#Chapter 27 Frightful Feelings


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    #Chapter 27: Frightful Feelings


    Something''s wrong when Cynthia walks in the cinema doors.


    I joke all the time about her being a deer in headlights. This time, she actually looks the part, visibly shaking and unsteady on her feet as she stumbles in.


    "Cynthia?"


    She looks up at me, hazel eyes swimming.


    As I approach her, I catch a whiff of an unusual smell.


    Cynthia usually smells like old cotton,vender soap, and a faint hint of lc. There''s also my smell on her. I''ve hugged and held her enough that it''s stuck, however faintly.


    But there''s something new there. Something like...fog, maybe.


    It''s faint, but the fact it''s there and it''s unusual...


    I take a hold of her arm.


    "C''mon, twig legs, you need to sit."


    She doesn''t tell me to shut up or punch me yfully. In fact, I don''t think myment even registers to her. My teeth clench in worry, getting us a seat on a nearby bench.


    Len and Cynthia''s friend, Hailey,e over.


    "Cynthia? What happened? You alright?" Hailey asks in quick session. I watch as she


    takes a hold of her hands.


    This seems to help her snap out of her daze, gazing up at Hailey.


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    #Chapter 27. Frightful Feelings


    "Uhm...I almossst. Got. Hit by a car."


    My heart feels like it freezes in my chest.


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    "Hah, what? Did you look both ways?" I ask, wrapping my arm around her as I pull her in.


    "Yeah,” she answers seriously. "It just... Police sirens. An officer sss-started chasing them. After almossst hitting me. Got pulled out the way by a big guy."


    “Uh...” Len,rge and softspoken, looks toward the front doors to the cinema. "Was that the revving sound we heard?"


    Len and Hailey nch when she nods. I pull her in closer without thinking about it.


    "Huh...well. Police''ll handle that. You''re good now, though. Ease up, ease up... You know, I''m gonna stop joking about you being a deer in headlights from now on. I think it''s bing a self-fulfilling prophecy. How about...deer on ice?"


    Cynthia turns to me and gives me an unamused re, so I grin back.


    She''s reacting. Good. I don''t like how fear looks on her face.


    As I continue, Hailey''s cedar smell gets stronger. A nce toward her shows her smiling at me in a weird way. She seems satisfied for some reason, speaking up.


    "How about ''drama deer''? Adds a little alliteration to it."


    "Oooh, that''s a good one."


    Len doesn''t join in, standing nervously as he watches Cynthia''s expression shift into exhausted resignation. Still, this Hailey girl''s not bad ating up with funny


    names.


    We chill out here for a bit, calming our hearts.


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    #Chapter 27: Frightful Feelings


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    I keep rubbing my hand over the ce I smell that foggy scent, covering it with my


    own.


    The movie was pretty cool! Without the Hollywood restraints, they could get super mental and psychological and stuff. The directors didn''t have much of a budget, but they made up for it with good acting.


    Len and Hailey hit it off well, with Hailey being patient with his silent nature. Even when theypse into silence, it''s only a little ufortable. I could see that going away in the


    future.


    "So, uh, do you want to go eat somewhere?" Hailey asks all of us.


    It''s clear she only wants to go with Len, ncing over at him for a response.


    "No, I''m okay," Cynthia hums.


    "Yeah, me, too. I''m gonna get twig legs home."


    She baps my arm as I snicker.


    "I could eat," Len finally replies.


    Aaah, I see. He likes Hailey back. He smiled more when we said we wouldn''t be going.


    "Great! Well, I''ll see you guys tomorrow then! And Cynthia, text me when you get home,


    okay?"


    Once they walked off to find a ce to eat, I start herding Cynthia over to the little parking


    area behind the cinema.


    "What are you..."


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    #Chapter 27: Frightful Feelings


    "Oh, you thought I was joking? Hah, nope. No more public transportation for you,"


    "But my carrrss-car. Is. At the parrrking by the trolley stop near me."


    "Eh, don''t worry ''bout it. You can give me your car keys and I''ll handle it.


