Human Behavior

The creak of a door groaning in objection reverberated as a tardy student walks in. Its hinges were definitely a few more creaks to coming loose, evident from the rust that had deteriorated its once pristine condition. You would have expected from a well funded albeit simple school to have their hinge oiled regularly, but this just proves an evident neglect for the structural integrity of the facility.

Embarrassment would have been evidently plastered on the aforementioned student’s face if it were the first time the occurrence had been experienced ever so frequently. He was going to be told off nonetheless so bothering for an excuse would be a waste of breath and energy.

“Mr. Tyler.” the professor stated, calling out his attention just as he had expected.

Albeit forced to stop the lecture momentarily, the class hadn’t complained in the slightest. They befitted from the hang time of not being subjected to a monotone speech of how human emotions were a main point of consideration when it came to ones decision making. They would have been outright great test subjects for the said matter as they freely gave out their opinions; data which could serve to be quite useful if it weren’t only filled with nonsensical quips of how great the professor’s ass looked in her pencil skirt uniform.

As if to state the obvious, the professor resumed. “You are late… again. It seems as if you only grace the class with your presence to pass the remaining minutes then leave faster than a school supervisor huh?”

Tyler hadn’t paused when she had started a small vent, talking as if he were back in kindergarten. He wasn’t a mere toddler caught sticking their hand into the cookie jar to sneak in a few more for their own satisfaction for crying out loud. Although that could have been the case, this occurrence was not due to an act for his satisfaction but rather his own body demanding an adequate amount of sleep. He had fallen asleep in the library, trying to pass the time and ended up with it spent on paying off the amount of sleep or rather the lack of it, ever since the unexplained occurrence a few weeks prior.

If he had hesitated and paused as she scolded, the spotlight would have been greater which was something he would rather not be dealing with as of the moment.

“I’m sorry ma’am.” he said halfheartedly hoping she would just be contented with the mere acknowledgement and just get on with the lesson hanging in a limbo. After all, the students did come to school for that and not an exhibition of who has the higher position in their own little school hierarchy. Although with this particular set, neither that nor the opposing reason could have been sufficient.

“Coming in late, to your last class of the day nonetheless, seems to not just warrant a mere apology don’t you think? See me after school.” she ended on a bitter note before drawing her attention back to the topic at hand. Upon the presentation displayed on the screen before them were slides extending information about cognitive behavior and reactions of humans --- the fight or flight instinct. It was human behavior after all that the subject had been focused on and looking back on the syllabus given earlier that semester, the lesson was overdue.

A nudge came from beside Tyler which originated from the other person he seemed to favor for the lack of better word. “You gotta stop rolling in like your some kind of anime protagonist. This ain’t a shounen series mind you.” Carlos joked. Tyler chuckled slightly at the inside joke filled comment and silently thanked his seatmate for lightening the mood.

As his thoughts panned out, the voice of his professor started to become less muffled and tuned out in his mind along with the subtle buzzing chatter amongst his fellow classmates. “For this semester, you will be working in pairs for a specific project. This will sum up to 30 percent of your final grade as it is a major paper slash essay compilation to be done.”

Audible groans and grumbles of disagreement filled the air as students conversed with their seatmate, each finding a way to maybe deviate her mind off of it or to make her drop it entirely. As graduating students, it wasn’t uncommon to be subjected to such which subsequently also meant that they were just waiting to graduate and be done with it. Motivation had flung out the window the first week they had entered school and though not even halfway through the year, the excitement for it to be over was far more superior than to which for finishing an essay compilation.

Although the grumbles were loud and clear, the professor simply resumed, letting the complaint fall on deaf ears. “Within this time frame you shall be gathering data about a topic that peaks your interest within those we have previously discussed and make a thirty page essay compilation of these. Think of it as a hybrid of essays and research. These will contain your observations from people whether be on and off campus. Further details will be sent to your emails, such as the format etc. Are we clear on this?”

“It’s not like we have a choice.” Carlos commented to himself. Before he could even suggest the two of them be paired up for the sake of ease and familiarity, their name had already been listed off by a generator.

As soon as everyone had confirmed getting a partner, the professor dismissed the class.

A silent vibration originated from Tyler’s pocket making him fish out his phone in response.

