Chapter Eight - Alone in the World

Sitting on the sidewalk in front of the graveyard was probably not a good idea, but I did not know what else to do.  I really did not want to go back to face Gin and Terry and everyone, but I knew I had to eventually.  Better sooner than later…right?
         I stood and took a deep breath in and let it out.  It was more of a sigh really.  I had been sitting there for a while, but I did not have a watch so I would never know how long.  I turned to face the graveyard and looked up at the angel sitting atop the gates.  She looked so sad.  Her wings were stretched out and she looked down at me with heartbreaking eyes.  Holding a sword down in her right hand and a torch up in her left she stood there unmoving.  She looked very old and I wondered how long she had been there for.  She was the one that was really like me.  Nobody on the other side of the street like the lamps.  Just alone with her sword and torch.  Except I did not have either of those things.
         “Bye,” I quietly said to her and turned to walk away.  I started walking left, from the direction I had come from but then stopped.  I could not remember where I was going to go after that.  I had wandered looking at my feet the whole time; now I was completely lost!  Great.
         I looked up and down the street helplessly.  And then I heard whistling coming from behind me in the graveyard.  It was the same whistling I had heard before I ran into the cemetery.  I spun around to see Hunter walking down the pathway towards me.  As he saw that I was still standing by the gate his whistling went lower and then stopped altogether.  When I knew he saw me I was not sure what to do; so I just gave him a small wave.
         He came up to the gates and opened them.  He turned to face me.
         “You’re not waiting for me, are you?” he asked.  Even though I was not waiting for him, I kind of felt like I was.
         “No,” I said calmly, “I just don’t want to go…home yet.”  His eyes narrowed.
         “You’re lost.” He accused.
         “I’m lost,” I looked at him and smiled with a shrug.  He merely rolled his eyes at me in response.
         “Fine, I’ll take you home,” he scratched his head, thinking, “where do you live?”  I stared at him for a long moment before replying.
         “That way,” I said and pointed down the street to where I had come from.  Hunter looked down the street and then back at me.
         “You don’t know a street name?  Can’t you picture it in your head?  An object that would help me out here?” When I shrugged at him again he sighed and started walking in the direction I had pointed.  I followed without saying anything. 
         Once we turned the corner we were on a street that looked just like the one we were just on.  But there were more street lights.  Eventually we came to a bench and Hunter sat down on it.  I stayed standing, unsure of what to do.
         “Are you hungry?” he looked up at me.
         “I have a spell…I don’t feel hungry or anything like that,” I should have just said ‘Yes, I’m hungry’ because that was obviously what he wanted to hear.
         “Well, I am,” he said, “so I’m going to go get something to eat, you can come if you want to.  And then I’ll help you get home…I guess.”
         “Thank you,” I said quietly.  I think thanking him caught him off guard because he looked very surprised when I said it.
         “Uh, yeah, no problem,” he carefully avoided meeting my eyes before getting up and continuing to walk down the street.

         While walking down all the winding roads, Hunter and I did not say much.  It was not really an awkward silence, but more of an I-have-nothing-to-say silence.  That was not awkward AT ALL.
         As we turned different corners there seemed to be more and more people walking by.  Not a lot, but more than what was on the previous street.  We had been walking for ten minutes when Hunter said, “Here we are.”
         I looked up and realized where we were.  The Café.  Oh…damn it all.  After what happened would they let me in?  Did they even know it was me that caused the slight riot?  I hoped they did not know it was me and that they would let me in.
         Hunter crossed the street with me only a few steps behind.  He opened the glass door and held it for me.  I nervously walked in a head of him, playing with the neck of Hunters sweater the whole time.  I looked to the left and there was nobody there at all.  To the right there was a couple about mid-twenties and one man sitting at the counter with his back to me.  I let out a sigh of relief.
         I trailed Hunter to the very last booth by the window.  He sat so that he could see everyone in the café and I sat across from him.  He picked up a menu and began to read.  After a moment he looked up at me without moving his head.
