She Lives in a Fairytale

“There is no way he is straight!” I argued. Lilly shushed me as I took a bite of my pizza slice. We were sitting at some pizza place arguing about our waiter.

“Can’t you be quiet for five minutes?!” Lilly hissed.

“No. The day a man compliments your heels and can name their brand is the day straight men offer to take you shopping with no complaints,” I remarked. Lilly rolled her eyes and took a bite of her own pizza.

“So what are we doing after this?” I asked.

“I thought that you could go look at the bookstore while I get us some food. I knew you never really cared for grocery shopping,” Lilly replied. I nodded my head in agreement as I sipped my Cola. Ever since I was little I never liked it. Guess I was the child everyone loved.

“I’m gunna go to the restroom,” I told Lilly. She just nodded to me. I climbed out of the booth and walked into the girl’s room. I straightened up my black and white striped tank and my grey skinny jeans. I sighed in annoyance when I noticed my left boot had come undone and bent to tie it. As I stood, I looked in the mirror and could have sworn I saw a guy’s shadow behind me. I quickly whipped around to see nothing but the three stalls behind me.

“Stop it Shiloh. There’s no one there,” I told myself. That didn’t stop me from avoiding the mirror as I washed my hands. I quickly dried them before all but running out of the restroom. I walked out just in time to see Lilly throw down the money for our bill. I met her at the door and we strolled out into the nearly empty streets of….whatever town we lived in.

“Where do we live?” I asked curiously.

“Somewhere by Medford, Oregon. It’s a very small town that really doesn’t even have a name,” Lilly replied, scratching her head.

“So you moved us near a town that doesn’t have a name? Great,” I remarked sarcastically.

“Oh shut up. Look, there’s the bookstore. I’ll honk to you when I’m done at the store.” I nodded and headed into the small shop. A bell rang above my head, signaling that I entered. A boy about eighteen or nineteen peeked from down an aisle while a middle aged woman stared from behind the counter. I ignored them and started down the aisle directly in front of me. I looked at the titles, seeing things from “Alice In Wonderland” to “Grimm Brothers Fairy Tales”.

“No way,” I whispered to myself after ten minutes, eyes shinning. I picked up the old “Dracula” book. I’m definitely buying this! Suddenly I heard someone “pssssst” from my right. I looked over to see the same boy that watched me walk in.

“Are you new here?” he asked. His brown-black hair was in layers that reached the nape of his neck. The bangs fell all over his face, his blue eyes barely visible.

“Yeah. What do you want?” I demanded, quite rudely actually. I don’t care though. It’s not very often weird guys ask you these things.

“Just to warn you to watch your back. Some guys that come into the town are real creeps,” he warned.

“Like you? Fuck off,” I hissed before walking to the front of the store. I placed the book on the counter and the woman smiled at me.

“Five twenty-seven please.” I gave her six dollars before picking up my book and walking out. I wanted to get out of that store and away from that guy ASAP. I fast walked over to Lilly’s dark red Blazer, slipping my book between the crack I left open in my window. I looked over my shoulder, watching the bookstore. I relaxed a small bit when I didn’t see the door open. I sighed as I realized I had at least ten more minutes before Lilly would be done shopping. I looked across the street and grinned at the playground.

Hmm…Go inside and shop orrrr play on playground? Swings!

I sped across the street, running to the swings at full speed. I kicked my legs, giggling like a little kid. I don’t have a problem, okay? My eyes wondered across the scenery as they always did. Suddenly my eyes locked on to a black dot. My legs froze in mid-kick and I slowly came to a stop. The man had hair to about his shoulders with a fedora hat covering it. A stud glistened in his nostril with a huge (creepy) smile visible on his face. I saw him start to approach towards me from his spot twenty feet away.

“Shy!” I looked to my right to see Lilly walking towards me from the blazer. I whipped my head back to were I saw the man, the spot now empty. I looked around frantically, still not spotting him anywhere.

“What’s up with you?” Lilly asked curiously, her eyes scanning the area.

“Didn’t you see that guy! He was standing right-” Lilly’s bewildered expression made my mouth form a straight line. She hadn’t seen him? But he was right there…

“Nothing. Guess I’m just tired,” I covered.

“Well then let’s get back home. Guess all the moving and what not got you exhausted,” Lilly said with a smile. I numbly nodded, following her to the car. I climbed in, putting my book into my lap. Lilly looked over at me as I buckled my seatbelt.

“New book?” Lilly questioned as she buckled her own seatbelt.

“Oh. Yeah,” I responded. My eyes looked around the town once more as Lilly started to drive back to our new home. I looked out Lilly’s window and saw a dark shadow run the opposite direction we were heading. Looking past the groceries in the backseat, I watched the shadow disappear down an alley.