Park, in an hour. - M

Students trickled through the door, eager to get to their respective homes. “Tyler. In my office?” the professor stated and with a groan audible only to oneself, he complied. As expected he had been told off the same speech repeatedly as if it were a track on loop. As soon as he opened the door back out towards the main hall, he could see a girl awkwardly leaning just beside the door frame. Seeing as he had no business with her, nor did he know the girl personally, he just chose to walk right past her and made his way out the building. She might have business within the room he had gladly been released from and he was just glad to have someone deviate the attention from him at that point.

See that would’ve been the end of that if it weren’t for the set of footsteps that continuously followed him. He made turns on the path which made no sense and neither was towards his designated destination, but he trudged on forward nonetheless. Whoever was deliberately following him sure was making a horrible job of keeping themselves hidden.

That had been a few minutes ago and he had thought he would have been released from the constraints of having to deal with people he had no intention of dealing with.

“Stop following me.” Tyler says, not bothering to look back this time, knowing that the girl was consistently behind him.

“So you do sense me. I just thought you were too used to someone following you that you didn’t even bother.” they replied. It didn’t really quite add up to him at first that who had been following him was a female but he didn’t let the fact cause him to falter. “I’m not about to ask what you want from me so just leave me alone.”

“But, we have a project to do?”

Ah. This must be who had gotten him as a partner from the name generator they had earlier. It was a bird was it? “And that’s till the end of the semester. So until then leave me alone.” readjusting the strap of his bag, Tyler quickened his pace. He had been going around in circles for the aforementioned duration, unable to fully grasp whether he had to be wary of the potential stalker. A normal person would’ve approached them in class or waited the day after to discuss. Not be a stalke---

“It doesn’t seem like sufficient time to be working on a project at the last day.”

“Then maybe next week or next month! The end of the semester is still in three months, so leave me alone till then!” Tyler raised his voice slightly, more out of surprise than anger. He was still over analyzing her actions that he hadn’t noticed his pace slowing and consequently, her gaining proximity.

Phoenix couldn’t help but gaze at the person. “Interesting. Do humans always get agitated easily?”

“They get this agitated when you’ve been stalking them for the past hour without letting up. And… human? You speak like you’re some kind of alien from another dimension or something.” Tyler voices out, finally stopping in his tracks and facing her. His height towered over her, much like Zeelan but a lot less intimidating in comparison. The boy’s amber eyes stood out from his features as he gazed down upon her. Sure he was a tad on the thinner side in relevance to his frame, but he wasn’t overly thin to the point of being sickly or looking like a droopy willow.

“Uh ... Close but no. ”

Before she could even further explain, Tyler’s feet had already lead him to where he was originally intending to go to. Before them was a group of similarly built men, clad in simple clothing and yet for some reason, there was a difference in the air around them, seemingly caused by the manner they bring themselves the fact that each of them sat with prideful arrogance, far from what Phoenix expected people to act. Whether it was to be for a malicious reason or otherwise, she had yet to find out.

Tyler scolded himself internally as he got caught up in confusion and brought the girl along with him.

The group was still quite a distance as they waved at the general direction of the two signifying a wave of familiarity. Now the only person seemingly out of place would be the company Tyler unwillingly had with him. Some were lazily on their phones sat about in different manners on the park bench while the rest were looking at Tyler as he greeted them. “What’s this about?” he asked. If it weren’t for the message he had received before school was even over, he would’ve been well on his way to his job. Unfortunately he couldn’t just ditch the group so he had to call in sick.

“Hey Ty, hate to interrupt you and your girlfriend here but you ditched on us that night.”

Mage started and opened his palm out, extending it to the aforementioned receiver.

“What night?” Tyler spoke, this time with less weight on his voice, as if he wasn’t all too comfortable to let his distaste be evident for the conversant. Phoenix looked at him, and although his eyes had only moved slightly, his expression and demeanor seemed to have completely changed. It wasn’t a change that could be said to be hostile nor otherwise, but seemingly somewhere along the middle. Something, she herself found all too familiar.

“You know I’m not one for playing dumb.” Mage started again. It was evident that the conversation had only been meant for the two of them as the men beside him paid no attention, and whether it was because they already knew what it was already about or simply deemed it not to be something of interest.

