Outcast by Abigail Livinghouse (top 100 books of all time checklist txt) 📖

2.  Chapter Six

Gabriel

 

Yesterday

      

I was frozen where I stood, I couldn’t move. Literally. I was paralyzed. Rafaela continued to wiggle her tongue at me before the boy she was on captured her attention once again. She turned towards him, grinned, and then kissed him fiercely. I could hear their tongue piercings clacking together.

 

I turned to Aria, who shrugged, grabbed my hand, and tugged me toward the kitchen, where there were a few kids holding red plastic cups and taking deep sips from those cups. The strong odor of alcohol hung heavily in the air. I grimaced. Angels were never around items such as drugs or alcohol. Being around it now, it made me sick to my stomach. Aria’s nose wrinkled in disgust. We weren’t used to this kind of atmosphere, and I certainly didn’t like it. I was sure she didn’t either.

 

“So”, she said, pausing to cough from the smells of toxic beverages and smoke from cigarettes in the house. “Keep an eye on her.” Aria said. I nodded, resisting the urge to plug my nose.

 

“If I must.” I muttered.

 

God, it stank in here. But I wasn’t very focused on the smell at the moment. I was more focused on Rafaela. The word beautiful didn’t even begin to describe her, but her attitude ranked high up there right next to bitchy, attempting to outshine her pretty looks.

 

“Well”, Aria said, looking at me with shining eyes. “I guess I’d better be going.”

 

My eyes widened in shock. I had thought she would stay with me at least for a little while longer. I hadn’t expected her to take off right away.

 

“You’re leaving me?” I asked.

 

Her eyebrows creased with sadness and concern. She came over and placed her hand on my cheek, then ruffled my hair. “Don’t worry babe. I’ll be back. This is part of your punishment. I’m sorry, but you know I can’t disobey Him.”

 

I looked down at her words. I could see the worry and remorse wash over her kind features. I wanted her to stay so badly. Not only did I care for Aria, but I didn’t want to be alone here surrounded by mortals.

 

“Hey”, she gently touched my face. I looked up. “You won’t be totally alone.” She said. I raised my eyebrows.

 

“Oh?” I asked.

 

She nodded eagerly. “Hmm hm. Nick will be here too.”

 

At the mention of Nick my stomach dropped. He was a banished guardian angel. He was quirky, talkative, and just plain annoying. The last person I wanted to be around was Nick.

 

“Hey”, Aria scolded. “He’s all you got down here, so you better make do.” She quipped. I almost groaned. She was right after all. He was all I had.

Chapter Seven

Rafaela

      

With the party over and our maid cleaning up the mess, there wasn’t really much to do around here. I figured that I might as well go to Bliss, this great little club just a few blocks from my place. I showered, slipped into a leather dress that barely skimmed my thighs, applied thick black eyeliner, black and purple eye shadow, some blush, bright magenta lipstick, blow dried, straightened, and hair sprayed my hair, and finally pulled on my fishnet tights and high heeled boots. I looked in the mirror, seeing my multicolored hair big and straight with volume, my eyes dark and alluring, and the dress fitting perfectly tight. I gotta say, I looked pretty damn good. I grinned, grabbed my black clutch, and headed out.

 

       At Bliss, rainbow disco lights sliced through the darkness of the club, dancing Goths, Emos, and even a few Scene and Hollister kids rocked to the head banging music, occasional bands played on the stage, but other times it was occupied by dancing kids attempting to find the beat to the wild screamo music, and then there was the bar in the far corner of the club, which was where I was headed.

 

I walked over, shimmying through the crowd of teens, and sat down on one of the bar stools, dropping my clutch onto the counter. The bartender, a cute dark haired boy with a pierced septum and tongue–don’t ask how I know that, let’s just say these drinks are really strong–and wearing a Black Veil Brides shirt, turned around and smiled at me.

 

“What can I get you beautiful?” He asked smoothly. I smiled back, leaning over the bar so that he could have an enjoyable view while I skimmed the menu.

 

“Hmm, well what do you recommend?” I asked sweetly.

 

He pursed his lips, spun around, and began throwing items into a blender. He pressed frappe, then after a minute pressed stop. He picked up the blender, poured the drink into a glass, spun back around, and placed the drink on the counter. He dropped a little lime green umbrella into it, and a straw. After all that what came out of it was a blood red substance that smelled strongly tropical.

