°Maddie°

Lucy and I sat on a table for two beside the wall. The lights above us glowed in a dim purple colour like the rest of the lights at Davie's. The rest of the bar was sprawled with similar tables, but some were a three, four or five sitter.

The tables were round with three legs and the chairs were stools.

Behind the counter, a young guy, possibly eighteen or nineteen, stood there taking orders from the waiter and relaying the information to the other workers. He had a glass of wine in his hands which he sipped regularly.

I learnt he was Carl.

Lucy and I were chatting.
"Nope," I told her, "You're way different than I expected."

"Wait. So, just because I wear all black you think I'm like the living dead or something?" she said.

"It's just a stereotype thing," I answered with a laugh.

"People often look at me like there's something wrong with me 'cuz I act all emo and stuff."

"Well, have you ever tried to talk to those people before?" No reply. "Exactly. That's why they'll still keep thinking like that. It's totally human perception. They don't know who you really are until they get to know you."

"So, lemme guess, you had a lot of friends at your old school?"

"Yeah..." I sighed, "a lot. I'd love to make more here. I don't really care who you are as long as you're friendly. Though, I think friendships are not accidental. They happen for a reason."

"The way we met was definitely accidental."

I laughed and then paused.

"Wait, are you saying we're friends?"

She looked at me for a moment then shrugged. "What does the word 'friend' even mean?"

There she goes. Lucy was like that. I mean, for a girl in her appearance she was chatty and she smiled often, much to my surprise. She wasn't that dark and ghoulish like I thought at first, but the mindset of a goth, she definitely had.

The way I was seems a direct contrast to the way Lucy was. Though, it's like we're similar in a way.

I liked nature and animals and being positive a lot. People have always teased me about it but I didn't care and Lucy liked nature in her own way.

I had a bottle of soda and Lucy had a glass of wine.
I was still seventeen and I hadn't decided to start drinking yet. 

Lucy probably saw how uncomfortable I looked because she smirked at me.

"It's fine Maddie," she reassured. "Its just a glass."

"Mmhm." I took a sip from my bottle.
She gave me an amused grin.

Ting!

The door to the bar opened and three people walked in.

Two guys and a girl.
One of the guys was light skinned black. He was tall and skinny. His hair was a curly mess of brown and he had matching brown eyes.
The second guy was pale and he had long brown hair that was drawn back and tied in a pony tail. I swear I'd seen him before. He was tall, muscular and so hot.

The girl looked exactly like the guy, I guessed they were siblings.

"Ugh. The Alex twins," Lucy mummured.
"The what now? You know them?"

"Of course. Don't you?...oh, I forgot that you're new. They go to our school. Everybody knows them." she said with a hint of contempt in her voice.

"They look-" I started.
"Rich, hot, confident, yeah I know."

I blinked at her. I knew I'd seen them somewhere before.

"What about the other guy?" I asked.
"Who?" she looked over at them. They were sitting at a table now. "Oh, the black guy?"

"Yeah."
"I dunno," she shook her head, "I've never seen him before."

"He's kinda cute." I gulped down the last of my soda.

She looked over at him. "Yeah. I wonder what he's doing with them."

She said that like they were some kind of pest or some dangerous lab experiment that needed to be quarantined.

Did they have a bad reputation?

"We should hurry and leave." She seemed keen on leaving all of a sudden.

"Why?"

"Nothing. Just...we've stayed long enough."

I checked the time on my phone. We had barely spent up to thirty minutes.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Home."

I wanted her to stay longer but she really wanted to leave.

"Well, bye..."

"You're not coming?"

"I'll leave later."

" 'kay, see you tomorrow then." Then she stood up and left.

***

I was alone now.
After waiting for a few minutes, I paid for our drinks and walked out of the bar. I went over to the back and sat down on a bench.
I needed a few minutes away from my house. This place seemed peaceful.

I sat there for a while, scrolling through my phone until I heard a sound.

A guy was walking towards the bench. He didn't seem to notice me in the dark.

"Hey," I said.

He stiffened, startled. "Sorry, I didn't see you there."

"I figured."
He tried to steady his breathing.

"Please don't do that," he said.

"Sorry."