Mage dropped his hand and rested it on the crook of his pocket, sliding only a finger in and letting the rest hang carefree. “I’m not one to care for it much, neither is it a big deal. I just wanted to inform you of your stupidity.”

“Pretty aware of that already, Mage.” Tyler replies while the two share a small chuckle.

“Yes that too I am aware of. But it seems from your light hearted demeanor that you have no idea what I am talking about.”

“Maybe he’s a great actor. Let him in at Keiya Entertainment, Mage. You can use one more.” one quipped jokingly. “We’re going ahead. Just follow after you have a little chat with your boyfriend here.” the man teased further before earning a slight shove to the back of his head. He stumbled slightly as the rest of the group laughed it off.

“Okay, cut the crap. What is this about?” Tyler asked, evidently growing impatient. It was such a drag to keep on running in loops in a conversation, taking note that he had already been physically doing so with the girl he had beside him for the past hour. A girl who for some reason still hasn’t left yet.

“You really are an idiot aren’t you?” Mage flicks his forehead. “My car. Two days ago? You left it at an abandoned construction site. You returned without it and now it got towed.”

Tyler furrowed his brows as if deep in thought. It hadn’t been just a day before that he ha had went to the abandoned site, nor the incident with Alastor. That had occurred weeks prior and yet, here he was being confronted about it and claimed that it had only been so. He was confused nonetheless, but hadn’t brought it up as to not lengthen the conversation. The group already thought of him to be lightweight; he didn’t need them to be thinking him delusional. His confusion deepens as he had already thought that to be a dream or a side effect of the drug he was snorting back then. Furthermore, it couldn't have possibly happened because even the messages and all the conversations exchanged between the guy named Alastor that night hadn’t existed. He even checked the time when he woke up and saw that the clock still stated 1am, signifying barely any time had passed from when he was told to pick up booze and when he possibly came to from the drug.

Phoenix chimes in, snapping her fingers, and without intending to so, garnering the attention of both males. “Confusion right? Should I start taking notes? This is human behavior after all.”

Tyler looked at her quizzically. Momentarily, he had even managed to forget she was even there. His eyes widened at how a seemingly normal-- no scratch that. Nothing of this girl could have been normal.

Mage speaks up again, waving a palm before the other to try and gain is attention back. "Earth to Tyler... Don't tell me you forgot. That was just two days ago idiot."

“I’ll pay for it somehow. Just give about ten years.”

“Again, I only came here to inform you of your stupidity. I didn’t com here to ask for money which you obviously do not have, neither do I have the use for.”

He looked down only to noticed a burn mark on his peer’s palm. "What did you do this time to mess up your hand?"

Mage rolled his eyes avoiding the question. "Don’t sweat it. I’ve been trying to rid of that car for forever so you just made things a lot easier. Just make sure to ACTUALLY bring the booze next time when coming back rather than just sitting back down and joining them." Mage eyes the girl beside Tyler, one who hadn’t been facing him for the entirety of the conversation.

As soon as her face was full placed into view for Mage’s sight to behold, a chill creeps up his spine. His eyes widen from the sudden recognition of the at person he wanted to see once more. This was one meeting too much! A cold sweat drips on hi forehead and as if on queue, his palm started to tingle, mirroring the warning bells in his mind. Phoenix mirrored the recognition, although with better composure.

“Don’t try to start something unusual with humans. One little slip could mean a week’s worth of clean up duty for me and the other reapers and frankly a ticket for you to go right back. Are we clear?” she reminisced Zeelan lecturing her.

She mentally swatted away at the voice as she tried to maintain a smile in desperation of feigning non-recognition. Mage seemed to have not noticed, too caught up swimming in his own instincts of fight or flight. The mere thought of pathetically cowering over a girl who was well under his shoulders in height was laughable indeed. He cursed himself that night thinking it to be him hallucinating and trying to flirt with a stove when he came to. Although that wouldn’t have explained how he was seeing a girl he had conjured up in his head to be standing before him at that instant.

As to not embarrass himself by letting his knees buckle before them, he just patted Tyler on the shoulder before walking off to the direction the others had went ahead of him.

As he had done so, gaining quite a distance, Tyler looks at Phoenix as if to question her presence "You too. Aren't you gonna leave me alone?"