         “I’ll buy you something,” he declared, “only to make you stop staring at me.” I was staring at him?  Damn, I had not even realized it.  He slid the second menu at me and I thanked him.  I then remember that I could not read the menu.  I quietly cursed him as he returned to reading the menu.
         I picked up the menu and pretended that I could read it.  I would just order water and that spicy meal.  Though I did not know what it was called.  After what felt like an hour Hunter put his menu down and looked at me.  He entangled his hands together and rested his head on them.
         “So,” he said, “see anything you want?”  Pretend like you can read, I told myself.
         “Uh…yes and no,” I claimed.
         “Really?  I thought it would be hard to see what you want when you hold the menu upside down.” I had to stop doing that.
         I felt my face turn red and decided that I would admit that I really could not read demon.
         “So, funny story,” I set the menu down and waved my hands around, “I can’t actually read this.” His eyes widened in surprise.  Thankfully I was saved by the waitress who stepped up to us and asked if we were ready to order.  Hunter finally ripped his wide eyes away from mine and said he would have the daily special.  When the waitress looked at me, she nearly screamed.  It was the waitress that I had before that kept blushing at everything Terry said.
         “It’s you!  Oh my God!  Are you okay?” She had dropped her pad and paper and bent down to pick them up.  The second she was up she was looking at me waiting for an answer.
         “I’m…okay?” I did not think I really was okay, but I thought it would be better if she did not know that.
         “Are you sure?” she asked, “because you had one hell of a bloody nose.  And you looked like your head was going to explode!  I was so scared.  And then things started flying around and that freaky earthquake or whatever.  You know that human is in critical condition because of that hit to the head.  At least that cute ferret boy wasn’t hurt.  By the way do you know his name?  Well of course you know his name, you were eating with him!  So uh…what is his name?”
         I swallowed hard.
         “Terry,” I said.  This girl was worse than Kay or Rina.  Once she found out Terry’s name, she brightened.  And I knew I felt better knowing that people at the café did not know it was me that caused everything to shake and fly around.
         “So uh,” I felt nervous asking a demon about a human, but I would never know otherwise, “how is that human doing?  Not that I care or anything.”  And to be honest I really did not, at least not about boring boy Roy.  I just wanted to make sure that I did not kill anyone on my first day of being alive!
         “Well, I hear he’s okay…but he’s hurt pretty bad.  Broken legs and stuff.” She tapped her mouth with her pen, thinking.
         “Whoops,” I said to myself.  And sadly, Hunter heard me.
         “So what do you want?  The spicy special?  You know, you’re the only person that really orders it.” She looked at me and laughed and I joined her nervously.
         “I’ll have that…please.”  The waitress then walked away to get our orders.
         “So you’ve been here before huh?” Hunter leaning against the window side of the booth with his feet up.
         “Y-yeah,” he knew.  I knew he knew.  Damn.
         “Whoops?” he questioned.
         “Okay, so maybe, the shaking and flying objects was a little my fault.  Just a little.”
         “How’d you do it?”
         “I can kind of,” I coughed and spoke quieter, “move things with my mind and read minds.  Just a little though.”  I thought Hunter’s eyes were going to fall out of his head they were so wide.
         “You can…read…minds…shit,” he held his head as if it would topple over without support and starting breathing heavily.
         “Yeah, but not when I want to,” I was starting to panic, “it just kinda happens.  If it makes you feel better I haven’t read your mind at all!” It was a lie, sure, but he would be so embarrassed if I told him what I had heard.  Hi set his hands on the table and calmed his breathing.
         “Okay,” he said slowly, “just promise me one thing.”
         “Anything!”
         “If you accidentally read my mind you have to tell.  Got it?”
         “Okay,” I said cheerfully.  At least he was not running away from me.  Then I thought about other people.  Would they run away from me?  Would they hate me?
         “You have to promise me something to!” I quickly said.
