Secret of The Night

Dear boys all over the world: trying to kill a girl is definitely not the best way to get a girl’s attention, but it is THE most effective.

I was pretty average for a 16 year old, ok? Normal (in a way) personality, slightly wavy brown hair, kinda dorky glasses, a total nerd, and pretty boring. So...ordinary, right? Wouldn’t you say so? All my life, my one goal was simple. To fit in. Now, me being me, that was understandably hard. It took a few years, but eventually I had myself a small group of friends who didn’t mind my presence. So, when i found out that the entire group all had boyfriends, can you guess what I did next? Easy. Next goal in life: to get myself a man.

Well, that didn’t exactly go as planned. For one, I personally didn’t want all the responsibilities that came with boyfriend-girlfriend nonsense. Two, I kinda had a thing against guys... Long story. I’ll share later. And three, well, that’s the story.

“Vivi, look there!” Marigold grabbed my arm and discreetly whisper-shouted in my ear. Just walking back from school together. Normal Monday afternoon. Nothing amiss here. I turned to the left.

“What?” I only saw the huge cafe that had been there for ages. The 5 of us Mica High girls, Rhia, Yvonne, Erica, Mari, and I used to hang out there a lot. Like everyday, but now they changed owners and we don’t go there anymore but it didn’t look much different than its usual worn-down self. Same red overhang, which looked very under-the-weather, same big plastic door ringed in dark black, same clear glass window that still bore pictures of hearts and robots in brightly colored marker, thanks to the cafe’s rule that kids were free to draw on the huge glass window (with the unspoken condition that their parents purchase something from the menu). I didn’t see anything that seemed wrong or out of place.

“Don’t look like that!” Mari clutched my arm and started staring forward with large bright eyes, much resembling a tanuki (little bear thing found in japanese animation stores).

“Then how am i supposed to see what you mean?” I rolled my eyes in frustration and pulled us to the side of the street in case Mari made a scene.

“Ok, look. Don’t stare like a retard, but look at that guy. At the table. 5, I think. Next to the counter,” Marigold sneaked a peek into the window but quickly pulled her head and neck out of sight again. “Don’t look now, though. He’s staring.” She waited five seconds and tried to sneak a peek again, but again pulled back after a second. “Or now.” Mari continued this routine several times, all the while with me standing at the side, arms crossed and a (presumably) dour look on my face. The girl was sweet at times, but honestly, her head was full of marshmallow fluff. Fact.

“Kay, now you can look.” Mari reached behind her and started poking randomly without ever glancing behind her.

“Alright. Just stop poking me, girl.” I swatted at her hands and then stepped on my tiptoes and peeked above her head. Table 5...table 5.......near the counter......guy..... And then i saw him.

Well, maybe. I didn’t figure out if Mari meant the old dude or the smoking hot boy sitting across from him. Judging from her wide adoring eyes, I assumed she meant the latter. Mari was the only girl other than me still boyfriend-less in our small clique of 5: Me, Mari, Yvonne, Rhiannon and Erica. So of course her eyes would light up like Christmas decorations at the sight of a hot guy.

“......Oh. Him.” I shrugged like I didn’t care and pulled on her sleeve to let her know we should keep going. “Come on or we’ll miss the bus.”

“The bus?” Mari screeched indignantly. “At a time like this? Take a look at the fella! You listen to me, Vivian Emilia Reilly. A good, long look!”

Apparently, she was dissatisfied with my answer of ‘oh. him.’

I sighed. And did as she said. “Yeah, I’m not blind, Mari. You mean the pale guy with the black hair, right? Table 5, next to the counter? Sitting with that old white-haired dude.”

“THE guy. He’s the guy.” Mari sighed dramatically and pretend-swooned.

“Fine, fine. If i ask him for his name, will you pick yourself off of the ground and we’ll go?” I gave her a strained smile and patted her head like she was a puppy I was giving a treat to.

“Really? You would do that, Vivi?” Mari immediately jumped up and threw her arms around me. I grinned and shook my head. “On second thought, do you mind asking him if he’ll go out with me? I’ll stand right here so he can see. I’m sure he won’t say no though.” She straightened herself and swept her waist-length dyed silver and golden hair over one shoulder and stuck out her C-cups. I laughed at her confidence and pushed her off.

