2.2

We walked to the horse, and he helped me to sit on top before sitting behind me. I only rode a horse twice in my life with someone navigating the horse for me while I just sat there. This is my third time, but now the “navigator” is behind me while he wrapped his arms around me to control the reigns. *cue romantic music*

I hummed a tune that is used to this kind of scene after the horse started moving at a calm pace.

“What are you singing about?” I felt his breath on my nape when he asked his question. I just shrugged and continued to take in the surroundings. I noticed that there’s no path or any signs of road to where we are currently ‘strolling’ on. Trees and greeny things surrounded us. I don’t know, I suck at describing things. Anyway, Jayce just speaks his mind and does not stop telling tales about his adventures with Aziel.

“Really? Are you sure it’s a bear you managed to tame, and not a rabbit?” I teased. He poked my sides while I just stuck my tongue out at him. After strolling for a little while, we reached what seems like the edge of the forest before the road in front of us.

“Ready yourself, love.” I looked at him, confused as to what I should be ready myself for, as he led the horse on the road.

“Why would I ready—” before I can even finish my sentence, he hit the horse hard making it jump in surprise and ran fast. This caused me to fall back on his chest as the horse continued to speed up.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” the words I managed to spit out while I try to hold on to my dear life. The horse was running fast that I was having a hard time catching up with its motion. Dear goodness my crotch hurts!! And to think that I have a vagina and it hurts already, what more if I had a penis?! How can he sit still?! I’m bouncing for my dear life! I can only hear Jayce laughing at my misery. It’s a good thing that his arms encased me or I would have fallen to my death.

After for what I felt like years of riding that horse, he slowed down the pace of the horse as we reached the entrance of the marketplace. As we entered, many people are giving us weird glances while some shamelessly look directly at us and whisper something I hope that is good. Oh right, I am dressed ‘like a man’, and seeing two guys riding the same horse while being intimately close is frowned upon. I tried to ignore them; however, I still feel uncomfortable with their glares. Jayce seems to be unaffected. Good for him.

He got down from the horse first to help me by holding me by the waist. By the time that I was down, an old man passed by without forgetting to spit the word “Faggots” at us. This caused my eyebrows to scrunch as I glared at the back of the man. I didn’t know how long I was glaring, but I stopped as soon as someone placed their finger in the middle of my eyebrows, as if to smoothen the crease that formed while I was frowning. I shot a confused look at the source of the finger—Jayce.

“A frown should not adorn your lovely face,” he said with a sheepish smile while still trying to smooth out my forehead. Luh. I scoffed in my head, but I still feel my face heat as I smiled. I looked away with pursed lips and blew an air without letting the air escape my mouth, making my cheeks bloat. Cliché, I know. In my defense, let me remind you, I am still a hormonal teenager who’s been sexually frustrated for so long that even the simplest ‘romantic’ things make me all giddy and excited (though, it’s just been months since our breakup… STILL, it’s something I used to have and can have anytime I wanted. Losing that ‘privilege’ is what makes it frustrating). Wait, no, scratch that. Even if a hot guy (according to my standards) would just pass me by, I think I will melt. Then, I’ll think of different scenarios for what our future will be. Suppose he’s a mafia boss with an icy heart and after some time, he will warm up to me. Yep, I read too much W*****d stories. It doesn’t help that I’m a little hopeless romantic… Or just horny.

“Let’s just go. Yeah,” we started walking to the stalls for the vegetables. I was still flustered, but this bitch ain’t falling that easy.

STORY TIME! I remembered when someone confessed that they liked me back, I was skeptical at first. I thought it was just a dare from his friends. I mean, seriously? Me? Of all the prettier girls he could’ve chosen, he still chose me? Who would not suspect that, especially since I’m just your average looking girl? I came from a private all-girls school and it was my first time having a classmate of the opposite sex, and I can never trust men and their intentions. Boy, do I have a lot of trust issues.

I shook my head at the memory and continued to pick on the right bananas. However, just beside this stand was a stall full of pastries that looked delicious. I kept on looking back at the stall, even if I know we can’t afford them. That’s sad. I stopped eyeing the delicacies when Jayce spoke.

“Shouldn’t you pick the ripe ones? You know, the softer bananas,” Jayce said when he noticed I was picking greenish bananas.

“Would you eat it right away? Because if you plan to store it for a while, it’s better to choose the almost ripe ones to avoid it from over-riping—” as soon as I finished the sentence, a man who looks like a preacher started shouting that I only heard on my English literature classes… Or was it Religion? History????

“EVERYONE LISTEN! GOD HAS SPOKEN TO ME! IF YOU WANTED TO GO TO HEAVEN AFTER YOU DIE, YOU MUST OFFER 10 GOLD COINS AND ADDITIONAL 5 GOLD COINS TO SIGN THIS DEED! THIS DEED WOULD BE A PROOF OF YOUR EVERLASTING FAITH TO GOD AND MUST BE RENEWED EVERY MONTH!!” What in the actual fuck? What fuckery is this? Reading it in books is infuriating enough, but to actually hear it? The audacity…

“10 gold coins? That can already buy us two months’ worth of food! Complete meals with snacks!” Jayce exclaimed beside me, also watching the scene unfold in front of us. People lined up and actually pay him.

