The bell rang for the end of the day, and I was more relieved than ever before. I was ready to go home. Granted, I didn't even want to come to school in the first place, but this whole damn day just wore me out. Normally, your ears don't bleed, you can't hear the noise a dog whistle makes, and you can't put dents into lockers with your own fist.
Zoey and I planned to go to the local café, as we did every Friday. We parked our bikes and went inside. It was cute and served as a perfect place to just sit and talk with a drink to sip. The staff was always so kind and welcomed everyone with a smile. It was especially nice since we were close friends with the owner, Tina. When she wasn't working at her restaurant, she was a RN at the local Lacy Hospital. She's friends with our Dad, but they don't see each other too often since they worked in different wards of the hospital.
Tina was cleaning a table when we walked in and she gave us a warm smile.
"Hello ladies! It's nice to see you two!" She sat down her cloth and water bottle to pull us in for a hug, "Look at you, you are both getting so tall. I wonder if you are going to stay the same height, or if one of you will one race the other to a new height?" She teased us.
We smiled and laughed with her then sat at our usual table by the window. It was starting to rain which meant we were going to have a great ride home.
"So, what brings you in? What will it be?" She leaned over putting her hands on her hips ready to work.
"Hot chocolate." We looked at one another and said in unison.
"Excellent choice for a day like this." Tina looked out the window and brushed her blonde hair away from her face. She began to walk behind the counter but something stopped her in her tracks, causing her to pivot and come back to our table.
"What is today?" She narrowed her eyes at us. Oh no, she remembered.
Zoey shrank in her seat, "October first."
"And what is tomorrow?" She asked, eager.
"The second."
"And that is?"
"Our birthday." Zoey mumbled.
"Exactly, so you are going to get more than hot cocoa. I'll be right back with a surprise." Tina quickly turned around and marched to the counter.
Tina really cared about us. We have known her since we were little since she was our babysitter for the longest time. That was, of course, before Dad hired Izzy. After that, we never had Tina watch us. I guess he finally realized he needed someone to watch over the house while he was at work and we were at school. It's not because the house needs constant care; Izzy only cleans a very small part of the house, mainly the kitchen, dining room, Dad's office and our bedroom and bathroom. The rest of the house remains untouched. There are parts that we were not allowed to go in, rooms with doors that must remain shut. But we never figured out why. But we eventually concluded that Dad was just trying to preserve Mom's ancestral home.
Pushing the thought to the back of my mind, I opened my phone and started scrolling through my social media. A few moments later, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. Without looking up, I followed the movement to the corner of the café. It was a little bit darker so I couldn't see as well, but once the object settled, I looked up in its direction.
It was a girl, maybe in her mid-twenties. She sat up against the wall and I could only see the left side of her face, covered by bright red highlighted hair. It was almost the color of blood and stopped at the bottom of her jaw. I couldn't really see her face. Looking down, I took note of her outfit. All black. Black leather jacket and shirt ripped black jeans and black converse. Her style was nice. I looked back up at her face and froze like a deer in headlights. Staring back at me was a bright green eye. Not an ordinary green, it glowed. She didn't smile and I couldn't immediately look away, but when I finally did, I felt bothered.
"Who are you staring at?" Zoey noticed.
"Nothing." I mumbled.
Zoey looked to where I was staring once before.
"Don't look! She'll know we're talking about her!" I said with slight panic.
She took a glance at the girl and immediately locked her gaze but quickly turned away.
"She's weird looking." Zoey said to me with wide eyes and slight intimidation, "Did you not see that eye?"
I nodded, "Yes, Zoey. And it's rude to stare, so stop looking before she sees us."
"Sorry, I just noticed you were looking at someone."
I sighed and took another glance at her, "She's pretty." I said quietly.
Thank you.
I watched the girl turn towards me, her hair still covering the left side of her face. She stood up and walked over, sitting down beside me.
"I said thank you. For calling me pretty."