It was almost four
in the afternoon when Reed left campus on the last day of orientation for his
freshman year of college. The sun was just barely beginning to sink, and the
sky was peppered with lazy white clouds, drifting between the sparse high-rises
of the quaint Midwestern college town he had wound up in. Adjusting his
backpack and double knotting the laces on his old, worn-through blue sneakers,
Reed ambled down the sidewalk, drinking in the sights and sounds of his new
home. He was staying in an apartment with his cousin, Jason, who was a year
older than him instead of living in the dorms, which meant walking across town
twice every day, but Reed did not mind. He actually rather enjoyed his time
outside, given an excuse to mosey around. The trees and gardens were still
colorful and lush, the grass still bright emerald green. Everything about this
town was positively provincial, neat, and picturesque.
A
few people were out for late afternoon strolls, or sitting on their porches
with tall glasses of lemonade, watching the summer slowly fade into September.
Reed brushed his wavy brown hair out of his soft blue eyes and let his hands
drop into his pockets as he walked; he rarely did anything with any great
amount of deliberateness. His eyes grazed over the street, cars slowly idling
past, the occasional bird flitting to a new tree. He was content to wander, his
feet dragging against the pavement, his breath calm and meticulously even. That
was how he arranged most things in his life: with a great deal of unnecessary
meticulousness. He liked the word meticulous, as well. This often made him a
wearisome companion, which had resulted in a particularly quiet social life,
but he did not mind that either. People were difficult, and felt the need to assign
him tasks, which he would of course accomplish most meticulously. The more
meticulous he was, the less he had to accomplish, and the longer he could avoid
the questions his parents dangled over his head- questions like “What are you
going to do about a career?” and “Do you have any plans for the future?”
The
truth was he did not have an answer for either of those things, and was in no
hurry to acquire one. After all, college was the place to explore yourself,
discover your potential, unlock hidden talents. Reed expected that once classes
began he would begin to do those things, and his future would plan itself for
him, no extraneous effort required. There was no need to get all fussed and
bothered about it now while the sun was still out and the birds were still
singing. There would be plenty of time for worrying and important questions
later, when the deadlines were a little more pressing. In the meantime, he
planned on enjoying the scenery, and perhaps making a few friends, if they were
willing. There were plenty of people around, and plenty of people milling
around at his school, he just had to actually talk to them instead of giving
them cursory glances and deciding they would never understand why the flight
patterns of migratory birds were so fascinating before giving up and walking
away.
As
Reed wandered towards his apartment, he noticed that the same girl had been in
front of him for almost four blocks. In a town this size, that would not be
uncommon, but the way she carried herself stood out from the unhurried, slouchy
gait the rest of the area had adopted. She was petite, no more than five feet
tall, yet she was far from delicate. Her back was straight, and she held her
chin up, confidence clearly on display. She walked with the power and slinking
ease of a jungle cat, and Reed could almost see a tail lashing from side to
side behind her. Her hair was long, dark reddish brown, and tied loosely at the
base of her neck, mirroring the motion of the imaginary tail. As her feet hit
the pavement, Reed strained to hear them make contact, but she was as silent as
the grave, her steps precise, never hitting a single crack or crevice in the
sidewalk. For all he could tell, she was a jungle cat, misplaced, transformed,
and unusually aware of gaps in the sidewalk’s continuity.
His
curiosity fleeting, Reed soon shifted his attention to a mother duck crossing
the road. She was followed by a brood of six little ducklings, beginning to
lose their golden fluff in favor of darker adult feathers. The mother easily
climbed over the curb and began a hustling waddle into the trees of someone’s
backyard, and most of her young flapped and wiggled after her. The smallest,
however, struggled to make it over the curb, fear getting the best of him at
the last minute. Finally, he shut his eyes and jumped the small ledge with a
burst of courage and hurried after his aquatic family, his pointy yellow tail
wiggling frantically back and forth, causing Reed to chuckle. The duck feet
made soft slapping sounds as they disappeared, as though the ducks had brought
their own pond with them to place it in another part of town.