He walked closer now and as he approached, I almost gasped.
He was that black guy that came to the bar with the 'Alex twins'.

"What are you doing here alone this evening?" he asked as he sat at the far end of the bench.

Now he was much closer, I could see him clearly.

His brown eyes shone in the moonlight.

"I don't want to go home," I answered.

He looked at me like I was crazy.

He was really cute.

"Why wouldn't you want to go home?"

His voice was deep but soft, like he feared his voice would break something fragile.

"Wait. Why are you here?" I asked.
He paused, then grinned.

"Ah...okay, fair question." He was silent, like he didn't know what to say.

"You don't have to tell me," I told him, gazing back at my phone.

"Yeah," he sighed, "I don't but I will anyway. Nothing really. Just wanted to sit here for while."

There was silence for a few minutes and a cold wind whipped through the air, making me shudder.

He stood up finally. I looked up.

"You live around here?" I asked.

"Sort of," he answered, "you?"

"Yeah. I just moved in though."

He looked at me.

"You're new here?"

"Yeah. I'm just new to the town, not the state."

"Oh. Well, my family and I, we just moved into the state recently."

"Oh. Well, how do you like it so far? How was your first day of school?"

"It was...okayy."

"Okay?" I chuckled. "Okayyy. Well, mine was kinda horrible. I came really late to school and missed most of my classes but I met this really nice girl and now I think we're friends."

"Okay, now that's the definition of 'okayyy'."

We both started laughing.

"What about mine, you'd probably ask..."
He glanced at me. "It was..."

"Okayyy...?"
He chuckled, rubbing his hands at the back of his head.

"Yeah, let's go with that. But, we'll see."

"Yeah..."
Awkward.

I stood up. "It's late. I gotta go."

"Why all of a sudden? You scared of me?" he said and smirked at me.

"What? No. It's pretty late. Also, by the way, you don't even look like you could harm a fly."

He put his hand to his chest in feigned shock.
"Are you serious right now? Wait, so if I actually wanted to scare you, you wouldn't even-"

"Hey, just kidding! But you actually don't look intimidating, you're like... chill."

He studied me for a moment.
"But, I don't wanna be regarded as chill." he said in a quiet babyish voice.

I started laughing again.

"Don't say that. Intimidating guys don't have much people liking them than chill guys. I know at first glance it's like so hot, but when you get to know their personality, if they're really rude and mean like they seem, then you realize it's not worth anything. Trust me, it's better to be calm. Personally, I like chill guys."

There was a pause.
Then I started walking away.

"Well, bye!" he called out from behind me.
I turned around. "Yeah, bye."

"Hey! I never got to know your name. I'm Trevor, by the way." He tried to catch up with me.

"Madison," I replied.

I walked a few steps away, but I accidentally tripped on some bushes and fell.

"Woah! Sorry." Trevor ran to help me.

As I tried to stand up something weird happened.
Grasses sprouted up from the ground and tangled my hands, holding them firmly to the ground. As Trevor tried to help me up, the grasses also tangled his hands.

"What the-" I muttered as they kept sprouting and tangling themselves on my arm.
Suddenly, I heard a sizzle and smoke started to rise from Trevor's hands.

Immediately, all the grasses untangled themselves and became limp.
I looked up at him in shock and then noticed my that my hands were free. I yanked my hands out of the bushes and stood up in a flash.

Trevor also stood up and rubbed his hands on his trousers vigorously. Then he brought them up to his face. When he did, I gasped. His hands were red.

"What did you do?" we said in unison.

"Me?" we echoed.

We paused. I spoke first.
"Where'd that smoke come from?"

He looked scared for a second but he regained composure.
"How did those plants start growing and tangling themselves and why did they-?" he started but then a drop of water fell from the sky and landed on his face.
Soon, more drops fell.

"It's about to rain," he said, looking up at the sky, squinting as more raindrops fell on his face.

"Trevor don't change the subject."
"But, look." He gestured at the drizzle. "The rain is getting heavier now."

He started walking away. He was right.
I ran.

I was worried myself. What just happened?
I didn't have time to think.

The rain was pouring now and I kept running.

-------------------
Hi!

The story is beginning to begin...hehe

Thanks for giving this your time.