Page 11 of Of Poison & Pumpkins
I spot her, heading straight toward her shop. Politely, I nudge through the crowd, bumping shoulders and hips until I’ve caught up with her.
“Rynn, wait. I’ll quit joking around. Let’s just start over.”
She doesn’t stop.
“Well, at least let me walk you home.”
“Ta da.” She gestures sharply before her. “You did it, good job.”
“Wait, you live in your store, too?”
Her eyebrow arches more intensely than a dancing worm, then she shakes her head. “Good luck avoiding tree frogs. Sleep tight.” She twists the key and enters the threshold of the dark, silent space.
The lavender scent bursting out is comforting, like the scent of a childhood memory.
“Elias? You can run along to your friends.”
So captivated by her hazel eyes’ intensity, slicing through my very soul, I struggle to process what she said. “Friends?”
Rynn nods behind me, where Zanther and a guy I’ve never met wave to us from outside a bar. The new guy gestures crudely, which makes Rynn’s face flush like an immediate sunburn. I step closer to block her view of him, which leads me further into her store.
“I don’t know that imbecile, I promise.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Uh, can I use your restroom?” I ask, grasping for any excuse for her to let me in.
She points across the way. “There’s one at Shoanna’s.”
“Right … well … I’m thirsty. Can I get a drink?”
This time she smiles, and I swear that if the sky swallows me whole right this moment, I’d die a happy man. “There are awesome cocktails at Shoanna’s.”
“Nah, I only drink water,” I say too quickly, hoping Rynn passes over my comment without noticing my inner demons.
She nods to the front door, but it doesn’t swing open, as if it has plans to keep us here, together.
“I need to see Goosie!”
Rynn jumps, startled by my sudden outburst. This may be my only shot to spend more time with her tonight. I charge past her, softly bumping against her hip. The brief contact sends my pulse racing.
“You took Goosie! And I need to see his precious children.”
“Elias. It’s after business hours. Come back tomorrow.”
For the first time, I notice an uneasiness in her tone; a slight waver.. I freeze, considering. “Wait. Are you afraid of me?” I ask in seriousness, this time hyperaware to keep my hands visible.
Her mouth drops open, and she searches my eyes for a beat. “Elias, you’re harmless, but I have a meeting with a customer in ten minutes.”
No one meets customers at one in the morning. She’s lying, so I ask again, “Right now, alone in the dark with me, you feel one hundred percent safe?”
She licks her bottom lip, absolutely murdering me as she does so. “Yes, you wouldn’t hurt a leaf.”
“A leaf?”
“Yeah, remember in senior bio in Tronel’s class, everyone else crumpled their leaves and ripped them after we finished that project in the woods,” she pauses. “You were tender with your pile of leaves, like they were delicate, innocent babies.”
I swallow. Rynn had noticed something about me back then? I assumed I was invisible to her. Rynn was the silent but deadly type. The one who earned straight A’s, but the teachers never called on because she’d ask them questions they’d be unsure how to answer. Not to mention the rumors about how she once cast a mind-controlling spell on her parents. Back then, she wasn’t someone to mess around with and it seems she still isn’t. Immensely intimidating.