In
the yard across the street from where the ducks were now happily quacking at a
leaky bird feeder, an elderly man was watering his garden. The bushes were
perfectly pruned, and the flowers were bright, cheerful colors. The man was
wearing a tweed coat that was far too warm for the season, but he smiled at
Reed, waving, as though he were the happiest man on the planet. Reed thought
that perhaps he was the happiest man on the planet. Perhaps there was nothing
more to happiness than the peace of old age and the fragrance of a garden. Or,
conversely, perhaps he was just out of his mind, suffering from dementia and
unable to differentiate between what was happy and what was wearing a tweed
jacket in late August. These were the sorts of things Reed liked to ponder on
his walks home.
On
the next block, Reed could squint down the middle of the street and see the
glittering complex on the edge of the town that housed the local dentists, a
law firm, and a toothpaste factory. The windows were opaque and reflective, sending
the sun back into Reed’s eyes. The effect was dazzling, as unwelcome as
sunlight to the eyes usually is. Above the main entrance in giant blue and red
letters was the name of the toothpaste company, “CleanBrite CO”, glittering
like a set of freshly brushed pearly whites, only redder, and bluer. Reminded
of teeth in general, Reed ran his tongue over his own chompers to see if there
was anything stuck in them. He came up empty, and was satisfied with his
successful eating of breakfast and lunch, never more proud of his enzymes than
at that moment, his teeth slick and polished.
A
hand flew out from between the buildings to his right and yanked him into a
narrow alleyway. Before he could make a single sound, someone’s hand was over
his mouth and the arm it was attached to was slung across his neck, pinning him
to his attacker. He struggled to move his arms, but those were pinned against
his body by the assailants other arm. He wiggled feebly one more time, but it
was useless. Stuck, and vaguely panicked, he simply relaxed, no other plans
occurring to him after raw panic and adrenaline failed to work. His heart beat
rapidly against his ribs, thumping his entire frame.
“Why
are you following me?” growled a low female voice in his right ear. He tried to
shrug but was unsuccessful, the girl still keeping him motionless. “Who sent
you, huh?” she demanded, jerking back a little on his head. Reed now
acknowledged mentally that he was not going to get an opportunity to answer
these questions, and he might as well stop struggling. “I’m going to let you go
in a few moments; you’re clearly useless to whomever you are working for. So
here is what is going to happen, ok? I’m going to let go of you first. Then I
am going to leave, and you are going to stay for an entire thirty seconds.
Clear?” she concluded. Reed found he now had the ability to nod his head, and
he did so promptly to avoid further angering this girl, who was obviously not
above wrenching his head from his body.
As
suddenly as he was grabbed, he was released and she was gone. The last thing he
saw as she whipped around the corner was the tail of a long reddish brown
braid. He sighed inwardly, and cursed himself for not paying attention to how
long he had given the appearance of following her. He should have turned off or
slowed down or told her he wasn’t following her. Reed could be so dumb
sometimes. Remembering her instructions, he began counting. At ten or eleven he
realized he had absolutely no reason to be standing in a strange alley
following the instructions of a strange girl who had just attacked him in a
strange town. That would be even dumber than following her in the first place.
He ran out of the alley and peered down the street, but whoever she was, she
was long gone.
Shrugging
it off as the day’s requisite bizarre experience he continued his walk towards
home. It was only a few blocks away now, and the streets were beginning to look
more familiar. Friendly neighbors waved from their porches and children skipped
rope in their yards. Reed was particularly amused by the children skipping
rope. Antiquated children were always a great amusement to him. Finally, Reed
was standing in front of the apartment building, his brand new home, free of
rules and regulations from adults, equipped with an Xbox and pringles, and best
of all, the company of his older and decidedly cooler cousin, Jason. Reed
giggled to himself, imagining Jason’s reaction to the story he was about to
hear, and then entered the building, reminding himself that giggling was a
little creepy, and not at all the way to impress his cousin or make any new friends, either.
Opening
the front door and tossing his backpack into the nearest corner then slamming
the front door, Reed announced his arrival with a loud “Jaaaaason! I’m
hooooome!”
“Hey,
come into the living room, there’s someone I want you to meet,” his cousin
called, his voice decidedly more polite and refined. Reed did not notice.
