She felt utterly insane. She had seen him, she knew she had, but it wasn't possible. Arder felt an internal war going on in her subconscious. Grey had told her Cyrus was dead, but the man had been standing right in front of her very eyes. Trying to push away her conflicting thoughts, she walked back inside the cafe. Lexie stood at the counter with Sophie, where they watched her enter with worry on their faces. Arder hated feeling like a burden to them. She was always leaving them with that awful emotion: concern.
"What was that about?" Lexie asked, stepping away from Sophie."I just thought I saw someone I knew," Arder said casually, brushing it off. She didn't want to make a fuss over something she wasn't even sure of yet. Lexie stared at her for a moment, probably wondering if she was being honest. "It was nothing," the girl assured her again. Lexie finally nodded and smiled brightly."I need to head home. Are you working a shift?" she asked, picking her coat and book off the couches. Daniel was gone, and all that remained was his empty coffee cup."I think so. I'll come by after though," Arder replied, grabbing her apron off the stand and tightly tying it around her waist."Arder, can you grab some more sugar from the back?" Sophie called from behind the counter. She was swamped with customers, which was very surprising considering how quiet the cafe usually was. Arder quickly ran to the backroom. Pulling out the large container of sugar, she started scooping the ingredient into the smaller containers on the tables.---"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow," Sophie yelled from the stairs. She disappeared inside her apartment, leaving Arder alone outside. Lexie's was only a few blocks in the opposite direction of the factory and Arder's house.The house was a normal family home, with light yellow paint over stucco. The front stairs Lexie's father had built were steep, but they were a big improvement compared to the previous ones that had started to crack and fall apart. Arder knocked on the small dark door and patiently waited for Lexie to open it. Instead, her mother appeared in her place."Come inside dear, Lexie's just upstairs," she stated, smiling. Lexie's mother, April, was almost an identical copy of the girl. They had the same straight hair, the only difference being Lexie's was a tone lighter. Their facial features were similar but not exact, so the hair was what made them hard to tell apart from a distance."Thank you." Arder walked inside, leaving her shoes on the mat where she saw Lexie had left hers. April, acting a bit off from her usual self, left her guest to find Lexie on her own.Arder walked through the hall, looking at all the family photos of vacations and different occasions all year round. She had always been the slightest bit envious of her friend. There were no photos anywhere at Adam's; her mother had left them in a box when they moved. She knocked on the closed door at the end of the hall. "Lex?" she asked.The door opened, and her friend appeared with a camera in hand."Hey," she greeted, opening the door wider for Arder and motioning for her to come inside. Arder sat down on the window seat and Lexie grinned. "Are we going to talk about Grey now?" she inquired. Arder gave up and nodded, knowing it was an inevitable topic. Lexie laid down on her bed, still smiling. "So, where was he all these years?"Arder sat down on the bed next to her and shrugged. "With his mom somewhere," she answered. "He didn't tell me a lot."Lexie got a confused look on her face. "Did you ask where Cyrus went when he left you at the factory?"She shook her head, realizing she never asked him the question that had been eating away at her for all those years. "I can't believe I didn't think to ask that," she said, voicing her thoughts.Arder wanted to tell Lexie about the dream, but she knew her best friend wouldn't believe her. Oh, Lexie would believe the dream part; but she wouldn't believe it was anything more. Arder definitely couldn't talk about Cyrus, either. If she did, Lexie would never believe another word she said. She would think Arder was crazy, and Arder needed at least one friend. She couldn't lose Lexie.Later on in the night, Lexie had fallen asleep. The same could not be said for Arder, despite it being long past four in the morning. She tried to relax, but it was as if her mind wouldn't stop spinning. She just laid wide awake, listening to the sounds of the night. She heard cars drive past the house, a sound she usually couldn't hear from Adam's house. Then there was the strange noise that sounded like it was right outside. It sounded like someone drowning or choking.Arder quietly got up from the bed, checking if the creak of the floorboards woke Lexie. When Arder decided the girl was still snoring soundly, she walked over to the window. The strong wind made the branches of the tall oak tree dance back and forth, blocking the view of what was past it.Arder heard the noise getting louder, like it was just past the tree. With both arms out in front of her, she walked through the darkness of the bedroom until she found the door. Arder wrapped her hand around the cold metal knob and
The cafe's lights were all off, the curtains were drawn, and there were no signs that anyone was inside. Sophie's Aunt Cara had originally owned Cara's Cafe, but she left a long time ago. She wanted a better life; she wanted to do more than just own a little shop. Now it was just Sophie. She had wanted to be a painter and studied Art History at a school in France, but when the cafe was given to her, she didn't want to sell it.The metal steps up to the apartment clanged loudly with each step Arder took. At the top, the door was already slightly ajar, and the sound of the radio drifted out into the open air. Arder left her shoes outside and pushed the door open wider before slipping inside."Sophie?" Arder called, not seeing anyone.The apartment fit Sophie's personality perfectly. Her many paintings covered all the walls of the small space. The numerous art books she owned were scattered across the coffee table along with her dirty paint brushes. It wasn't exactly tidy, but Sophie was
