It wasn\u2019t my favorite place to be – honestly, I could think of dozens of places that I\u2019d rather be – but considering it was well past three in the morning, my options were pretty limited.\u00a0 The only restaurant still open at this hour would be swarming with drunks at this time of night, and all of the fast food places were either closed or drive-thru only.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure why any bakery would be open twenty-four hours, but the donuts were good, and I guess if the employees have to be here to start baking, you don\u2019t really lose much by never closing.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d stashed my work clothes in my car, but switching them out in favor of shorts and a t-shirt wasn\u2019t enough to prevent me from reeking of taco meat and cleaning chemicals.\u00a0 It was probably my hair, absorbing sweat throughout the night underneath my hat.\u00a0 Well, hopefully it wasn\u2019t as noticeable as I thought it was.\u00a0 Normally I\u2019m not very self-conscious about my appearance, but she\u2019s here again tonight.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been almost three weeks since I moved into town.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been able to talk to a few of my friends over email, but it\u2019s not the same.\u00a0 I was hoping to meet new people, but my coworkers are just\u2026 so unlikeable.\u00a0 Sure, it\u2019s fast food, so I don\u2019t have high hopes, but usually there\u2019s at least one or two people who are passable humans.\u00a0 And maybe during the day, there are.\u00a0 But Carroll\u2019s got me working night shifts, and you can just feel the poverty and broken dreams weighing everyone else down.\u00a0 Add in the part where I don\u2019t watch sports, and you\u2019ve got the perfect mixture of absolutely nothing in common.<\/p>\n
My mother suggested that I get out of the apartment more.\u00a0 And she\u2019s not wrong, but it\u2019s easier said than done when your sleeping hours take place during everyone else\u2019s afternoons.\u00a0 I tried the coffee shops for a while, all two of them that are open past midnight, but they\u2019re filled with different sorts of crazy.\u00a0 Maybe I\u2019m being too picky.\u00a0 The bakery hasn\u2019t been too much better, except for her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She wasn\u2019t here two nights ago, but she did come in last night.\u00a0 I tried hard not to stare awkwardly at her, but the way her hair framed her face was just\u2026 and her chest!\u00a0 And I know what you\u2019re thinking, but I promise I\u2019m taking the whole package into consideration.\u00a0 She was talking to her friends- who also seem like decent people, I might add- about current events.\u00a0 It had been almost a week since my last intelligent conversation about politics, so don\u2019t even try to blame me for eavesdropping.\u00a0 I wanted so badly to join in, but I just couldn\u2019t work up the courage.\u00a0 Eventually I left, leaving the three of them to finish their discussion in peace.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m so glad she\u2019s here.\u00a0 Friday nights always took longer to close, I was worried that I had missed her.\u00a0 As it was, I entered just in time to see her friends leaving.\u00a0 She was finishing up a piece of cake, looking around the empty store as she ate.\u00a0 We locked eyes almost instantly\u2026 I felt trapped.\u00a0 Maybe it was for the best.\u00a0 I took a deep breath, and walked forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name\u2019s Lewis.\u00a0 It\u2019s\u2026 nice to meet you?\u201d I said, trying to keep my hands in my pockets.\u00a0 If I didn\u2019t, they\u2019d betray my nerves.\u00a0 \u201cI hope you don\u2019t mind, it\u2019s just\u2026 well, I\u2019m new to the area, and it\u2019s hard for me to meet new people, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