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    As we get to my car, I hear someone else walking nearby. It''s not as though we''re


    backed in a totally dark or alone area, so I''m not worried about it.


    But when I smell that fog-like scenting in stronger, I do stiffen up.


    "...Alex?"


    Though, I find myself rxing quickly after.


    Agh, Hell. I really should''ve recognized it was him before.


    "Oh, hah. I thought that was you."


    Cynthia startles slightly at the voice, clearly recognizing it. Both she and I turn around to see my older brother.


    He''s bigger and just slightly taller than I am. His eyes have more amber in them than mine do, and his skin''s a tad darker than mine. He grins at us, all dimples and white teeth.


    "Hey Alex, fancy seeing you here."


    "Ugh, of course you''d sneak up on me!"


    Despite my fussing, we grab each other''s hand and dap, patting each other''s backs. Yup. That foggy smell I know well.


    It was him all along. Though, maybe I didn''t recognize it because it was so faint


    on Cynthia. Besides, he''s not supposed to be on this side of town...but if he wasn''t...


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    I give him an extra squeeze before parting, and he nces at me curiously, Though, I see his eyebrows rise once he sees Cynthia, realizing what I was thanking him for


    "Oh, it''sss you," Cynthia says,ing up to us, "You''re the one who pulled me from the


    street."


    I''m a bit surprised she knows that. Most humans lose track of almost everything when they get panicked. Though, I guess my brother''s a bit hard to forget once you meet him.


    "Cynth, this is my big bro, Michael, Mikey, Cynthia,"


    "It''sss nice to meet you."


    She smiles one of those little genuine smiles she does, enough to make her


    bottom eyelids shift up. It''s very cute.


    "Well, I was already d to help. But I''m even happier knowing I helped save my brother''s..." He nces at me. “Girlfriend?”


    I mean, we''re just covering for each other. But...


    "Yeah, she''s my girlfriend," I reply, moving back over and hugging her.


    Cynthia gives me a slightly surprised look, her cheeks turning a cute shade of red.


    "Oh, how nice! How about I treat the lovely couple then?" Michael nods his head back toward the main street. "Let''s hang out at a diner, yeah?"


    Well, hey, no reason to refuse free food.


    "We''re eight years apart. I turn 26 in August."


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    #Chapter 27 Pright Feelings


    "Oh! Do you have the sssame mom, orrr...ah, sorry if that''s-"


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    "No worries, no worries. Yeah, he and I have the same mom. We were just born a


    ways apart is all."


    "Oooh, I see. It must be nisss-nice. I''m an only child."


    "Believe me, there''s some relief in that!"


    Cynthia and I sit on one side of the booth in this all-day breakfast and lunch ce


    while Michael sits on the other. Despite him and I being brothers and me kinda having questions for him, he and Cynthia have been chatting constantly.


    Like, non-stop even.


    It''s quite different from how she first talked to me.


    She''sughing when he tells a joke rather than getting irritated, and my brother''s


    smile is bright as ever. There''s an ease to her that took me a while to unravel, but


    he does it in one


    day.


    It makes me feel strangely ufortable. In fact, aren''t we out here today just


    cause she wanted to hook up her friend with one of mine?


    "I''m in drama club at sss-school."


    "Oh, neat. Do you work behind the scenes or are you an actor?"


    Before she answers, I huff.


    "I wouldn''t say she''s gotten that far."


    Both Michael and Cynthia go quiet. Immediately, I want to stomp on my own foot.


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    When I nce at her, she''s staring at me, her smell twinging with sour upset.


    Goddamnit.


    "...Gonna piss, be right back."


    I slide out the booth and head to the bathroom, the silence following me all the


    way there. I know I''m running away after causing problems, and it makes me


    irritated that I''m doing


    that.


    I don''t actually need to pee, so I just stop and wait in the nook area by the bathrooms. I''m sure Mikey knows I''m not in there, but he still speaks up.


    "Hey, you alright?"


    "...I...hm. No."


    I flinch.


    Fuck.


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