“Are you alright? Are you hurt?” Justin helped Rachel up.
“Steven!” She was shocked to the core the moment she saw blood.
At that moment, Steven had gotten into a fight with the girl; instead of a fight, it was more appropriate to say that she was riding on top of him, which left him no openings to counter.
“Let go or I won’t hold my punches back!”
“How dare you!”
“You’re crazy!”
Rachel stepped forward to help him but was thwarted by Justin, who grabbed the girl’s hand afterward. “Stop it!”
It was obvious that the girl had learned martial arts, yet she could not free her hand out of his grasp. Thus, Steven seized the chance to shove her away and get up before hiding himself behind Justin.
Steven covered his face and shouted, “I’m calling the cops!”
“What? I should be the one doing that to report you, pervert!” She was about to charge toward him, but Justin quickly stood in between them.
“Are you guys trying to win against me with numbers? I’m not afraid! Wanna call the cops? I’ll call it for you. We’ll see whose side the police are on!”
“Hold on,” Rachel interrupted. “Let’s talk, girl. We don’t mean to harm you. Can’t you see that we’re just pulling the both of you apart?”
Looking at Rachel’s amiable face, the girl gave in before pointing at Steven. “This dumb*ss says that I’ve jumped the line, but I just left the line for a while. He kept picking on me by saying that I’m rude.”
“Steven, did you really say that?”
Steven was still covering his face. “She’s lying. Don’t listen to her nonsense. It is true that she cut the line.”
“Sorry, who? Why don’t you repeat that, huh?” The girl had her hair tied into a ponytail and was cladded in a green sweater. Whenever she jumped, her ponytail swayed, and she looked as fierce as a wolf.
Meanwhile, the ice cream truck owner could not bear the dispute anymore as he craned his neck out of the window. “I can vouch for the girl. She was in the line first while helping someone to look after their child. She’s just returned after sending the kid back to the parents.”
Finally, the truth had been revealed.
“Do you hear that loud and clear?” The girl placed her hands on her waist with a formidable aura.
Steven responded, “If everyone cuts the line after leaving the place for a moment, it’ll be a total mess.”
“You!”
“Okay, stop.” Rachel was worried that another fight would arise again. “Objectively speaking, both of you are neither right nor wrong. Steven, you shouldn’t blame someone else without getting to the bottom of it and make her ice cream fall off on purpose. Apologize to her.”
His unwillingness was written all over his face. Still, it would be petty of him to not apologize since she had put it that way. Thus, he offered his apology in a perfunctory manner. “Sorry.”
Rachel cast her gaze onto the girl. “I think violence isn’t right either, isn’t it?”
After all, she could not be too dour to a stranger, so she could only hope that the girl had a good upbringing.
The girl still remained firm with her attitude as she said, “I’m wrong for being physical, but I wouldn’t have done that if you did not run that big mouth of yours. Behave when you’re outside and stop asking trouble for yourself.”
A helpless Rachel eventually became the middle person. “I guess we can get over the matter now. I’ll buy you a new ice-cream.”
“No, I can buy it myself.” The girl fished out some notes from her pocket while saying that. “Take it and pay his medical bills for me.”
Rachel was slightly stunned to see the stack of money proffered by the girl whereas Steven’s face turned crimson in rage. “What the hell? Do you think that these five and ten dollars notes are enough to compensate for it? You’ve scratched my face, dude!”
The girl shot daggers at him. “Then buy yourself some band-aids. Are you perhaps planning to go to the hospital because of such a scratch? Are you even a man?”
She stuffed the money into Rachel’s hand and turned around to leave the scene.
“Hey!” Rachel held the money while calling the girl, but to no avail.
Even after the girl was long gone, Steven was still hiding behind Justin, who questioned, “Can you let me go now?”
Steven was baffled as he finally realized that he had been grabbing onto Justin’s arm. This is embarrassing!
Steven cleared his throat. “A real man should never hit a woman. I despise that kind of man the most.”
He then hissed and touched his face. “That maniac must be out of her mind.”
“Are you okay?” Rachel approached him to take a closer look at the scratches on his face. “They’re kinda deep, though. Is it painful?”
“It hurts.” His face scrunched up in pain. “Rae, could you blow on it?”
Before Rachel could respond to his request, Justin pulled her away. “Which part of it hurts? I can do it.”
Watching the man’s rigid countenance, Steven gulped. “Nevermind.”
Rachel then thrusted the money into Steven’s hand. “Take it. It’s meant to pay for your medical bills anyway.”
The ire in him flared up at the mention of that. “Don’t let me see that mad woman again.”
Despite the unforeseen episode, the whole journey went smoothly. Since they were here to let their hair down, they strolled along the route by the reservoir with Steven taking pictures of them at times; it was a relaxing walk.
Steven looked funny with the three spongebob band-aids on his face, which were given by the ice cream truck owner.
“I’m sure your sister will be blabbering on and on after seeing your face,” Rachel said helplessly while sliding her arms into Justin’s. “I think we’re jinxed because he’s always hurt whenever we’re together.”
“Maybe. Let’s go to the church in Westhill and pray. It’ll probably get better after that.”
“You believe in that? I was just saying, though.”
“I would like to believe that something like that does exist, so let’s not bring him along next time.”
Rachel chuckled at that. “Are you jealous?”
“I’m not jealous of him, but he keeps getting in the way when we’re supposed to be dating. I’m kinda bothered by it. Can you understand how I’m feeling at the moment?”
“Yeah, yeah.” She was wreathed in smiles. “You are magnanimous.”
“Why are you walking so fast?” Steven yelled behind them as he caught up with them while holding his camera. “I’ve been taking so many pictures of you guys. I want a few of myself too. Here, take a picture of us together.”
With that being said, he shoved the camera into Justin’s hands before pulling Rachel over.
“Let’s stand here. The scenery is great. Don’t forget about the lighthouse behind me. Rae, smile.”
She was turning her head to look at the lighthouse when the camera shutter clicked.
“Let’s take some more.”
Steven kept changing his postures by forming a heart with her and making faces. However, if he had checked the taken photos, he would find out that he was not in any of them despite all the effort. Not even the hem of his shirt was in the photos, for there was only Rachel with the scenery in Justin’s shots.
