slowly, she turned her head to the side—and by who she was met with, her saddened expression turned into one of happiness.

"Julius!" She smiled truthfully, wrapping her arms around her body to contain herself from hugging him.

His stone-cold expression was already on her, and his grey eyes were fixed on her, never recoiling. "Hazel," He replied nonchalantly, his stature towering over the counter.

Hazel scanned his features immediately, taking in his laid-back but attractive demeanour.

He was dressed in a pair of loose dark wash jeans and a black t-shirt, which fitted his chest nicely and revealed the muscles beneath. On top of that, he wore a black puffer jacket, coating his muscular arms.

Julius had a rugged appearance. His unkempt hair was dishevelled to perfection and thrown across his forehead. The dim lighting made his face nearly glow, making his cheekbones arch and his hollow cheeks stronger.

Red, plump lips stood out to her almost teasingly. They were a natural cherry colour, in a perfect natural pout.

"Done staring?" He rose a perfect eyebrow up at her, watching her carefully as she shifted uncomfortably and blushed a light pink.

"Sorry," She mumbled and started to fumble with her chipped, nail polished fingernails. She caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, still stunned by his beauty—her gaze never failing to linger over the scar across his eyebrow.

"What are you doing here?" Hazel asked him, sitting up straight as her caramel milkshake was placed in front of her. "Thank you!" She smiled at the waiter and he smiled at her back.

"Business," He replied, eyeing the waiter who walked back inside the staff room. "Oh, really? What type of work is it? I never asked you what your franchisees were."

Hazel stared at him innocently, sipping at her milkshake as she watched his hands tense—and before he could get a single word in, she gasped.

"Oh gosh!" She quickly grabbed his hands, looking over the bloodied and bruised knuckles. Hazel's mind went hazy as electric shots ran up her fingertips from the touch.

"When are you not hurt?" She huffed, digging into her tote bag for her mini first aid. "And when are you not worried," He snapped back with a cold yet sarcastic tone.

Hazel stopped what she was doing and looked up at him. She sighed softly, placing his hands back on his lap and shifting back to her milkshake.

"I'm sorry, I should have asked first." She kept in her unwanted tears, warning herself if she embarrassingly spilt them—she would never forgive herself.

Hazel was sensitive, overly sensitive. So any harsh directory towards her was bound to make the girl's eyes water.

A hand was then placed in front of her, peeking down, it was Julius's. The hand, which was stained with blood and scars, also contained various tattoos and rings that identified it as his.

"Clean it." He asked, or rather, he demanded. However, his angry tone had been evoked and had been replaced by his usual deadpan tone.

Glancing at him, she slowly took his hand in hers and got out her kit, getting to work.

"Did you have a rough day?"

Julius gave her a blank stare. Only prompting Hazel's unwelcome nerves to swell. "Yes," He replied as if it's nothing out of the ordinary. She nodded and tended to the wounds.

"How did you do this?"

Glancing into his eyes, Julius shrugged and refrained himself from saying the truth. "You know Gracie and Trace'aline?" He changed the subject, numbly watching her every movement.

Her eyes widened as she became easily distracted and began babbling about her new friends. "Yes! It was funny because they were helping me in the bathroom when Gracie got a phone call, and I immediately recognised your name when she mentioned it."

Julius tightened up suddenly, his body still as he drilled holes through her lowered eyes. "Helping you?" He questioned, his voice becoming dark.

Hazel flushed once again. Placing the pink coloured bandages on his hands. "Sorry, they're the only ones I have," She apologised and showed him by holding up his hand.

Julius didn't give a single fly about it. He slid his hand back onto the table and raised a brow at her, waiting for her to respond to his question.

"I went out for drinks with some coworkers. I think something got slipped into my drink or the sprite I had was off, but I ended up almost passing out in the bathroom and they found and helped me," Hazel said that all in one go—having her breathe in a deep breath.

A muscle in his jaw ticked. Just like the last time Hazel was speaking out to her incoherent teacher, in stages she watched as he progressively got colder.

Looking away from the girl, the waitress from before placed down the plate of fries and the cheeseburger. "Oh, did you want to eat anything, Julius?" Hazel looked up at him, not wanting to eat if he was hungry as well.

He shook his head twice, jaw still locked tensely as the waitress from before suddenly looked at him with surprise. Hazel nodded, considering she'd just give him some of her fries knowing she wouldn't eat it all.

"Thank you," She smiled at the waitress, who gave her a dirty look, before being called in by the chef and left with her gaze fixed on the man.

Hazel disregarded the stare, having grown accustomed to it, and dove right into the cheeseburger. She shut her eyes and savoured the longing food as she took a good bite.

"I haven't eaten all day." She explained to the man, patting her stomach as she shoved a fry into her mouth. Julius continued to stare at her, his eyes dead, giving Hazel the impression that he was uncomfortable in some way.

"Help yourself to anything," She muttered as she motioned to her large plate of food. Breaking eye contact, his head turned to the side, glancing up at the television.

Hazel's eyes were once again overwhelmed by his beauty. As she bit into the burger, she hadn't left her gaze elsewhere—instead of watching his jaw flex from her angle of view.

He was sculpted to perfection. His beauty was flawless, and the more she gazed at him, the more he sensed her focus on him.