Page 13 of Twi-Flight
“Everyone has secrets, Mina. Even you. You shouldn’t take it so personally.” Lucy eyes me over her sunglasses.
“It’s fine. I know it’s not personal.” I grumble. “I’m just going home, I have work in the morning. Chickens get up early.” I lie, still tracking the direction that Eggward disappeared.
“Let me walk you? It’s getting dark.” Jace offers.
“No! No.” I repeat a little quieter. I will go home after I’ve found Eggward again. “It’s just a couple blocks. I’m fine.” The last thing I need is either man getting the wrong idea about my relationship to Jace. We are purely platonic. I don’t want anyone thinking anything else.
Jace wipes his greasy fingers on his jeans, making moves to stand. “It’s not a big deal.”
“She said she’s fine.” Lucy snaps, her eyes shoot daggers at him sharp enough to physically harm. “Let her handle this herself.”
Jace cannot hide his disappointment, but seems to actually respect Lucy’s response. “Okay, alright. We’ll see you later.”
“Yeah. See you.” I wave to him absentmindedly. Lucy told me that Jace has been mooning over me, but other men’s attention just doesn’t seem to matter when I can’t get Eggward out of my head. I make a beeline out of the park, and when I think I’m far enough from my friends, I veer in the direction I saw Eggward go.
The sun has completely melted below the horizon by the time I cut into the alleyways of Ghostlight Falls. The town is small, I know the area well enough, but the shadows feel unwelcoming this evening.
Maybe I don’t belong here. Even when every fiber of my being is begging me to stay in this odd place and I’m quickly falling in love. Having a job and a potential romance made me feel like I was back home. But maybe it’s all imagined? Dad loved it here too. Now that he’s gone all I have is a few friends. Lucy and Jace…are back in the park. All that’s here is empty alleyways.
There’s no sign of anyone, let alone the tall dark figure that I chased into these shadows.
My foot catches on a random hole in the asphalt. “Shit.” I stumble but before I completely fall I manage to catch myself on a wall. A wall that is much closer and much softer than I expect the stark concrete exterior of the visitor’s center to be.
I look up, into a hooded figure. My hand isn’t on the wall at all. I caught myself on the stable, solid mass that is the stoic chest of my boss.
“I told you to be more careful, Mina.” Eggward’s voice hits a perfectly low, lovely pitch.
“Seems like the best way to make sure you show up.” I reluctantly pull my hand away from his chest. He’s just so perfect, lovely, solid, and warm.
“I mean, being out here. Alone.”
“Or what? I’ll run into you?” I try to laugh at my own joke but the sound falls flat in the empty alley. The faint sound of the band playing in the park is cut by the deep chirp of frogs.
“There are many more dangerous things here in Ghostlight Falls than me.”
“I’m just walking home. I’m fine, I know about the Trolls, and the Ghosts, and the—aliens.” I fumble, well aware that there’s so much about Ghostlight than what I’ve seen. “I promise not to fall into the Wonderhole.” I insist, trying to ignore the sinking feeling that Eggward is one of those things I don’t really understand. “Were you watching from the treeline? Back there at the park?”
His feet scratch idly at the ground, the way that he does when he’s feeling nervous. I love that I’ve already learned so much about him, I already know his ticks and habits. He’s uncomfortable with being caught. The idea of him watching me sends a little shiver down my back.
“Were you…watching me?” I crane my neck trying to get a better look at his face.
“Maybe I just wanted to be sure you didn’t hurt yourself again.” He grumbles, but there’s an amused lilt in his voice. He enjoys helping me. He enjoys watching me.
“Is that it? That’s why you came?” I ask, trying to hide my own amusement.
There’s no vocal answer, but his silence says everything. Somehow even the air feels heavier around him. The deep odd weight of his nearness. I can tell he’s attracted to me, but he’s not going to admit it, he’s not going to do anything but stare and make me feel—intense. “Well, if you want to watch me, then youcan watch me walk home. Alone. Where I will be alone. All by myself.” I turn on my heels and head toward Lucy’s house.
“Do you want to be alone?” His voice cuts through the night to catch up with me and then he adds more softly. “May I escort you?”
I stop in the middle of the sidewalk. Face pointed down so he can’t see the smile I’m fighting.
“Sure.” I tell the ground, taking just a moment to hide my pure satisfaction before I turn around. “I could use the company.”
It’s only a short distance, Lucy’s house is just a couple blocks behind the school, very convenient for a second grade teacher. But I take several wrong turns extending the ten minute walk into nearly half an hour when I make a left instead of a right. If Eggward notices what’s happening he doesn’t call me on it. Just walks beside me, while frog song surrounds us. My hand itches with the urge to reach out and touch his. They are so close our knuckles almost graze.
We make it all the way to the block I live and we’ve barely said two words to each other.
My phone buzzes. I glance at the screen.
