Newling

-August-

I took a deep breath of cool, fresh air, sitting at the bus stop. It was close to September now, and in the air was a noticeable chill. The smell of diesel fuel signaled the arrival of the bus. I stood up, getting on, and went straight to the back and sat down, staring out of the window. Trees blurred past as the bus lurched into motion and rolled down the road. There weren't many people on the bus. The brakes squealed as it came to the next stop.

I got off and stepped onto the smooth, frosty concrete of the sidewalk. As I walked down the street, I noticed some familiar mint green hair from a café window. I smiled, and walked in, taking a seat across from her. "Hey Ella, what's up?" I nodded.

"Oh, hey Locke. Not much." She glanced at me, clearly not startled at my abrupt greeting. "What's up with you?" She smiled above her book, looking at me now and tilted her head in question.

"Nothing, I guess." I shrugged. My eyes wandered around the cozy little café. The place was kind of dead, except for an elderly couple sitting at a table across the room. I looked back to Ella. "I'm gonna order something, want anything?"

"Raspberry crumble muffin, please." Ella looked up from her book and blinked at me, before going back to the pages. I nodded and got up, walking to the counter. The cashier gave me a friendly smile.

"Can I help you?" The cashier asked. I stood there for a moment, surprised at how sweet her voice was. She had long, cherry blossom pink hair that brushed over both of her soft, pale green eyes. Her hair parted just enough by her ears, so I could see that she had stretched lobes and various other piercings. As I looked down at her, I realized that she was shorter than I would've expected for an adult human. My eyes wandered back to her face. I immediately picked out the purple opal philtrum piercing. What seemed to startle me most, was her pale, nearly vampiric complexion. She continued to smile.

"O-oh, um, yeah. A raspberry crumble muffin, and a black tea." I swallowed my nerves.

"What size for the tea?" The girl gave her head a little tilt as she waited to type the order in.

"Erm medium is fine." The words tumbled out of my mouth. She typed it in.

"That's five-fifty please." She blinked up at me. I held out a ten dollar bill. As she reached out for the money, my heart skipped a beat to be so close. She rang it in the till, and I took my change and walked back to the table where Ella was. I sat down slowly, not saying a word. Ella looked at me, raising an eyebrow. I shook my head slightly, clearing my throat. I pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket and typed a message to Ella, since I couldn't bring myself to say it outloud, for fear of the girl overhearing.

'The cashier... The one with the cherry blossom pink hair, when she looked at me, man she took my breath away...' Ella looked at her screen.

"Well, what's her name?" Ella leaned in closer, speaking in a hushed tone. I blinked.

"I uh... I didn't get it..." I squirmed in my seat, looking down and stared at the wooden table.

"Two secs." Ella giggled as she put her book down, pages open to the table and went over to the cashier, asking her name before I could protest. Ella was all smiles as she walked back to the table. "Her name is Noelle."

I smiled at the sound of her name, my cheeks turning red.

We spent another hour at the café before we left. I caught the bus home, my mind still bright with the images of Noelle's sweet face.

The next day, I woke up to rain pattering on the roof and streaming down my windows in cascading droplets. Though I wanted to see if Noelle was working, I spent the morning lying in bed, watching movies. The weather was so dreary and the rain looked heavy, making a walk outside seem like a poor choice, as much as I didn't mind the drizzle. My phone vibrated, and I paused the movie to roll over, picking up my phone. It was an unknown number.