She had noticedthem almost daily on her way past the popular diner. It was thekind of place where a lot of the more interesting members of thestudent population gathered for lunch. It was a hangout for theartistic and poetic types that Becky admired so much but was tooself-conscious to approach. It was definitely not a place for her.While Becky was artistic, she was neither cool nor popular. Eventhough one out of three was better than nothing, she wouldn’t darego in there. For starters, she would have nowhere to sit. No onewould care enough to invite her to join them.
Sadly, thusfar, she had taken her paper bag lunch breaks in the nearby parkbench with only the birds and the odd squirrel for company. Thatwas all right, though. She didn’t mind it so much. She liked thepark and the little animals but it did worry her that the weatherwould soon turn colder. It was nearly October and she had beenlucky so far. Of course, there was the college cafeteria toconsider but she tried that already and it was no better than thediner with everyone divided up into their snug little clusters.
Inwardly, Beckywished she could join the Goths for lunch, sit cozily in theircorner, share their booth, discuss important matters of the day orwhatever Goths liked to talk about.
She wasn’tdelusional, though. She realized it could never happen. They werethree of the most extreme looking Goths she’d ever seen. She wasjust a plain, ordinary girl. What could she possibly have in commonwith three such interesting characters? Why would they wantanything to do with her?
On thatparticular day, though, as she walked past the diner, somethinginside of her finally snapped. It was raining quite heavily and thethought of sitting out on that lonely park bench eating a soggysandwich was unbearable. Taking a giant leap of faith, Becky foundherself walking into the diner.
Surely, Kellwould recognize her from class. Inwardly, she hoped he might glancein her direction, and maybe even wave her over. Unfortunately,Kell’s back was to her. He would never see her from that angle.
She stood inthe doorway for what felt like the longest three minutes of herlife. All the other booths were taken up with neat little cliques,groups of three and four. In that moment, a most unsettlingquestion formed in her mind. How was it possible she could feellike the whole world was staring at her, standing there like afriendless ninny, when no one even gave her a passing glance?
Finally, aftera series of calming breaths, Becky gathered the courage to taketentative steps towards the Goths. The other two who she didn’tknow by name sat facing Kell. The three of them sat slumped overtheir coffee mugs, enraptured in deep conversation. Could she dothis? Would they welcome her or simply ignore her?
Sensing apresence in their midst, the Goths slowly turned their eyes towardsher. The despairing looks on their faces said it all. When theyturned to look at who had dared approach them, she was greeted withexpressions of varying levels of scepticism. She was definitely notwelcome, she quickly surmised. Before she could open her mouth tomake up an excuse, her eyes darted around the table, searching fora trace of recognition, at the very least from Kell.
The thing was,even he had such a baffled look on his face, that she lost all hernerve and bolted like a frightened bunny from the diner without abackwards glance.
The next day inlife drawing class, Becky did her best to avoid Kell. Thankfully,he hadn’t attempted to talk to her about the less-than-flatteringevent.
***
Frustrated,Becky pulled the quilt up over her face. Putting the upsettingmemory out of her mind was no easy feat. After tossing and turningquite a bit, Becky eventually did drift off to sleep.
Chapter 3
The nextmorning, Becky woke up to unfamiliar yet pleasant stirrings in thenear distance. Slowly, the distinct smell of fresh coffee permeatedthrough her still sleepy mind. Soon the sound of clinking platesand running water could be heard from somewhere within thehouse.
For a hazymoment, she believed that she was back in her granny’s home. Anyminute now, there would come the soft padding of slipperedfootsteps in the hall, followed by a gentle tap on her door. Grannywould then pop her head in to wake Becky up for breakfast!
It didn’t takelong, though, for reality to come crashing through her pleasantmusings. Reality, in the form of heavy masculine footsteps,followed by abrupt pounding on her door.
“Up, sleeping beauty,” hissed a none too pleasant voice. “Youraudience awaits!”
***
“Did you really have to wake her so soon?” Kell asked with anexasperated sigh when Crispin appeared in the kitchen, lookingquite self-righteous and ready for battle.
Ignoring him,Crispin sidled up to the kitchen counter and poured himself a cupof coffee. “You’d let her sleep all day, wouldn’t you?” He tossedhis long dark mane over his shoulder.
“I just mean, it’s early yet. There’s no hurry. Besides, it’sSaturday,” Kell said with a frown as he casually flipped throughthe newspaper, and various flyers.
Crispin shrugged indifferently. “I just assume we get it overwith. You know, get it done quickly and efficiently before thingsget… uncomfortable.” He then pulled up a chair, purposely dragging it across thefloor.
“What are you talking about, Crisp?” Dorian cringed at theunnecessary sound, looking up from a flyer he had beenstudying.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” Crispin snapped, snatching theflyer away from him. “Bed, Bath and Beyond? Really, Dorian? Makinglong-term plans already?”
“What the freak, man?” Dorian scoffed, snatching itback.
“Settle down, guys,” Kell said, taking a deep calmingbreath.
“I will not settle down!” Crispin hissed, pointing his indexfinger at the mangled flyer, opened to a page displaying a set ofthe most un-Goth-like flowery bedding. “For fuck’s sake, Dorian isalready picking out duvets for her.” He paused for a scowl
