Page 45 of Sigils & Spells

FOWL THINGS

Lulu M. Sylvian

CHAPTER1

Pandora

My name is Pandora, I fell in love with the one man who never made a joke about my box. In yet another failed attempt at gaining his attention, I sat at a table located halfway between the bar and the poolroom. The people were an odd mix of kids from the college and locals. There were three bars in town. Probably two more than the population could handle. One bar was pretty limited to locals who had nothing to do with the college. One bar that was college students almost exclusively, and this place: older students, professors, a few locals, and college adjacent types, like myself. I wasn’t much for drinking, and I didn’t play pool, but I found myself coming in here twice a week, if not more. And I wasn’t the only one.

The men at the pool table focused on their game. It wasn’t riveting, but still I could hardly keep my eyes from them. Same for some of the women at the bar. The men were worth watching. At least they were for me.

There were only three of them tonight. No Ash Weiss, he was probably on call at the firehouse. If he had been here, the gaggle of women here for the smoke show would have been bigger. Two of the men were overly tall. One was almost pretty with squared off features. He wore his longer blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. He was the star of tonight’s show. Darren Halpern, tall, good-looking, and free with his affections. The other tall man looked nothing like the first one, not model pretty, but he had a strong straight nose, high cheekbones, and a brooding brow. He wore his dark hair shaggy, and not nearly so long. The third was average height, with average looks, and more than average enthusiasm just to be in their company.

I was here because they were here. After their game, they might come over and trade some banter with me. They might even sit and drink a round. And then again they might not.

Darren, the blond, would make his way over and pick up one of the nubile, barely dressed, coeds hanging out at the bar. He would narrow his attention in on a pretty one, and she would go home with him. Or him with her. That’s what he did.

Merle, the other man, wouldn't go home with anyone. I knew this because Ramsey, their personal fan club and self-appointed sidekick, told me.

“Hey, Princess,” Darren said as he slid into one of the chairs.

He lifted his chin, and flicked a finger in the air. A waitress showed and slid a foamy beer in front of him. He winked. She leaned over and pressed her elbows together, showing off her boobs. That’s how flirting with Darren went. He smiled, and women handed him their panties. He was that attractive.

But he didn’t rile up the hormones in my body, no, that was Merle. Merle could flare his nostrils just so and my brain would be quivering goo. He had no clue, and without vomiting my feelings on his shoes, he would never figure it out.

Ramsey walked toward me. My eyes lifted, and I started to say hi, but he kept on walking. Great, I knew this would be a short night if Ramsey wouldn’t even talk to me. Typically, I could count on him to be left out enough to sit awkwardly with me for an evening. Merle knew lots of people, and they all seemed to find him here every weekend. Even though he was friends with Darren and Ash, he had his own cadre of people who wanted to be around him.

In some cases, Ramsey hung out with them, and in others Ramsey was cast aside. He never seemed to realize it. He didn’t get that he was a second tier player in their world. At least he was in their world. If I was persona non-grata with him, well, I might as well be invisible.

I wasn’t even a player, just a desperate wannabe.

“What?” Darren asked.

“Huh? What, what?” I asked in reply.

“You let out a very defeatist sigh. This evening not working out the way you thought? You need another beer?”

He shot a dazzling grin at me, and not for the first time, I was really grateful that I didn’t have the hots for him. Darren was heartbreak on legs. I swiveled my chair, so I could face him, and see the bar. I didn’t want to look at Merle tonight, it hurt too much.

“Yeah, another beer would be good,” I said.

I glanced over at him. He no longer heard me. He was already eyeing his conquest for tonight. There was a gaggle of beautiful lovelies in short skirts and thigh-high boots. I had boot envy. No one made thigh-highs for calves like mine. I was perfectly comfortable squeezing my ample ass into a mini skirt, but I preferred flippy skirts to body-con styles.

Maybe I should give up on mooning over Merle and just proposition Darren? Of course, that would be a real ego death-trap. Darren would never scope me out for one of his conquests, he didn’t do ample asses.

“So, who’ve you got your eye on?”

“What do you mean?” He held eye contact with the one with short blonde hair and big lips. She was pretty, and she seemed to not be able to get her fingernail out of her mouth. She batted her lashes at Darren before turning and giggling with her friends.

“Who are you stalking to take home tonight?”

He finally turned his attention back to me. He raked his eyes down my torso, and back up when the table cut off the rest of my body from his view.

I shrugged him off, and shook my head. Darren was always a flirt, but never more than a casual, meaningless quip with me.

“Why did you roll your eyes at me?”

I cast my gaze from side to side. Had I rolled my eyes at him as he flirted? “Did I roll my eyes out loud?”

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