“Persistence is a human behavior after all. I’m simply manifesting it as of now. So… no. It is getting quite late, but since it is the weekend tomorrow, I assume you don’t have significant plans of the moment?”

“You talk weird.” Tyler mutters as he looks to the sky. Just then, it seemed his stomach decided to join in on the conversation, letting out an unholy grumble of complaint as if it hadn’t been fed for a month.

Tyler fixes his bag on hi shoulder once more out of embarrassment rather than it really slipping downward. “Well, I can’t say its nice meeting you but if I hadn’t already made it clear, I want peace and nothing to do with anyone I don’t necessarily have to interact with.”

Tyler starts to walk away before Phoenix shouts after him. “If you let me buy you a meal then I’ll leave you alone!” He paused for a bit, processing that the girl’s offer made no sense as to benefit them in whatever matter. She took this as a chance to catch up to him and continued. “Swear.” he says.

“Wow okay. You’re really serious about this. Fine fine…”

He reluctantly agrees to the offer, leading her to a nearby food establishment. A small bell chimed as they entered the busy area and the lull of a slight buzz of chatter hit their ears the moment they do. The cool breeze of the AC flowed through; a perceptible difference in temperature caressing their skin.

Tyler leads her to a line, seeing as she visibly had no idea what to do.

“So this is where you get food?” she asks upon following him. She glanced around at the places without people only to be met with empty tables with only pages filled with pictures placed on it.

“How do humans consume food? Shouldn’t there be a feast laid before us?”

“A feast? We’re not in a buffet restaurant. This is a fast food place.” Tyler said, finding himself with a raised brow at her for another time. "Order whatever you want." he says to Phoenix who wasn’t quite sure what to say. She had never face such situation before of having the choice of what to dine. She smiled back at Tyler to try to mask her lack of confidence. “Uh… You first.”

Tyler had been thankful they were still a few people in the line before them because if this were to happen at their turn, those behind them would have their heads for sure.

"Aww. Don’t be shy." Phoenix teased. Tyler gave her a half lidded look before speaking. “Can you stop analyzing me for five seconds?” to which she had momentarily just stared right back.

“Four, three, two…”

“I didn't mean that literally.”

“Okay. Can’t take a joke. But since you seem like you're not going to “order” what you actually want I'll just have a random guess.” she says and stares at the screens before them while the line decreases a person. “Do I choose there?”

Tyler nods and for a moment, she was deep in concentration. “How about that?” she stated pointing at a heavily loaded meal bundle for god for five people.

“Unless you have an elephant secretly in your stomach, I suggest picking something else.”

Their turn came and she still hasn’t managed to pick one order. A small rush of social anxiety rushes through Tyler when the person manning the register before them stated a greeting and their usual quip upon asking for your order.

"Uh… just the burger meal please with some fries…” he stated and turned to Phoenix who’s face was contorted in an unpaintable expression and finally mellowing out to a blank stare.

“Don’t tell me you're just going to stare at me and not eat." Tyler

"Uh... Is it customary to eat as well when conversing? Truth be told, I’m just peckish." she laughs nervously, failing tremendously at hiding the fact that she just had no idea what to get for herself. She didn’t feel hunger but the moment they entered and the savory smell in the air enveloped her, it seemed like a temptation far too great to resist.

The man at the register gave great effort to avoid staring at them weirdly. “Please just up size the fries and have an extra order of ice cream. The tallest you have please.” he says. Smiling, the person punched it in his monitor and stated the price. “Is that to be paid by cash or card?”

“Card please.” Phoenix smiled confidently. Maybe Zeelan having to brief her wasn’t so bad after all.

She held out a rare type of black card and handed it to the person. They placed it into their machine and typed in the amount before handing the machine over to them.

“4..2--”

Tyler placed a hand over her mouth and stopped er from revealing what he could have only guessed was the PIN for the card. “You idiot, don’t say it out loud! Type it out.”

His heart raced slightly. This girl was as clueless as a first grader! How was she in graduating school? Moreover, how does she have a black card, a rare one at that, and not have a clue how it worked?

As the person behind the counter gave back the card, Tyler grabbed it and placed it firmly unto the girl’s hand. “Pocket it. Now…” he ordered before this girl would have did something even more reckless with it.