“Ok,
but I have the greatest story for you,” he replied, walking towards the living
room. “I was walking home from the school, and I got attacked out of NOWHERE, by” -Reed stopped abruptly. “By her. I was
attacked by her, actually. In a dark alley,” he finished, pointing to the girl
sitting on the couch next to his cousin, her long braid slung over one shoulder,
her cheeks a little flushed with embarrassment. Her eyes retained a fierceness,
however, that told Reed she did not quite trust him, despite whatever
circumstances had just landed them together in this home.
“Listen,
I am really sorry about that,” she said, not sounding especially sorry to Reed
at all. “I’m a little on edge; new town and all.” Reed did not think a new town
would be too much of a worry for an elf who could fight grown men like himself
and win, but he just shrugged again. He was in no mood to find himself
immobilized again, and even if he had felt like risking it, he did not know
what to say to her. It was probably rude to tell someone she should not worry
about living in a tiny college town because she behaved more like Bruce Willis
than an easy target.
“It’s
cool. I understand,” he said. He paused a moment, shuffling his feet and trying
not to stare, or fart, or anything that could possibly make the situation more
awkward than it already was. “So…uh…who are you, exactly?” It was more blunt
than he had anticipated, but Jason’s slightly distressed expression told him he
would probably find out now anyway, perhaps not in the manner Jason had
initially desired.
“This
is Leila,” Jason chimed in. “She’s our new roommate. She’s studying English at
the U, and she needed a place to stay. Her mom is a friend of my mom’s, so I
offered to let her stay. I hope that’s ok,” he offered.
Reed
raised his eyebrows. Jason had invited a girl to live in their apartment. A
real live, honest to God girl, who would probably want to clean things and turn
the music down, and hog the Xbox to watch corny girl movies. Girl movies about
romance and-Reed’s thought train came to a screeching halt, nearly falling
right off the tracks. Could this Leila girl be Jason’s girlfriend? That was the
only real reason he could think of for a girl to be taking up residence in
their apartment. Wouldn’t Jason have talked about her sooner, though? Reed had
been there almost two weeks and there had been absolutely no mention of any
girl, friendly or not, and this one was not particularly friendly. Something
was a little off. Surely Jason had a reason for keeping his girlfriend secret,
but Reed could not for the life of him figure out what that would be.
“That’s
fine,” Reed said, trying to keep the suspicion out of his voice. He thought he
did pretty well, but Jason’s smirk told him otherwise.
“I’ve
got some things to do, so it was nice meeting you Reed,” Leila said, sounding
indifferent to the whole situation. Then she padded down the hall to her
bedroom on those freaky cat feet of hers. Reed arched an eyebrow at her
retreating back. He could almost swear it returned the gesture, which only
added to the creepiness he felt rippling off of her, like she was some sort of
enchanted doll sent here to haunt him. He wondered what he had done to piss of
a supernatural being so much as to deserve this. Was there a cat god who sent
evil women to the houses of people who disobeyed them? Probably not, but it was
a nice image, so Reed held onto it a moment, smiling instead of grimacing.
Shaking
his head to clear it of Leila altogether, Reed plopped down on the couch to
play some Xbox, finally. After an hour or so, Leila’s bedroom door creaked open
and Jason walked out. Reed wondered when Jason had gone in there in the first
place and how he had failed to notice, but was soon distracted by the fact that
Leila seemed to be doing some sort of martial arts in her sock feet in the
center of the room beyond. Under the guise of using the bathroom, Reed shuffled
slowly past her door, taking in as many details as he could in one glance.
She
was in fact going through a pattern of stretches, kicks, hits, and poses, most
of which looked like they would be really painful to whoever was on the
receiving end. Reed rubbed his neck, confirming this with the bruises of his
afternoon. But if the martial arts weren’t strange enough, the contents of the
room itself were. Her bookshelves, and there were many, were lined with large
books with scientific, academic-sounding titles, like “Life Cycles: The Animal
Kingdom, Protista, and the Non-living” and “Math Theorems: Then and Now”. When
had she had the time to move all this stuff in and set it up so thoroughly, he
wondered? He had only been gone about 5 hours. Unless she already had her boxes
in the apartment, there was no way she had unpacked everything in a single day.
It was ridiculous to think anyone could be that neat and that fast at the same
time.
