Merlin & Meli by M.J. Garrett & Meli J. Nightly (free ebook reader txt) 📖

to wait over there?”

“I saw you walking away from the car,so I wanted to meet you half way.” he explained with innocence written on his face. “Sir, I can definitely take her home. Thank you for the opportunity... sir,” he bowed as if he was given the highest honor.

She sighed; exasperated and annoyed, she pressed her books to his chest. He quickly grabbed and accommodated them in his arms before they spilled in the parking lot.

“Thank you again!” Merlin bellowed as they both turned to walk away.
“Hey, Buddy!” Together, both of them turned to see her father making the ‘I got my eye on you’ signal to him. “Keep it in the pants!”

Merlin shook his head yes fiercely as his face turned deep red from the embarrassing warning.

Meli scoffed and shook her head in disgust, “As if I can’t take care of myself. He’ll be neutered if he tries anything.” She then slightly pushed him away from her as she turned to walk to the library.

Merlin gulped at her statement. He couldn't decide whom he should be scared of most; her dad’s evil eye or Meli’s threat of castration.

*

The library was quiet. Even with people out and about, choosing their books, the loudest sound was that of turning pages. It was very peaceful. Meli liked the quiet and she loved the library. She felt comfortable in the silence and had learned to appreciate the loneliness.

“Meli? Hello?” She gathered her whits as she saw a hand waving back and forth in front of her face. It was then that she remembered that she was not alone.

“What?” She asked. Annoyed by the situation, she just looked at him.

Merlin jumped a bit at her tone, “I was just asking if this table was okay?”

“Yeah, whatever,” she replied disinterested, throwing one hand in the air as she turned her head away from him.

Merlin smiled at her sweetly. He placed her books on the table and then dropped his backpack on the floor next to his chair. The brown-eyed girl felt a slight hint of guilt at the sight of his smile. No matter how mean she was to him, he never snapped back at her, which was something she was expecting him to do eventually. Everyone else did and rarely anyone could put up with her crappy attitude. There was just something about him she couldn’t figure out. It’s not that she wanted to be inconsiderate to everyone; it was the only way she knew how to act. He didn't seem to mind. He seemed to overlook it, like it wasn't a big deal.

She managed to soften her expression and her tone, “Alright, so what do we start with?”

“Well we can start with … uh … the first thing... uh... is...” Merlin was taken aback by her sudden change of mood. He ruffled through his backpack looking for his notes. He thought to himself, "What is up with her?" He could not for the life of him read her. The hazel eyed boy figured she must be bi-polar or maybe she was just crazy. Whatever it was he liked it. He found it adorable.

“Do I leave you this speechless all the time? Huh, Pencil Boy?”

“I just... well...” Merlin continued to stutter. If it were anyone else, Meli would have found his lack of eloquent speech quite irritating. For some reason she didn’t when it came to him.

She shook her head and scoffed at her inner thought, “Let’s get on with this; I have a place to be soon.”

“Oh,” confused, he looked down. His mind trying to create the proper question. “Where would that be?”

“Nosy much?”

Merlin laughed nervously, he didn’t want to seem so intrusive. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“You are a smart one after all. You’re right, you shouldn’t have,” she glared.

There was a pause and unfamiliar awkwardness in the air which Merlin decided to break. He hated awkward situations. “Right. Well, it’s going to be a while. We have to go over a few chapters for this quiz. I promised "Mr. L" I would help you out.”

Meli stared blankly at him, “You’re not teacher pet material you know?”

“I know! I’m not trying to be...” he defended himself.

“Why are you helping me then?” She enquired in a curious tone. Her hands pressed against her face, holding up her chin.

He thought about it for a minute, he didn't want to say what he really felt right then and there. He needed to find the right moment; plus he just wasn’t sure what to make of this girl just yet. One thing was for sure, she was all sorts of trouble. “Extra credit?!" he burst out.

“Uhhh...” was her first reply. She knew there was something more to it other than 'extra credit', but she decided to shrug it off. “I see.”

They began their studies and Merlin was a great teacher. While she usually didn't care to study, she was finding it easy to learn with Merlin’s methods. It was different from how Mr. Lancaster taught. Merlin jotted down a few math exercises for her to do and for once she did not complain. She was actually intrigued. Using his tutoring, she could see the problems differently. She could see them as simple as he did. Her pencil flowed in perfect rhythm with his; both completing one math problem after the other. Synchronized.