“Ok, wait here.” When Mari released her hold on me, I stood up straight and walked to the door, pushing it open. The teeny bell on the top let out a tiny cling. I looked around. Other than the guy and his grandpa sitting at table 5, the cafe was empty. None of the waiters were even there. I smiled internally. Great. No one else would be here to witness me asking this guy for his name. But on the bad side, if he tried something, even if I whipped out with my ninja moves, there’d be no witnesses.

Steadily, I started walking toward the table, my hand going to my back pocket and clutching my phone, 911 on speed-dial. My backpack had a police-issued Taser (purchased via Amazon shipping) and a bottle of pepper spray (given to me by my father. I insisted on the pepper spray, which was a wise move, considering that the other choice he had given me was a .54 caliber tranquilizer handgun).

Stopping in front of the man, whose back was facing me, I coughed. Yes, i know, not the best way to start a conversation, but it was the only thing I could think of on the spot. “Excuse me, could you tell me your name please?” I looked directly at THE guy while speaking.

He was staring at me while I approached, so I knew that he knew that I had arrived at the table. He sniffed the air. “Me?” He looked around, searching for someone else I might have been referring to. There was no one else in the cafe. He turned back around in his seat and inhaled deeply. I groaned. Obviously Rhiannon’s ‘discovery’ from Bath and Body Works made me smell like a circus clown dipped in sugar and cinnamon. “My name? It’s Yoru. Yoru Tomokoroshi. Why?”

I got a good look at him. Pale skin, with the veins pulsing visibly (not in a gross way, just in a omg-so-pale way), black hair, darker than night, and those twin bright lapis lazuli eyes. “Um. Well. My friend, Marigold, kinda...” I started mumbling and rushing my words. “-wants to go on a date with you. Like a get-to-know-you thing. Just to see.” I sighed at my own bad habit of rambling then looked at Yoru to see his reaction.

Nothing. Not the slightest twitch of the eyes, or wrinkle of the nose in disgust, or widening of the mouth. No reaction, whatsoever. Man this guy had confidence!

“Ok. Is she here?” Like getting asked out by total strangers was an everyday thing for him.

I gaped. Then pointed at the window where Marigold stood, wide smile plastered on her face and head tilted demurely to the right.

He sized her up, eyes roaming until she squirmed uncomfortably. Then he turned back to me, “Yeah. Sure. On one condition,” he lifted up his index finger like a drill sergeant giving directions. When I nodded to show my agreement, he looked directly at me and spoke in that silky smooth voice of his. “For you to go out with me. Understand?”

I gaped again. I’m pretty sure he was already starting to think I was an idiot, given the number of times I had gaped already. This afternoon sure wasn’t going the way I had expected it to. I kept staring at him until I felt my voice return to me. But when it returned it wasn’t me speaking. “Um. Ok. But her first then.”

Yoru smiled a small, deceptive smile, the kind you make when you hide from the cops and they manage not to find you. I nearly ran out of the cafe right there, but we were still in the middle of a conversation. I gripped my pepper spray harder. The smile turned normal after a second. If normal had been redefined to mean jaw-droppingly hot. I stared.

“So. Tomorrow then? And you the day after?” He smirked at me while I tried my best not to drool over the beauty in front of me.

I nodded. “Okay.”

“Then it’s settled. Looking forward to it! Both days,” Yoru smiled normally and grabbed my hand. I was too shocked to tell him to let go. He held it for almost a minute, during which time i involuntarily found myself staring into those deep pools of dark swirling blue. Then he squeezed my hand, breaking the spell, and let go. “See you on Wednesday.”

I grinned like an idiot and nodded, then went outside to tell Mari the news. On the way out, I heard Yoru’s old man companion say something to him that sounded like, “Oh, Yoru. You’re going to break that poor girl’s heart, right?” I shook off the grim comment as bad hearing on my part then pushed the door of the cafe open again, hearing the satisfying cling behind me.