She smiled.\u00a0 She smiled, and I completely lost my train of thought.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s nice to meet you, too.\u00a0 My name is Alice.\u00a0 I know what you mean about meeting new people, but please forgive me.\u00a0 I really can\u2019t stay for much longer.\u00a0 Maybe\u2026 maybe some other night.\u00a0 Next month, perhaps.\u00a0 But it\u2019s just too late right now.\u00a0 If you can talk to my friends, I think you saw them leave?\u00a0 Dee and Tyra can tell you when I\u2019m back in town.\u00a0 Maybe they\u2019ll be your friends, too.\u00a0 But I can\u2019t.\u00a0 Please forgive me, Lewis, but I just can\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 Her chair shrieked against the floor as she pushed herself away from the table, her hair spinning with a flourish as she ran toward the back hallway.\u00a0 Her fork dropped to the floor with a clatter as my tired mind tried to process what was happening.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlice, wait!\u201d I yelled, running after her.\u00a0 \u201cPlease, wait!\u201d\u00a0 I followed her down the hallway, easing past pallets of flour and sugar that were stored out in the open for want of a better place.\u00a0 It was an old enough building that the bathrooms were hidden away in the rear- something that had caused me no end of confusion on my first visit.\u00a0 Yet we ran further still, the aged linoleum transitioning into bare concrete as the drywall became less and less finished.\u00a0 We couldn\u2019t possibly still be in the bakery- we had been running for too long.\u00a0 I hadn\u2019t paid any attention to how many twists or turns there had been.\u00a0 It had been hard enough just keeping up with her.<\/p>\n
To my relief, she stopped in front of an old oak door.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if I could have kept up for much longer, but by the sounds of her breathing neither could she.\u00a0 The bare drywall was now some sort of stone material, and though it was hard to see in the darkness, I could have sworn the floor was now bare dirt.\u00a0 I shook my head.\u00a0 Everything about this was weird.\u00a0 Best to focus on one thing at a time.\u00a0 She had her hand on the doorknob, her head intentionally tilted away from me.<\/p>\n
\u201cLewis, I\u2026 you don\u2019t even know me.\u00a0 And yet you\u2019re the first person to ever follow me, and you\u2026 well, I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re trustworthy, but you certainly don\u2019t seem evil.\u00a0 You\u2026 do you really think you could be with me?\u00a0 I\u2019m not normal.\u00a0 I\u2019m a were-human.\u201d<\/p>\n
I paused, before the exact words clicked.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t help but laugh.\u00a0 \u201cRight, right.\u00a0 And you wouldn\u2019t know it from looking at me, but I\u2019m actually half-centaur.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why I ran,\u201d she said, turning to face me head on so that she could glare at me.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not joking, Lewis.\u00a0 I\u2019m a were-human.\u00a0 I become a human during the full moon, leaving me\u2026 exposed.\u00a0 So I come here, partially to escape to a place where I\u2019m not in constant danger without the ability to protect myself, but\u2026 I\u2019ll be honest, partially to have social interaction.\u00a0 It\u2019s nice to have a conversation with someone who isn\u2019t worried that you\u2019ll\u2026\u201d she paused, shaking her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can come with me, if you want.\u00a0 And after you become\u2026 like me, I could make you a were-human too.\u00a0 And we could live together, on the other side of this door.\u00a0 But I have to warn you, Lewis.\u00a0 If we go through together, we\u2019ll never be able to come back here. \u00a0\u00a0I have to make sure you understand that.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve watched movies like this.\u00a0 But this isn\u2019t fiction, this is real life.\u00a0 You\u2019ve never met me before.\u00a0 Do you really want to throw everything away for me? \u00a0There will be other worlds, but the door to this one will be closed forever.\u00a0 You said you were new here.\u00a0 It\u2019d be easy for you to leave.\u00a0 But can you really leave your family behind?\u00a0 Are you really so wanting for friendship that you\u2019d follow me?\u201d<\/p>\n
I could do nothing but stand there, the laughter dead from my lips.\u00a0 There was something about her that\u2026 I knew she wasn\u2019t joking.\u00a0 She was telling the truth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t wait any longer,\u201d she said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll be leaving now.\u00a0 The door will be left unlocked for a few minutes.\u00a0 After that\u2026 well, I promise I won\u2019t judge you if you don\u2019t follow me, Lewis.\u201d\u00a0 The door opened on smoothly, the hinges clean and well-oiled despite all appearances.\u00a0 When she pulled it shut behind her, I didn\u2019t hear so much as a dull thud.<\/p>\n
I never did see her again.\u00a0 It\u2019s probably for the best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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