Lost & Found.

The next morning I got up early and took a shower before heading for my car. This time I left my bags in my room and locked the door behind me. I would stay here until I finished my book.

I smiled sadly to myself as I pulled out of the parking lot and found a place to eat breakfast at. I read the newspaper again, not finding anything about any missing person. Maybe I was imagining it, but it hit even harder this time.

I headed back to the motel room, wanting more and more to just finish the book before I felt the need to burn it.

I couldn’t concentrate on the words, I kept checking the clock and then my phone and then eventually I just gave up and rolled over, pressing my back against the headboard. I grabbed the remote and turned the channel until it started playing some mind numbing show.

That’s just what I needed.

I needed to be numb.

The TV showed me around some famous singer’s house and he lead the camera crew into the kitchen where he showed off his fully stocked fridge, making my stomach growl at me. He pulled out a glass bottle, beer. He was smiling as he lead them into the next room, but I was stuck in the kitchen.

Numbing?

I think so.

~~~

‘Just a small town girl, livin’ in a lonely world. She took the midnight train goin’ anywhere. Just a city boy, born in raised in South Detroit. He took the midnight train goin’ anywhere. A singer in a smokey room, the smell of wine and cheap perfume...’

I snorted at the choice in music, automatically recognizing the old tune.

I made my way up to the bar, fingering the ID in my pocket that I’d found lodged under the passenger’s side seat. It was a fake that Kendra must have made for herself forever ago and I only pondered for a second on what kind of things she would need this for. I decided that I’d thank her later for just leaving it in my car.

I wasn’t even mad that she must have snuck my car out.

I was just happy that we looked so alike and that my natural hair color was starting to show at the roots.

“What can I get you?” The bartender asked, smiling cheekily at me.

“She’ll have a Bud Light.” The man next to me murmured, just loud enough for the two of us to hear. He had a gravelly voice that sent shivers up my spine and an accent that I couldn’t seem to put my finger on. The bartender looked at me as if for confirmation and I just shrugged. As soon as he left I turned to look at the man sitting next to me.

He had his face buried into some newspaper with an obscure name I’d never heard of. Slowly, as I stared, he folded it up and placed it down on the counter and turned to look at me.

“What?” He asked, sounding bored.

Startled, I couldn’t think of what to say, so went with something safe, “Who are you?” I asked, it came out more snappy and angry than I had meant it to.

“No one.” He muttered with a smirk, turning to watch as the bartender sat a bottle in front of me, who smiled a little too widely, before leaving to attend to other people.

“I’m-” I tried to say ‘Ashlynn’, but he cut me off.

“Underage.” His eyes snapped to me and I tried my hardest not to look shocked, but I’m guessing that I did anyway. His grey-green eyes were hard as they stared into my wide blue ones and I tried to ignore how handsome he looked with his waves of black hair against his pale skin, where it fell against his sharp jawline perfectly. Slowly, he smiled and his eyes softened, “Don’t worry, me to,” he whispered, taking a drink of my beer.

I opened my mouth to snap something back at him, but the words wouldn’t form.

“Why’d you tell me that?” I asked eventually, taking a sip from the bottle and almost spit it right back out. Why would you willingly drink this stuff?

He chuckled and shook his head, taking the beer from my hands and downing what was left.

“Why are you here?” he countered, walking away and towards a smokier part of the room. The bass pounded through my body and I felt as if I were in junior high again and at my first dance, becoming overwhelmed by all of the music and people. Only, then the room wasn’t full of intimidating older men.

Feeling lost I followed close behind him, almost clinging to the worn leather jacket that was draped around his strong-looking frame. “Where are you going?” I asked, voice trembling just the slightest bit. He spun around to face me and, not noticing this until it was too late, I walked into his chest. “Ow,” I muttered to myself as I took a few steps backwards. I rubbed my nose, marveling at how hard his chest had felt against my face.

I shook my head, fighting off a blush.

“Why are you still here?” he asked, astonished, with his eyes wide. “Shoo!” he motioned for me to leave, but I crossed my arms and tried to look stubborn.

But then I asked myself why I was still following him around like a lost puppy.

He groaned but turned around and headed for the same corner he had been approaching before I had stopped him. Quickly, I caught up to him and stayed less than a foot behind him in the crowded room.

I waved the smoke away from my face for a moment before realizing that it was pointless and let my arms fall limply at my sides. “Why don’t you go bug someone else?” he muttered after glancing over his shoulder and spotting me.

“Can I have a name?” I persisted. He closed his eyes, annoyed, and took a step closer to me before opening them again.

I lost my breath as his tall form bent over my much shorter one and he held his lips inches from my ear. “No,” he whispered before stepping backwards and heading for the pool table that was slowly beginning to appear through the smoke.

I narrowed my eyes and stood there with my arms crossed, watching as he picked up a cue and weighed it in his hands. He nodded approvingly to himself before walking over to the group of other guys I hadn’t noticed before.

They all looked at least ten years older than him, but they all seemed to act alike. They were probably drunk enough not to care, anyway. He glanced at me in the middle of a sentence I couldn’t hear. The music was far to loud and I had to be at least a yard and a half away.

“What’s with Jailbait?” The shortest one yelled jokingly, staring in my direction without a hint of that joke in his eyes. I tried to act calm and collected, but his dark eyes seemed to pierce right through that. I shivered slightly, pulling my arms tighter around myself, now it was for comfort.

The guy from the bar, who still refused to give me any name, chuckled. “Who? Her?” His grey specked eyes flickered to me for a second before looking back at the other man. “Nah.”

Warmness flooded through my body and butterflies batted their wings. Was that considered protecting me?

“She’s just annoying,” he smirked in my direction. The inkling of a smile I’d acquired instantly fell and I scowled back at him.

“Thanks,” I muttered sarcastically to myself.