A few moment later, the food had been handed to them on a red tray and Tyler picked it up, looking for an empty table before placing it down before them.

Tyler simply handed over the ice cream to her and laid the fries between them. “I’m assuming you haven’t tried this but… dip the fries into the ice cream. It tastes good.”

Just as the male had suggested, she tried and mimicked him by picking up a piece and dipping it in the said dairy. The chill of the product hitting her tongue was delectable and needless to say she was instantly hooked. “I have no idea what this I but this is better than ambrosia. Oh, we haven’t formally met. I’m Phoenix.”

As Tyler took another bite at his food he couldn’t help but wonder. “Tyler. You’re not from here are you?”

Momentarily pausing at her brand new favorite meal, she looked up and squinted, “If you plan on calling a “nemtal” hospital for me forget it. I’ve already been told what that is and trust me, I’m not crazy.”

“Craz-- Do you mean a MENTAL hospital?” Tyler corrected, stiffing a chuckle. “Not convincing in the very least. If you’re some kind of alien, maybe try learning "human" language in the least to blend in.” He says sarcastically. "Start maybe by trying to not to sound like a cross between normal and a stuck up rich kid from the 1800s."

"Judging by how I could barely comprehend the meaning of that statement, I guess I have a lot to learn. I’m just new here so I’m still learning. That’s why I go to this “school” of yours. In my opinion, there must be a faster way to gain knowledge right? Around 90 percent of the time you spend in that institution isn’t exactly related to the subjects and thus may be deemed insignificant to the real reason you go?” Phoenix quipped, scooping a spoonful of the ice cream and shoving it in her mouth. A split second was all it took for hr to regret the action. The chill seeped in her cheeks and across her tongue that spread to her palate in quick succession. She mewled slightly and held her head, suddenly feeling anger towards her once beloved discovery.

Tyler chuckled from her reaction. He could see a innocence within her that he hadn’t seen in a long time, much less interact with. “You got that part right at least.”

“So… thirty page essay compilation huh?” Phoenix started once more, eager to get the project started at the very least. She took another scoop, in a smaller portion this time and carefully placed it in her mouth.

“We can equally divide that to 15 pages each. I’ll handle the latter while you fix whatever theatrics the first page will have. Let’s make use of your weirdly placed eloquence shall we?” Tyler said, the last bit quite a mockery in regards to her speech. She was either quite unaware of this or simply didn’t heed it any mind as he simply nodded. “Hold on I forgot to get extra ketchup.”

It was a quick exchange with the person that manned the counter and merely a minute passed, although when Tyler returned, the girl was nowhere to be seen. His eyes darted between a few tables but she was no where to be seen. “Good riddance I guess.” Tyler muttered to himself although felt slightly disappointed for reasons he didn’t acknowledge.

Lost in thought he hadn’t even realized the surrounding went silent. Dead silent. He stared down at the table only to find that it looked dilapidated as if it had been abandoned for years. He looked around to see that the whole restaurant was in the same state as the furniture. There wasn’t anyone else in it but him. His blood ran cold. Just what exactly was going on?

He looked up once more and faced the window seeing the rest of the outside was merely an field that stretched for miles with nothing in sight. There wasn’t a pathway from the park anymore but rather a road that stretched far into the distance, bathed in the glow of the sun still high in the sky. A clang of something dropping behind him shook him from his trance and he grabbed his belongings which fortunately were in the same state he had left them in.

He slowly backed to the entrance, refusing to let his eyes stray from where the direction of the noise emanated from. Once his back felt the door he turned to leave, only to fall on the ground in fear as his feet gave up on him. There a man stood, grinning maliciously in a situation where there was nothing to smile about. His teeth were edged and sharp, eyes blank and dull as if there was nothing behind it. His face was distorted in a way, still retaining its human features but at the same time, the majority of its appearance had erased this small fact into nothingness. This was merely how Tyler would’ve pictured a demented person to look, if he could still consider this a person. His peculiarly long and bony limbs were against the glass, reaching for the handle all the while boring his eyes into Tyler.

He scrambled to get up and do something. Anything, just to get away from the creature.

Just as he managed to will his legs forward a hand gripped his and pulled.

“Get moving if you still value your life!”