His friend was clearly displeased with his lack of enthusiasm. “Come on man! What’s the story? Who is she? How long have you known her? How serious are you two? James said she’s a ten out of ten. Although, he’s under the illusion that he might have a chance with Riley now that you’re about to break her heart.”
Michael sighed as they walked down the hall. “Yeah, Riley would never go for someone like him.” But then it hit him – an illusion. Was Miriam’s current form an illusion of sorts, rather than a transformation? If he were to reach up to touch her head, would he be able to feel her horns even though he couldn’t see them? How would that even work?
Grayson continued talking, unaware that Michael’s thoughts had trailed off. “True, but that’s not the point. Riley is definitely a ten too, so what’s got you so hung up on this other girl?”
“Huh? Oh…umm…” Deciding that using numbers was an easy way to explain it, he agreed about Riley. “She is a ten definitely, but this girl is like an eleven for me. No, if I’m honest, she’s more like a hundred out of ten for me.” Was a hundred out of ten high enough? Maybe a thousand…
Grayson seemed shocked. “Really? You and Riley are so close though. What does this girl have that made you so interested?”
Another question he wasn’t sure how to answer. He decided to respond honestly. “I don’t know…Maybe it’s just chemistry or something?”
His friend scoffed. “Hard to imagine you have better chemistry with this girl than you have with Riley. I thought it was only a matter of time before you ended up dating her, and I ended up dating…err, never mind.”
Michael eyed him suspiciously. “Dating who?”
Now Grayson seemed uncomfortable, trying to change the subject. “So, what’s her name anyway? Does she have the same lunch as us?”
Michael didn’t have the energy to interrogate his friend right now, although he suspected who’s name almost completed his sentence. “It’s Miriam…and yeah. She’ll probably be at lunch.”
“Oh boy. Are you sure about this man? Do I need to tip Riley off before she sees you two together? You never did say how serious you were. Are you already officially dating?”
Michael knew there was no way to explain the nature of their actual relationship, and he had no idea how Miriam would act around his friends. He decided to play it safe.
“We aren’t dating, I don’t think…but it might be a good idea to let Riley know she’ll be sitting with us. Speaking of which, I thought we might sit in the courtyard today, before they close it down for the rest of year.”
When it was still warm outside the school allowed students to eat in the small piece of nature situated in the middle of the school. It had eleven picnic tables that surprisingly only filled up all the way if it was an exceptionally nice day. Still, the best tables always filled up fast.
As they neared the cafeteria, Grayson replied. “You better save us a seat right away then. Want me to get your lunch?”
Michael had forgotten to eat breakfast, so he was hungry, but he wasn’t sure if his anxiety would allow him to keep anything down. Nevertheless, he dug in his pocket and handed Grayson some money. “Just pizza is fine. Thanks.”
“Sure, I’ll try to intercept Riley on the way.” And with that, Grayson headed on over to get in line while Michael went out to the courtyard.
He had hoped that Miriam would already be there, but she wasn’t among the few students outside. He decided to sit at one of the tables in the far corner, because it was the furthest away from all the others.
He figured that if Miriam’s wings were still there, just invisible, then this would allow her to worry less about someone touching them accidentally. No one should have any reason to walk too close to her if they sat at this table. He also intentionally sat with the rest of the courtyard to his back to ensure that the wall wouldn’t prevent her from sitting next to him.
Pulling out his phone, he texted his sister to let her know where he was. Lunch was split into three sections, since the cafeteria could only handle about a third of the students at a time, so it had been almost a miracle that they all had lunch together this year.
Amelia was the first to show up shortly after he had let her know where he was. She didn’t have her light jacket with her since it was a lot warmer than this morning had been. The long sleeves of her pink shirt were pushed up to her elbows, revealing her thin forearms. She had purchased a standard tray for lunch, which included mashed potatoes and Salisbury steak.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” She wondered as she sat down next to him.
“Grayson is grabbing my lunch. I wanted to make sure we got a table.”
She nodded as she began cutting up her food with a plastic fork and knife. “Oh okay. Although I don’t think it would have been a problem.” She gestured towards the other tables behind them. Only two currently had students occupying them.
“Err, yeah. But you never know…”
Amelia took a bite of mashed potatoes and changed the subject. “So, are you feeling any better? You seem to be in a better mood at least.”
“Yeah…” Michael knew he should probably tell her about their impending company, so his sister wasn’t surprised. “…so there’s a new student in my first class. I invited her to sit with us today…since she’s new and all.”
Amelia paused to look at him, and then spoke more bluntly than he expected. “Do you like this girl?”
He tried to play dumb and redirect the conversation. “What? Why would you ask that?”
“Well…” She began poking her steak with the fork. “...it’s just.” She bit her lip as she contemplated her next words. “…someone…might get jealous.”
He realized that this was a subject his sister and Riley had probably discussed before. Amelia had likely known for a while that Riley wanted to be more than friends – either Riley directly told her or else his sister had just figured it out on her own.