         “Uh…sure,” he looked suspicious of what I was going to ask.
         “You can’t tell anyone.  And I mean anyone!”
         “Fine, that’s easy.”
         “Thanks.”  I let out a sigh of relief, unaware that I had been holding my breath.
         “So, uh,” Hunter began to tap his fork on the table, showing he was no longer uncomfortable, “can you control it?” This was a conversation that I really wanted to avoid.
         “Not really…no,” I felt embarrassed that I could not, “I’ve only been alive for two days.  I mean, c’mon, would you be able to control the elements that fast?”  Did I just admit that I had been alive for two days?  Damn.
         “What?” he stopped tapping his fork.
         “What?” I repeated, maybe I would get lucky and he would just leave it alone.
         “You just said ‘I’ve only been alive for two days’.”
         “No I didn’t.  You’re crazy.” I carefully avoided eye contact.  It I met with his eyes, I knew I would break down and tell him everything.  That was the last thing I wanted.
         “Yes you did.  Now tell me what it means,” he sat up in the booth and stared at me.  I could feel my confession burning a hole in me.  I had to tell him.
         “Only if you tell me something I want to know about you though,” I had a brilliant idea now, “then I’ll tell you what I mean.”
         “Deal,” he said much to fast, “it can be a game between us.  When I ask a question, you get to ask one.  And vice versa.” He smiled at me and leaned back.  Less intense now that he knew he was going to find out about me.
         I told him my entire life story then.  All two days worth of it.  In the end I just felt like I was ranting about Gin and how he betrayed me.  Okay, betray is a strong word to use, but that was how I felt.  I trusted him and he put that spell on me.
         Hunter listened to me with patience.  His eyes never left me and that made me feel good for some reason.
         “…And that’s it.” I finished.  I tried to breathe calmly and looked at Hunter, waiting for a reaction.
         “That explains not being able to read the menu,” was all he said.  Was that all he had to say?  I wondered.  I really wished I could read his mind then.  Thankfully, my wish was granted.
         I wonder when that food is going to get here, he thought while looking towards the waitress, I’m starving.
         Damn!  That was what he was thinking?  What the hell is that?  He did not have any questions for me?  Nothing at all?  Well, at least he was not like Kay or Rina…
         “So what do you want to know?” He asked looking at me from the corner of his eye.
         “What?  Oh, right,” I thought for a moment, “Well, I have two questions.  Can I ask them both?”
         “Sure, but I get to ask another one then.”
         “Okay.  How old are you?”  I set my hands in my lap and began to play with them.  My questions did not seem as extreme as his did.  But they were what I really wanted to know.
         “17,” he replied.
         “What high school are you going to?”  This was what I really wanted to know.  And when I asked the question he looked at me completely.
         “Felix High,” he said and I felt like I would let out an extremely girly squeal.  That was the same school I was told I was going to.  I was going to the same school as Hunter.  My heart felt like it was about to burst a little bit.
         “I’ll take it by your smile that it’s the same one you’re going to?” Damn.  I was so obvious.  I tried to kill my smile and just look neutral and hopefully it worked.
         “Uh…yeah.  Why is it called Felix High?”
         “Because we live in the town of Felix,” he rolled his eyes at me, “wait, you didn’t know what town you were in?  Seriously?”
         “Not exactly.  I’ve been busy with other things!”
         “Point taken.  Now for my two questions,” he folded his hands together again and rested his head on them.  I was going to melt soon, I thought.
         Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a boy pass by with a pink streak in his hair.  He was followed by a very familiar troll with very blue hair.  Gin and Kami.  Damn, had to hide!
         Hunter was about to start talking when I dived my head down on the window side.  I was too far over and instead of making a good hiding spot, I smacked my forehead on the windowsill, swearing loudly.
         “Are you okay?” Hunter sounded worried, “What the hell did you do that for?”
         “I need to hide!” But it was too late, Gin and Kami were already inside the café and heading right for me and Hunter.  I was caught.