The dryad didn’t look at him when he announced he knew she was smiling. She waited until she was able to force the smile to evaporate from her face. It didn’t matter if he’d guessed it because she felt too much pride to actually let him see it. “I’m not part of PETA.” Jia Li announced. She may as well get that out there right now because he wouldn’t stop his cracks about it. It was better to be informed, right?
“Oh, no. You caught me, and you guessed my name.” Her voice was slathered in sarcasm. “Please, just don’t tell anyone I’m into bestiality!” She rolled her green eyes.
“Inadvertently frightening a squirrel isn’t the same as actively trying to scare it, so don’t try to lecture me on the butterfly effect.” Jia Li stated. She adjusted her book bag on her back before crossing her arms over her chest. She clearly wasn’t amused though his amusement seemed never ending.
Her eyes watched him as he explained why the squirrel was fine while she wouldn’t have been had he actually shot lightning at her. Why would someone who seemed rather intelligent when he wanted to be act like… this? Did he feel contempt for people who weren’t intelligent enough to match him mentally, so he had to let them know they were lowly in his eyes by acting condescending toward them? “What are you a physics major or something?”
Jia Li raised a brow at him. Was he serious? “Right, because YouTube pays money to people who post videos on their site.” Now that he said something, he was kind of good looking, but the sheer fact that he was such a prick lessened whatever appeal he may have had. “Besides, I’m sure a squirrel attacking your face and making you scream like a little girl wouldn’t exactly be acting so much as something candid. Maybe by the time it was done, you wouldn’t really have the kind of face that deserved royalties.”
She stepped forward quickly with her hand up. “No. That’s okay. I’m pretty certain you would be callous enough to actually do it just to prove a point, and I’d rather not have that happen.”
Then he stepped forward and invaded her space, but she managed to duck under his arms and right herself on the other side with the graceful movements of a trained dancer. Then she began guessing, and he laughed off each one. She had expected as much. Even if she had hit a mark, she knew he wouldn’t let it show. Guys like him didn’t like people to know they felt emotions very deeply. They wanted to appear shallow and aloof.
Jia Li shook her head at his announcement that he wanted to be a porn star. She was fairly certain he was just joking because it seemed unlikely he’d really express anything real about himself.
“It’s good to know that you’re an optimist, but I don’t drink. It’s illegal no matter what a person’s race until a certain age, and I like being in control of myself. Besides, I’m not going to place myself in a position to have someone take advantage of me. I’m sure you’d be more than game to do it, too.” Besides, she didn’t just have herself about which to think. She had to take care of herself in order to take care of her tree. Jia Li had never heard of alcohol damaging a tree, but it was always possible. She didn’t want to take that chance.