The warm morning air brushed over her skin as her eyes fluttered open. Streams of light came through the slits in the open blinds that no one had bothered to close. Arder rolled over in the bed, hiding her eyes from the brightness. She guessed that school was probably about to start, yet she wasn't in any hurry to get up. When a loud knock sounded throughout the apartment, the redhead moaned in frustration and let her feet find the floor. "I'm coming," she yelled to whoever it was. She pushed her hair out of her eyes and started towards the front door."Lexie?" she mumbled, seeing her friend outside. She wondered how Lexie had known that she would be at Sophie's, and if the girl had gone to Arder's house first. Leaning over the railing, Lexie stood looking down at the roads below. Swinging the door open, Arder wrapped her arms around herself. "Hey, what are you doing here?" she greeted.Lexie looked over her shoulder and made her way inside without waiting for an invitation. "Sophie
Everyone except Arder had left the classroom. She tucked her bulky green binder into her bag and zipped it shut. The hallway was still cluttered with people pushing and shoving their way through, but there was one thing that stood out. Grey was standing on the other side of the hall, staring directly at her through the sea of bodies. Arder made her way across to where he was. "Don't you have class?" she questioned.He nodded before stating, "I need to tell you something." Arder studied his expression, trying to figure out what he was talking about."What is it?" she asked. Her eyes widened as a thought crossed her mind. "Is it about Cyrus?" Grey shook his head. "Can we go outside?" She hesitated, unsure of what this was about. Curiosity taking over her, she obliged and followed behind him.Outdoors, the wind had stopped blowing. Arder could still feel the grip of winter in the air around her, but she wasn't cold. She jumped up onto the frozen concrete wall and sat down."Arder, you
Grey felt horrible; he was sick to his stomach. Everything about this girl made him want to stay. He wanted to throw away what he was told to do, pretend it wasn't the reason why he met her.He could feel her tears staining his shirt. In his eyes, the truth about her father wasn't a big deal, but that obviously wasn't how she saw it. Grey had so much more to admit to her, but in that moment he knew it would break even the strongest of spirits.He moved his hand up to Arder's head and stepped back to look at her. "We should go," he said, brushing her bright hair away from her face.She too stepped back from the embrace, seemingly embarrassed. She nodded and started towards the back entrance, wiping the tears away in the process. "Grey?" she asked, once they were outside."I can take you back to school," he told her, scanning the yard to make sure they were alone."Could you take me to the cafe?" she asked, following his gaze around the property. The short oak trees surrounding them
Arder felt torn apart, as if someone had taken a part of her. Her mother took her entire life and called it a lie, she missed who her mother use to be. This wasn't the woman who raised her. That woman would have told her a long time ago and she wouldn't have been so harsh.Arder crossed the Cafe grabbing Lexie's attention. Lexie smiled at the sight of her and stood up. "Where were you? I couldn't find you at lunch," Lexie asked. She was clueless of what was going on and Arder debated telling her a lie. The lies were building up all around her, like infinite walls she could not break.She sunk into the chair opposite Lexie and tore a piece of one of the pizzelles that was on the table. She sighed, it was her favourite dessert and she had been craving them all week. "I went home," Arder said vaguely."Why? Did something happen?" Lexie questioned. Arder tugged her wild curls together and tied them back behind her head into a short ponytail."I talked to my mom," she admitted. Lexie stare
The clouds blocked the moon creating a dark shadow, everything felt pointless in that moment. She didn't know why she was walking to the factory, all she knew was there was no where left to go. The abandoned buildings on the street looked beautiful with the shadows dancing across them. They had uneven levels that created an artistic feel to them and the glass that littered their front lawns were like the loneliness that Arder felt. She took a moment to sit on the curb next to one of them, and just watched. She could see the silhouettes of the few birds flying across the sky and a tipped over metal garbage can rustling back and forth. A woman wearing a bunched up jacket and only one glove looked up from behind it. A few gray hair strands peaked out from under the light blue hat she had over her head. Arder jumped up and continued to walk, not wanting to disturb her further. "Arder?" A voice asked, making her jump. She spun around to see Grey standing in the middle of the street.This
The weather the next day was like that single moment before it starts to rain. The window was fogged over from the small heater Sophie left in the guest room, and all Arder could see was the dark sky. "What time is it?" Lexie asked, turning over and covering her face with the blankets to block out the light. Arder smiled, thinking about how late they stayed up the previous night. "It's almost nine-thirty. We should go help Sophie," she replied. She walked away from the window, an odd feeling that she couldn't quite decipher overcoming her. She shook it off and walked into the bathroom to get changed. Choosing dark green jeans with patches over the knees and a plain white shirt to wear under her leather jacket, she yelled, "Are you up yet?" over her shoulder.Arder could smell the scent of fresh coffee wafting up from the cafe, and she quickly ushered the other girl into the bathroom to change next. "Okay, just give me a minute," Lexie said."I'll meet you downstairs." The smell of