Chapter 4

AJ

Does Ren have a crush? No way, the only time he has ever shown interest in anyone was in third grade, and it was our math teacher. But this is about the third time I've seen him staring at her. Well, he won't fess up to it, so I'll just keep the knowledge handy for blackmail later on. I look over at Amora, still eating chocolate. Damn, these girls are strange. Hot though. I take a look at Amora's cat ears. I didn't notice during our first meeting but, they twitch at subtle sounds. I wonder… "Are those.....real?" I ask, wanting to talk to anyone at this point, even if it's the weird cat girl that's obsessive over her chocolate. Her eyes dart up to mine "...No," she gets nervous. I stare, approaching her slowly. She leans away from me, trying to avoid my touch, but I eventually make contact with her soft ears. I gasp and pull my hand away quickly from the shock. Amora's cheeks flush. I'm not sure if it's embarrassment or shame. I reach my hand over again carefully. When I touch them, I feel a small tingle that shoots through my fingertips and rests on top of my head where the ears would be if I had them, like a phantom limb.

"Woah." by this point, I have gotten Ren's attention, and he also starts rubbing her ears. As we scratch her ears, the red in Amora's cheeks deepens and deepens. Finally, I hear a slight purr before she pushes us off.

"Okay, okay, leave them alone!!" Ren jumps away and redirects his attention back to Raven. I wonder what it is about her that has caught his interest so well... I try not to dwell on it too much and instead look back at Amora,

" So, What other parts of you are animal-like?" I top off the remark with a smirk

She stares at me intensely for a few seconds before she answers. "Well, I have a tail. And no, I'm not letting you see it." She either didn't understand my innuendo or ignored it.

"So, how are you.... were you like...created in a test tube, or were you actually given birth to like that?"

"I was given birth to..., not like this but... I don't really want to talk about it" Her facial expression changes as she speaks. I notice it went from almost completely oblivious to thoughtful and pained. "Pretty painful story then? I get it..." I give her a look that lets her know she can tell me anytime. But, wait, what am I doing? I need to put the game face back on. I change my tone immediately and put on my best darker intentioned smile.

"So, you seem pretty flexible. Wanna show me what else you can do?"

She gives me a thoughtful smile and looks over at Ren to see if he's paying attention. Amora turns back to me and leans in closer.

"I know what you're doing, AJ." She says with a whispering tone. Her eyes are intense, and she seems to believe her meaning is clear.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about, darlin',"

I say with sarcasm, trying to divert her attention away from whatever she's trying to get at.

"You never answered my question,"

I state, still trying to change the topic. Then, finally, she gets out of her box and bends down to make eye contact with me.

"And you never answered mine." Finally, she says, "Raven!! Come on; I have to go home."

Almost automatically, Raven opens her eyes and sighs,

"But I was having fun letting Ren think I didn't know he was staring at me."

She looks at Ren, "And by the way, I know I'm hot; you're right about me wanting to make you uncomfortable."

She then walks over to me and grabs my hair to force me to make eye contact with her.

"If I ever hear you trying to jump on top of my best friend again, I'll end you. Am I clear?"

I smile at her, the one that annoys her so much. "Crystal, darlin'" Wow, Raven is genuinely terrifying.

"Good."

She pushes my head down and looks back at Amora

"Okay, we can go now."

She grabs Amora's hand and drags her out of the room, leaving Ren and me sitting on the floor like helpless puppies. Then, finally, after an eternity of silence in the solemn room, Ren looks up at me.

"May I have my phone back now?"

I burst out laughing and shake my head. "Yeah," I toss it to him, and he catches it one-handed as he studies a questionable stain on the carpet. I stand up and grab my phone to look at the time. 4:30

"I got to go home and clean before the kids come home anyway. Later dude."

I walk towards the door and pause, one hand on the doorknob

"Do you know how to get home from here? I sure as hell don't."

Ren is still studying the stain.

"Hm, yes, I do, but if I were to explain them to you, you'd take a wrong turn and end up across town, so I will just escort you home. Do you know what this is?"

He points to the stain in front of him on the floor. It is dried and flakey. It has a crimson-brown color.

"I'm pretty sure that's blood, dude." He nods his head.

"As am I."

Ren states, still not taking his eyes off the stain. Then, finally, he stands up, walks up to the door that I still have my hand on, and looks at me with confusion.

"Shall we go now?"

I take one last look at the blood on the carpet. Do I really want to know where that came from? I quickly decide probably not.

"Umm yeah."

I open the door, and we are greeted by the homeless man that was down the street. He is wearing a filthy trench coat; his grey beard is covered in something that reeks of fecal matter, he is missing his two front teeth. His shoes have holes in them, displaying his toes with a nice-looking blister, and his breath smells like rancid milk. He is just standing there, staring at us and breathing heavily. The kids will be home in an hour....they're going to be hungry after being away all day, I need to get home, and this old geezer is standing in my way. "

Look, man, I would love to stay and chit-chat, but we really have to go."

I try to walk around him, but he moves in my way. I sigh.

"I really don't want to have to hit you. The smell will never leave. Can you just move out of my way?"