Spread out on her
desk were dozens of pieces of paper covered in tiny zeros and ones. Reed’s brow
furrowed. What kind of English major needed so much binary code lying around? In
combination with the strange books, this was starting to look like a serious
math habit, not just a few classes to satisfy a gen ed. Regardless of her
intended path of study, this girl was weird, and Reed was not sure how he felt
about his cousin dating her. How did they meet anyway? Did Jason honestly think
he would believe that cock and bull story about their moms being friends? Reed’s
own mother would have known her too, logically, as his mom and Jason’s mom were
rarely apart. Reed was lazy, maybe, dumb, sometimes, but he was not stupid, or
gullible. He’d get to the bottom of this. If he was going to share living space
with such a strange individual, he was going to know the real reason why.
Later
that night, the three unlikely roommates sat around the table awkwardly, poking
at their macaroni and cheese and trying to avoid eye contact. Leila seemed the
least perturbed by this utter lack of social grace; in fact she seemed
completely unaware of it. Reed was clearly the most distressed. Jason just sat
there, like he had set up some sort of game and was waiting for it to play
itself. The pieces were not moving, though, and it was making him nervous,
fidgety. Timidly, at first, Reed attempted to broach the realm of casual conversation
as a means to begin his interrogation.
“So
Leila,” he began. “What’s your major again? Math?”
“No,
I’m an English major with an anthropology minor. Total liberal arts nerd, I
know,” she said with a smile that seemed not altogether genuine, one eyebrow
arched awkwardly, like she did not know quite what to do with her face when
speaking to people.
“Hmmmm,”
Reed voiced his suspicion. “So how’d you two meet? I assume you met before you
decided to move in together.” He let a beat pass. “I mean, you know, before you
started living together. Under one roof. In the same apartment…” Jason and
Leila were both staring at him curiously now. They exchanged a glance,
lightning fast. He quickly ran his tongue over his teeth, but there was nothing
there, so it must have been his words.
“Leila
and I were introduced years ago by our mothers. You feeling ok there, dude?”
asked Jason, giving Reed a warning look. Rather than quieting him, however,
this fanned Reed’s spark of suspicion into a roaring fire, toasty warm to the
point of vague discomfort.
“I’m
fine, just curious. There’s nothing wrong with being curious,” Reed grumbled,
feeling and sounding much more like a petulant child than he had intended. “How
old are you Leila? You seem a little young for college.”
At
this last comment, Leila actually snorted into her bowl of cheesy pasta, her
face finally taking on a natural expression, be it one of distaste. “I’m 19,
actually. Late bloomer, you know.” Reed was probably imagining it, but he could
have sworn he saw the corners of Jason’s mouth twitch, like he wanted to smile,
but it was only a flicker, gone in an instant. Leila did not share the
sentiment, whatever it was. Her face was fierce, but otherwise unexpressive.
“I
guess it’s easy to bloom late in a tiny town like this one, what with all the
slow moving people, and the long leisurely walks. This town is almost romantic,
wouldn’t you say Jason? It’s kind of a romantic town where you would want to
spend time with, um, perhaps a girl or boy that you love? Depending on your
gender and the gender you prefer to…um…spend…time with in that romantic sort of
way?” Reed blushed at his questions, wishing he had never opened his mouth, as
whatever information he could have gotten was probably long gone by now.
Jason
sighed through his nose and stared at Reed, his gentle blue eyes solidifying
into a warning glare. “Reed. Just stop talking, please,” he told his cousin,
blinking a few times, letting the message sink in. Whatever had been amusing
about his antics had stopped being funny, but that meant Reed had gotten closer
to the truth, he was sure. People were always sensitive about the truth.
“Sorry,”
Reed mumbled, shuffling over to the sink to wash the dishes. Leila stood
abruptly, grabbing Jason’s plate as well as her own, and plopped them onto the
counter by Reed’s elbow, then whisked herself noiselessly out of the room on those
irritating cat feet. When Reed had finished cleaning up from dinner, he began
the lengthy shuffle back to his own bedroom, which was just beyond Leila’s. The
door to her room was ajar, and he could see Jason sitting cross-legged on her
bed, while she perched on her desk chair. They were talking in low whispers. It
was not quite the scene of intimacy Reed had anticipated, but there was a
connection beyond that of acquaintances or casual friendships. They were in
league about something, and Reed was desperately curious to find out what.
