Ananya answered the door with a grin on her face. "Hi!" She chirped, waving at Oscar. She tucked her hair behind her ear. "You're right on time."

"I prefer to be on time," Oscar replied. He offered her his hand. "Are you ready to go?"

She nodded, though what was on her tongue was vastly different from what reverberated in her mind. With a shaky pulse, she took Oscar's outstretched hand and allowed her weight to fall on his side as she stepped down the steps. She noticed his sleek, black car parked on the curb and marveled at the beauty of the vehicle. Her pace quickened, as she didn't want anything to happen to the beauty of it.

"You look lovely," Oscar commented. "It's a nice day to dress down, isn't it?"

"It is," Ananya agreed, admiring his profile. He too, was dressed for the comforting weather and had an air of ease to him as he walked. "Are you prepared for this? My family can be a bit...excessive." She chuckled and winced.

Oscar smiled. "I'm sure I'll survive," he said, then paused. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Yes?"

"Did...did I use my emojis properly yesterday? During our text conversation?" He questioned nervously. "I didn't know what was appropriate or not, so..."

"You did great! I was so happy when you sent me an emoji!" Ananya beamed. "I'll have to teach you which ones not to use, of course. There are some of them. I know in high school my friends would try and make me use them." She giggled. "But don't worry. I have you covered." She clapped his shoulder in a friendly manner.

Oscar nodded and gave a futile attempt to mirror the brightness of her face, as he was enthralled by her beauty which was amplified in the sun. Her rounded, soft cheeks made him wonder if the sun was in fact right in front of him instead of above him.

"Ananya, we're having a block party later tonight," a woman in an old, creaky wheelchair who was missing all of her teeth croaked, wheeling up to Ananya. She stood momentarily and kicked one of the wheels, then sat again. "Make sure you and that Kathie girl come. I hear there's going to be some new grass to smoke." She gave a hissing giggle.

Ananya smiled warmly. "I'll come, but you know I don't smoke," she said playfully. "So you keep that weed locked away, okay? And I better not see any cigarettes when I come over. You know they're bad for you."

"Pha, that doctor just wants me to spend more money on him," the woman scowled. She glanced at Oscar with a crooked stare and her frown deepened the weathering creases of her brown face. "Who're you?"

"Ah...I'm Oscar. Oscar Yuen," Oscar introduced himself cautiously.

"A werewolf, eh? We get some of those here every now an' then,'' the woman nodded. "You here to court Ananya?"

"I...we...we work together," Oscar stammered, flabbergasted. How does she know what I am? He thought, but the moment the question passed through his mind, three scraggly teenagers waving small pistols in the air rushed past him, and he distinctly caught the smell of a dormant wolf in their blood. Three shots fired and the bullets dropped to the ground beside Ananya and the woman's feet, but neither of them seemed to be bothered.

"Ay! Watch where you suckers are waving that thing or I'll tell your mama!" The woman yelled. The teenagers gave her the middle finger and chuckled, rushing away. If Oscar didn't know better, he thought he saw tails wagging behind them.

"Kids these days. They gotta learn how to shoot before them parents get them the big guns," the woman spat. "You shoot, werewolf?"

"Uh, only when necessary," Oscar replied. "Ma'am, how did you know I was a werewolf?"

The woman stared at him. Ananya squeezed his hand.

"Marge was married to a werewolf," Ananya explained. "He just recently passed. There are a lot of lone wolves here. There are also some vampires and a few ghosts. Kathie lives with a ghost on the second floor."

"Oh." Oscar blinked, his mind muddled. "So...they all live here."

"Sure they do. All of Bourdier's misfits live here." Ananya laughed when a group of children rushed past her, dropping stems of lush, bright flowers at her feet. Oscar noticed how poorly they were dressed, yet they seemed unbothered by their poverty and played with each other like they had nothing wrong.

"Yep. Missy's right," the woman, Marge, added and spat again on the grass. "All them rich do-gooders in Bourdier just toss us 'ere cause they think we can't do nothin' for 'em. Well, they ain't know what they missin' out on, don't they, Ananya?"

"Yes, Marge." Ananya let out a long, soft exhale. "Now, why don't you head home to Lady and begin preparing for later? I'll just finish my work and come help soon."

"I'mma hold you to that, missy," Marge said, wheeling away. Her thin, creaky wheels pushed past mounds of rusting soda cans and bags of garbage as she yelled to the group of teens hanging around a nearby townhouse, all of them smoking long cigarettes and stems of weed. "Hey! Quit lollygaggin' and let's start gettin' this place ready for a party!" She rose abruptly from her chair.

Oscar blinked. "She's quite the character, isn't she?" He murmured, mostly to himself.

Ananya laughed and nodded. "She is. She's sort of like the leader here. She took care of me when I first moved, anyway." She cleared her throat. "So...we should go now, yeah?"

"Yeah..." Oscar opened the side door and waved a gentlemanly hand. "After you, my lady."

"Thank you, good sir," Ananya teased. She held the top of the car door and gently lowered herself inside. She was completely in the car just as another shot rang through the small district.

"I wouldn't worry too much about the gunshots," she told Oscar when he entered. "It could just be some teenagers playing around."

"I'm not worried about them," Oscar said. He turned the car on and the engine hummed, slowly rising to life. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course!"

"...Why are you all living there?" His question came out gently and softly. He didn't want to sound rude. "Why aren't you living in the main district? Why are your conditions so..." he struggled to find an appropriate word.

Ananya, who was playing with the small pink teddy bear on his dashboard that served as an air freshener, shrugged. "We're the undesirables, Oscar," she said, her voice just as soft as his. The smile remained on her face, but there was something else hidden behind it. "For cheap conditions and a chance to escape, it's not a bad price to pay, but we know where we're wanted and where we're not." Her throat bobbed with a careful swallow. "You know what it's like to be judged for something you have no power over, right? So, you understand why I stay there?"

Oscar's arms tensed. "I do," he replied, his heart thrumming. "I know what you mean. I can't say that I'm supportive of such conditions, but I understand." His claws pushed out from under his nails and dug into the steering wheel. "Despite everything, though, you still go to Bourdier?"

"I do. I'm not afraid of what they think of me." She beamed as she brought the pink bear into her lap, bouncing it on her thighs. "I have goals. I don't want to stay in the tenth district forever."

"That's good. It's good to have goals." Oscar glanced at her, mulling over his next sentence. "And...and if you need any help, o-or a place to stay, you always have a...a friend in me."

"Thank you. The same goes for you!" She winked at him and rubbed the hand of the bear on his arm. Oscar chuckled at her gesture, allowing her to rub the bear because it meant that he'd feel her smooth skin brush against his. After a while, the rubbing stopped, but Ananya kept holding onto the bear, clutching it against her chest. As they neared the innermost part of Bourdier, where large, lavish shops surrounded the City Hall and Recreation Center, she felt the organs in her stomach tighten. She was ready for this, she kept telling herself. In an hour she'd be back at the tenth district and away from them again. She'd be okay, she had Oscar with her after all. Nothing would happen to her. After all, it was just her family. 

--()--()--()--

What do you think will happen next? What is Ananya's family like? Why does she seem so afraid fo seeing them again?