 

I picked it up and without hesitation took a big gulp. It was overly sweet, like drinking sugar water mixed with caramel, and it was that thick too, and it burned going down. I placed the half full glass back on the counter, wiping off my upper lip and trying not to smudge my lipstick.

 

“Well?” He asked, raising a judging pierced eyebrow. I licked my lips, scowled and then grinned.

 

“Not bad. The whipped vodka was a nice touch.” I complimented. He laughed loudly and began wiping up the bar.

 

“Thank you. I aim to please.” He winked, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out the double meaning in his words. Like duh.

 

I spun around on the stool with my drink in my hand, surveying the area for someone to dance with. Now, I know what you’re thinking, this girl’s at a freaking club and she’s saying she can’t find anyone to dance with? Well, it’s actually pretty hard to find good dancers at a club. I mean don’t get me wrong I love a good cabbage patch and Charlie Brown when I’m drunk enough, but when I’m sober I prefer not to make a fool out of myself.

 

My eyes traveled around the room until they landed on one guy, moving his hips, feet, and arms like he knew exactly what he was doing. I grinned, chugged the rest of my drink, and headed over to the scene kid. Let’s see how great of a dancer he really was.

Chapter Eight

Gabriel

      

I gritted my teeth, gripping my ginger ale tightly in my hand. What the hell was this shit for brains bartender thinking? Serving a minor? He hadn’t even asked for her ID. No wonder she was such an idiot.

 

I sat back on the bar stool and watched as Rafaela moved towards a single boy surrounded by a crowd. She began dancing, moving her hips close, closer, until she and the teen were nearly touching. With an eager grin, he gripped her hands, raising her arms to the roof, and danced with her. My eyes widened at their grinding, hip swiveling moves. Talk about dirty dancing, and I’m not kidding.

 

A kid sauntered over and plopped down on the stool next to me. He turned so that he was facing me, and a grin curled his lips.

 

“Nice seeing you here, brother.” The guy said, and ordered one shot.

 

I scowled, looking him up and down. He was thin and lanky. He had spiky red hair, baby blue eyes, and sharp features on account of how thin he was. But there was a certain charm to him that attracted you and pulled you in. A sort of allure. My eyes widened when I realized who he was.

 

“Nick.” I growled. “What the hell are you doing here? And what are you doing ordering alcohol? You know we don’t drink.” I said angrily, my temper rising.

 

Was he insane? Archangel or guardian angel, it didn’t matter, you still couldn’t drink.

 

“Enjoying the night life. Well, more like afternoon life but I don’t really see the difference.” He said, grabbing the shot placed on the bar by the fool bartender. He swallowed it in one gulp, smiling afterward.

 

I opened my mouth to say something but Rafaela suddenly dropped down next to Nick. She was sweating a bit from the raucous dancing, and giggling from the drink she had digested earlier. I sneered in disgust.

 

“Hey!” She yelled to the bartender, who turned around and smiled when he saw it was her.

 

“What can I do for you babe?” He asked. She giggled again, swaying a bit on her stool.

 

“I’ll have some of that great stuff you gave me before.” She requested giddily.

 

He nodded and began tossing things into a blender. Nick turned to me, grinning ridiculously.

 

“I want some of that.” He said, then spun around to face Rafaela, who was sipping a crimson drink that did not smell very good.

 

“Hey”, he said, leaning slightly towards her. She looked Nick up and down, and flashed him a smile, her silver piercings catching the light and gleaming.

 

“Hi.” She responded, taking another long drink from her beverage.

 

Nick’s grin widened as he observed Rafaela, his eyes lingering on her chest for a moment longer than necessary before they returned to her face. I rolled my eyes. He was a pig. I had no idea why he was made a guardian angel. Why couldn’t he have just been stripped of his wings and be done with it? I was brought back to attention by Rafaela’s loud laughing.

 

“So, I have an apartment a few blocks away if you want to come over.” Nick suggested, leaning even closer to Rafaela until they were inches apart.

 

She smiled, her dark eyes alluring and bringing him in, even though he was really bringing her in with his unnatural charm. I knew that she had no idea what she was doing while Nick was in complete control. Rafaela was