“IF YOU DO NOT PAY, YOU SHALL BE DAMNED TO HELL!!” some of the crowd gasped, horrified. I can’t help but roll my eyes. I’m not religious, though I’m a Catholic. I do not worship; however, I try my best to not disappoint God (with which I know I already failed miserably). I use my religion for guidance, not for me to depend my life solely on it without taking actions. Do you get my point? It’s like instead of “I pray for you to have a better life”, I would rather help that person get a better life because that’s what my religion tells me: love your neighbor as you love yourself. And, I don’t shove my faith to people’s throats.

Sadly, the preacher caught me rolling my eyes. He rose a brow at me and I panicked on the inside because he looks like he’s about to spew some venom at me.

“YOU!” he pointed at me. My eyes widened at the sudden attention. Even though I know it’s too late, I acted as if I didn’t hear him. All eyes were on us while I tried to look at Jayce for help. What should I do?! I’m not good at confrontations! Much more in public!

“Let’s go home.” I whispered to Jayce hastily as I tried to pull him away with me. Too bad, we can’t always get what we wanted.

“YOUNG MAN! YOU DARE QUESTION GOD’S WILL FOR US?!” he walked towards my direction while I still feign ignorance. I pointed at myself, asking if he was pertaining to me.

“UNACCEPTABLE!! YOU INSOLENT YOUNG MAN! YOU MUST HATE GOD FOR YOU ARE WITH THE DEVIL!! STANDING THERE, MOCKING HIS WORDS,” WHAT?! MOCKING?! SINCE WHEN??? Series of horrified and surprised gasps followed suit. I was more than flustered with the situation I threw myself in. I frantically waved my hands and shook my head.

“You m-must have misunderstood! I mean no such thing!” I stuttered while trying to defend myself. I was already panicking on the inside. After I finished my sentence, he gasped out loud.

“YOU DARE TALK BACK TO ME?! EVERYONE! BEWARE OF THIS YOUNG MAN! HIS SOUL IS BEING CONSUMED BY THE DEVIL! IF YOU DON’T WANT THIS TO GET MUCH WORSE AND HARM YOU IN THE NEAR FUTURE, YOU MUST GIVE 30 GOLD COINS FOR ME TO GUARANTEE YOUR SAFETY FROM THE DEVIL!! HURRY, FOR HE MIGHT CAUSE HAVOC WHEN LEFT ALONE.” oh wow. I’m beyond flabbergasted at this point. Did he just use me to get more money?! Fury and rage filled my insides and I can’t help but glare at him. This only placed me more on the negative light.

‘Ohhhh, look at his eyes! They are of the devil! Ahhh~’ I groaned inwardly and tried my best to not roll my eyes, only for him to use it against me, saying my eyes are wide because of the devil. Guess what, people actually paid him.

Ok, I’m getting sick of this shit show. I did the one thing I thought I’ll never do in my life: stand up for myself in public.

“You know what? You need to stop this bullshit.” His eyes widened when I cursed him. He was about to speak, but I cut him off before he can even open his mouth.

“People! Are you really believing every word he says? Money can’t buy you a good spot in heaven! A good deed does! He’s clearly using your faith for his own wealth! God doesn’t want you to spend your money like that! If you really want a place in heaven, then spend it on something that will help you and your neighbor!” The preacher looked irritated and was glaring daggers at me. People around me started going after the preacher, then praising me. And they lived happily ever after.

Yeah, right.

That scenario is too good and too cool for me. If I were to defend myself, I’ll only end up in a stuttering mess.

“YEAH! THERE MUST BE A DEVIL INSIDE HIM! I SAW HIM LOOKING AT A GUY WITH LOVE IN HIS EYES! FAGGOT!!” The rude man from earlier chirped in, causing the people around to look more disgusted.

“N-no I-I’m not!” I tried to defend myself and I must’ve looked like a goldfish while trying to look for the right words. My eyes started to mist as I looked around for help. I only got disgusted and frightened stares. I was hoping for someone to defend me. When I saw Jayce move, I relaxed a bit. However, what he did next was unexpected, and I lost all hope.

“Don’t worry people! I will lead him away from us so he can harm no more! I just need 10 gold coins to keep him intact!” I stared at him in disbelief. People paid him and he roughly bound my arms behind my back as he pushed me forwards. Right now, I can no longer fight back the tears that formed in my eyes. I lowered my head down to at least lessen the embarrassment I had for the day. By the time we are away from the people, he let go of me and I started to sob. I have never felt so humiliated and used in my entire life.

“NICE! This can feed us for the next 5 months! People really fell for that? By the way, nice acting darl—” I heard him stopped mid-sentence. I guess he’s already aware of my situation.

“Shite!” I heard him curse under his breath as he ran to my side and crouch at my level.

“Oh, dear goodness! I deeply apologize for my actions a while ago! It was not my i-intention to h-hurt you! I’m such an idiot, I’m so sorry!” he stuttered, while trying to comfort me by rubbing my shoulders.

“A-at least we have some gold coins?” this comment made my breath hitch. I swatted his arms away and stood up. I wiped away my tears and avoided to look at him.

“Let’s just go back to your house,” I said, trying to keep my emotions at bay.

“A-alright,” was all he said as he helped me up by the horse and made our ways back to the house.