♡ Chapter 9 ♡

                                    

                                          
I glare at him.
He glares at me.
I jerk my body forward to make it look like I'm gonna kill him.
He stays in the exact same place, unaffected. 
I cross my arms and huff. I'm not backing down. 
He crosses his arms, as if he were mocking me. Okay, he is mocking me. 
"Why can't we just take my car!" I complain while standing beside it.
He stands in the driveway beside his. He says dryly, "Because."
"Because, why?" I question. "Did I miss the vote where I elected you mayor?"
He rolls his eyes. 
"Because, Azalea," he says my name as if it were an insult. I wonder if he'd still say it what way if I stuck my boot all the way up his- "I've done this kind of shit several times. I know where to park, so we won't be in any cameras.
I roll my eyes, "Michael is obviously gonna tell my dad I stopped by. So what's it matter if we're on camera?"
"It matters if I'm on camera," he clarifies. "Your father knows my face. Michael doesn't."
Whatever. I give up and walk over to his car.
With the sky dark, we started driving toward the warehouse Michael is supposed to be at. I haven't really thought of a lie as to why I'm gonna show up, but I'm sure I'll come up with one once I'm there. 
Today, I felt better. As if I had the sunshine inside of me back. Yesterday, I felt odd. Different. But today, I woke up with a smile again.
And I think that it has something to do with Reese's words to me yesterday. 
We park in the same parking lot as last time, and cold wind blows as we step out of the car. I cross my arms together as we meet each other in front of the car, and start walking toward the warehouse.
"Don't ask any stupid questions," Alec says to me with his usual empty-eyed murderous look. "Just stuff about the security. And bring it up in a natural way."
The gravel crunches beneath our feet as we start crossing the road. I cross my arms and look up at him as we walk, "You know, your attitude is horrible."
"Is it?"
"Yea. You're like a dried-up sponge that's been forgotten under the kitchen sink for 3 years and has started turning moldy."
He looks at me with lowered eyebrows. And then he flicks my forehead.
"Hey! You piece of sh- Hey, Michael!" I cut my sentence off and smile as we reached the fence. Fog came out of my mouth as I talked, but evaporated quickly into the air as if it had never even existed.
From the other side of the fence, Michael gives me a confused look and drops his clipboard down beside him.
"Hey there, Azalea. What are you doing here?" he steps toward the fence and asks. 
Time to pull a lie out of my butt.
"I was in the neighborhood and really needed to use the bathroom!" I start shifting back and forth to make it look as if I were trying to hold it in. 
He very quickly pressed a button on the wall, which made the fence begin to slide. He gestures inside, "Oh, come on in, dear."
I smile at him. Even though I'm lying, I super appreciate it. 
I follow him through the cold air and into the building. When I enter, my jaw drops. The ceiling looks like it's miles away. Workers completely fill the building, with there being at least 50 people here. I had absolutely no idea what they were doing, but they all looked super busy.