Meli sighed in relief as she finished the last math problem on the page. Proud of herself for going through with all them, she smiled and exhaled. She gave a quick glance at the boy sitting across from her. He seemed deeply concentrated in his notebook. Sitting there with his tongue slightly poking through his lips, his pencil swiftly moved across the page. It was enticing; somewhat intriguing. Seeing that he was no longer working on math problems, meant he had finished before her. Which meant he was doing something else. Which meant that she was now very curious.

“Watcha doing?” Meli questioned while eyeing his book in some sort of trance.

Merlin had been so lost in his drawing he had paid little attention to her attentiveness. He quickly closed the book and shook his head, “Nothing.”

“That didn’t look like 'nothing' to me.” she taunted.

He would die if Meli saw what he was doing. He had watched her discretely as she was concentrating on her task, doing his best at not getting caught. The fact that he had sneaked glances at her was already dangerous. He could only imagine how she would react at seeing all the drawings he had created of her. (1) It was personal. He didn't like sharing the fact that he could draw. (2) He would be embarrassed for the rest of his life. (3) Page after page was Meli. It was a darn Meli lovefest in there.

“Show me...” She reached out her arms to grab the book, to which Merlin reacted quickly and hugged his sketch book, protecting that book wih his life.

“No! It’s personal,” he clutched it tighter.

Meli’s brow raised in surprise and devious expectation. Lowering her voice to a sexy whisper, “What does a girl have to do... to... ummm... get to see your ‘personal’ goodies?” Cupping and boosting her breasts up with her hands in a playful manner, she closed her eyes and softly bit her bottom lip while vocalizing a seductive moan. A wide grin began to spread on her face when his eyes widened and his mouth opened in shock. She let go of her breast and began to laugh uncontrollably, “You are so gullible. I was just teasing, relax.”

A loud “shh” came from the older woman behind the counter, making the Meli cover her mouth to muffle her laughter.

He felt a bit insulted and turned his gaze away. Grabbing his water bottle and taking a big gulp, Meli saw a new opportunity to shine through. “Besides, I’m a lesbian.” As she expected, he sprayed the water out of his mouth and to the side. Merlin had pure horror written all over his face. His world was crumbling to pieces. He wanted to shake the lesbian out of her or he was hoping that she didn't say what he thought she did. He stared her down trying to find any hint or movement in her that would let him know she was just kidding. Before Meli could even open her mouth, a petite blonde headed girl with a murderous stare stood before them. Her hands turned to fists and she looked like she was ready to kill someone.

“What the HELL is your problem, Loser!?”

Merlin passed his hands over his unruly hair. “I’m sorry... I didn’t see you,” he tried to explain.

The girl was soaked with water sprayed from his mouth and he knew he was going to get it. Before the girl could do or say anything to poor Pencil Boy, she was met with a slightly taller girl dressed in combat boots, a black frilly skirt and heavy dark eyeliner around her dark brown eyes. Meli crossed her arms and stared her down daring this petite girly-girl to do something. “Don’t have an ulcer, your cheap hair extensions might fall out and then who will love you?”

The girl looked horrified, “Ugh, how dare you... you... you...” The blonde was at a loss for words as she touched her head and a strand of her blonde hair stuck to her fingers. She was angry, but most of all embarrassed. She decided to leave her hair as it was and quickly ran the opposite way before anyone else see her.

Meli started bursting in laughter one more time; ignoring the
“shh’s” she received from the elderly clerk.

Merlin couldn’t help but give a sigh in relief as he saw the girl stomp away. He couldn't help but laugh a little at Meli’s fits of laughter. He didn’t think it would ever be possible to see her smile let alone laugh. It was such a sweet sound. “Thanks,” he smirked, “...for standing up for me.”

She sat down as her laughter diminishing to audible chuckles, “I figured I got you into that mess, might as well get you out of it. Did you see her?! She was going to kick your ass! No doubt about it. Well, either her or steroid boy over there.” Her eyes drifted behind him. His eyes followed hers to a jock wearing a letterman's jacket from rival high school. He was glaring at them both, but made no attempt to say anything. Instead, at the sight of Meli, he just pulled his gaze away and back to his book. Merlin didn’t understand why, but he was thankful for the lack of confrontation.

They finished a few more problems and gathered their books to leave. A blaring guitar riff screamed from Meli's phone as the vibrating phone buzzed across the table. Meli quickly recognized the sound. She stared at the name on the display screen. It was him. She debated on whether to answer