I try to walk around him once more, and he still doesn't budge. Ren lets out an irritated sigh,

"This is going nowhere." He steps in front of me

"Sir, will you please move? My friend and I must get back home, something you obviously do not have, and I am deeply sorry for that, but we have families that worry, and my friend here has two siblings at home counting on dinner tonight, and he has to be there to make it. Another thing about my friend is that he is quite a fighter, and I know he will injure you if you keep him from his family. So I am doing this to help you, sir, please move."

The homeless man keeps his eyes on me. It's unsettling because I begin to think about what it would be like to draw his eyes. It would be a challenge to capture the pain, as well as the insanity.

"Alright, this stopped being funny a few minutes ago."

A voice says from behind the homeless man. Suddenly, a hand with a rag comes up from behind the man, cupping his mouth with it. The homeless man has no reaction and just keeps staring at me with those eyes before they close, and he thumps to the ground. I wince when I hear the loud crack that comes with his head hitting the concrete.

"Raven?" I hear Ren say.

"Yeah, four eyes, it's me." She says, I drag my eyes away from the homeless man's limp body and look at Raven

"Did you just kill the guy?" I say incredulously.

"No! I'm not that nice. Killing this dude would've been mercy. I just knocked him out with chloroform. He'll wake up in about an hour, maybe less, unless he died when he hit the ground," she shrugs.

"Wouldn't surprise me."

I continue to stare at her with concern.

"You can't just do that! Can you?" I ask Ren, "Well, it depends on what her parents' job is, say if they worked In a branch of science that permits the use of these gasses she uses and if she has been given the permission to use these gasses and chemicals according to one of the professionals that handle them in her house. It also depends on if she truly felt the gas was needed to handle the situation."

I look over at Raven, waiting for the answer to the implied questions in Ren's statement but all the words seem lost to her.

"One more time for the not-so-smart people in the vicinity." She states sarcastically. This time I roll my eyes

"He said that in order to have the authorization to use your gasses on the public, your parents need to be scientists, and you couldn't have had another option to solve the problem."

Comprehension blooms across her face.

"Ohhh. Yeah, my parents work in a branch of research called toxins and radiation. So my mom gave me the gasses to use in case of an emergency. And as for the problem part, I knew your method wasn't working and wanted to prevent bloodshed sooo. Is that good enough?"

Ren thinks about her response for a minute.

"Yes."

Alright, now, I'm frustrated. "I have to go."

I start speed walking to the street. Ren is following suit, and Raven is not far behind either.

"Jeez, what's your problem, pinkie??"

I hear Ren whisper something to her about never calling me Pinkie. Even though I don't hear all of it, I am 100% sure he told her about Jason and Millie.

"Oh my god, really?" she exclaims. "That's actually really freaking adorable."

Okay, that's enough of that. I whirl around to face her.

"Why are you even here, Raven? I thought you left with Amora."

I speak much harsher than I meant, and she looks at me with steaming offense.

"I came to grab my phone moron, I lost it and thought I might have left it here. So I didn't have to help you, you know."

I grind my teeth and glare at her.

"I'm aware, but if you didn't already know, which you did, I need to go make my little brother and sister dinner because they haven't eaten a damn meal all day, and my lovely parents aren't going to feed them because they are too wrapped up in their own self-loathing. So I've been trying to get home for thirty minutes, and I've only walked a few feet because that brain-dead homeless man was in my way. So now I'm wasting more time dealing with your smart mouth and 'I'm hotter than you' attitude, any other time, I'd be all over it and trying to get you into bed with me, but I don't care about any of that right now because I need to get home. Am I clear?"

By now, I am inches from her face, seething with rage. Ren has gone entirely silent and is watching me with pity-filled eyes. I don't need his pity, I think bitterly. I need to get home. Raven no longer looks offended. I'd expected her to look scared. Instead, she just looks guilty, but she soon washes it out of her eyes and smiles at me.

"Amora is going to be so into you, I can sense it."

She pats my arm

"Come along. You can hitch a ride with a friend of mine."

She leads us away from the dirty motel, bringing us up to a cherry-red, old-fashioned mustang, and knocks on the window. When it rolls down, it reveals the face of a man, early to mid-thirties with brown hair and a nice dress shirt. He has one of those faces that remind me of Flynn Rider from 'Tangled.'

"Hey, I'm back, my phone wasn't there, but I have some…people that need a ride. Would you mind?"

Flynn Rider smiles at her. "Not at all." Ren gasps. I look over at him. He wears an expression of terror and recognition.

"What?" I ask him.

"Professor Kempt?" Ren says softly. The man looks over at Ren, and the same terror-recognition look crosses his face.

"Ren? Ren England?" he nods slowly. I look at Ren for an explanation.

"He is my physics professor at the college."

"Woah, Woah." I expect Raven's surprise to be at Kempt, but her surprised look is at Ren and I

"You two are in college??"

I laugh, "First of all, there's no way I'm ever getting into college. Second of all, I'm only 17. So's Ren, but he's wicked smart, so he's taking a few classes at U of Arizona. Can we go now, or is Ren a deal-breaker?" I ask Kempt. He takes a while to respond.

"No, not a problem. As long as Ren doesn't call the cops on me." Ren ponders this condition.

"I will not. It is not as if this is a serious relationship, nor is it not consensual. Therefore, I have no reason to call the cops. I can only pass judgment upon you and upon Raven for this extremely ridiculous decision you both made."

Ren gets into the car. Raven gets into the front, and I crawl into the backseat.