Sighing he stated the obvious. “Riley?”
She nodded slowly, still looking down at her tray. “She didn’t want me to say anything…”
He could tell she felt guilty for disclosing their secret. “It’s alright.” He tried to reassure her. “I was beginning to suspect it anyway.”
Amelia looked up at him, her green eyes sad. “Then you don’t feel the same way?”
Sighing, he bowed his head. “Just between us?” His sister nodded quickly, so he continued. “I did feel the same way. It’s just…”
She tried to finish his sentence for him when he paused. “Just that, you met this girl and think you like her more?”
Knowing he couldn’t really explain the situation, he just nodded in agreement.
“Can I offer some advice?” She asked hesitantly.
He eyed her suspiciously. “Sure…”
“Riley is like your best friend, other than Grayson of course…so maybe take it slow with this other girl? You know…just to make sure you really do like her more. You don’t want to hurt Riley and later regret it. I doubt she’ll want to be your second choice if it doesn’t work out with this new girl.”
Michael knew she was right, but it was too late for that. It was difficult for him to imagine how he might go on if Miriam actually did leave him alive once she was done with him. He would end up losing both her and one of his best friends. Even if Riley forgave him eventually, he doubted she would consider dating him after that.
Granted, he couldn’t imagine wanting to date anyone if Miriam left for good. He would live the rest of his life as a hollow shell, only alive superficially… Which meant she was going to leave him for dead one way or another.
Feeling stressed, Michael rested his chin on his hand. “You’re right Amelia, but…”
Suddenly, movement out of the corner of his eye caused him to turn expectantly, but it was only Grayson and Riley. They both sat down on the other side of the table, but his slightly disappointed look didn’t go unnoticed by either of them, no matter how brief it was. He wasn’t sure how muc
h Grayson had told Riley, but he could tell from her reserved expression that she was trying to hide her unhappiness about the new girl joining them. She had the sleeves of emerald green shirt pulled down against her palms despite the warmer temperature outside. Grayson wasn’t bothered as much by the cold, so he had neglected to wear a jacket this morning, and he had a short-sleeve gray shirt on.
Everyone was quiet for a few long seconds, and the tension quickly grew uncomfortable. Grayson was the first to break the silence, clearly feeling uneasy himself. “Here you go,” he said as he handed Michael a paper plate of pizza, along with a milk carton. “So…no sign of the new girl yet?” He asked nervously.
Michael immediately stopped himself from spinning his head around to confirm that she wasn’t there, trying to consider how Riley might feel about the gesture. He glanced at his would-be girlfriend before slowly checking over his shoulder. “I guess not.” They were only given thirty-five minutes for lunch, and in his estimation they only had twenty-five left. Michael’s anxiety began flaring up again when he realized she might not come after all.
Riley suddenly surprised them all when she spoke up. “So, what’s her name?”
Hesitantly, he answered her. “Umm…it’s Miriam.”
“That’s a pretty name.” Her tone was flat despite the complement. “Is she pretty?”
Michael looked down at his pizza, suddenly feeling extremely uncomfortable. He could see in the corner of his eye that Amelia was staring at her food too. Her face was flush with embarrassment from the awkward situation. He grabbed his milk and began trying to open it as he considered how to answer her question. He had just managed to get it open – for some reason it was more difficult than usual – when Riley surprised him by answering her own question.
“Wow…she really is…”
Michael looked up abruptly to see her stunned expression, just as a pair of thin arms wrapped around his neck from behind.
Miriam’s angelic voice echoed in his ear as he felt her body press against him. Her voice was filled with that familiar combination of taunting cheerfulness. “Hi love! Did you miss me?” She then gently planted a kiss on his cheek, causing him to blush.
Michael wasn’t sure if Riley’s red face was from embarrassment or anger, although from her rapid change in expression he suspected it was both. However, he certainly knew why his face had turned bright red. He looked down and tried to focus his thoughts, attempting to not become too aroused by Miriam’s presence.
“Aww, are you blushing? How cute.” She then looked over at Amelia. “And is this your sister? You’re pretty cute yourself. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Miriam.”
Amelia had a shocked look on her face as well. He wasn’t sure if his sister was surprised that Miriam was so beautiful or just surprised she was showing so much affection right in front of them.
Michael was at least surprised by the latter.
His sister stuttered as she responded. “Oh, umm, it’s nice to meet you too. My name’s Amelia.”
“Oh? That’s a pretty name.”
Miriam was about to continue speaking, but suddenly she was interrupted by one of the teachers yelling from the doorway. “Hey! No PDA you two!”
She scoffed without looking but then obediently disengaged herself from Michael and slid into the seat on the other side of him. He was surprisingly glad to have a little bit of space to himself again, so he could collect his thoughts. Miriam rested her chin in her hands and addressed Riley and Grayson. “And what about you two? What are your names?”
Grayson was kind enough to speak for both of them as he gave a quick introduction, although Michael began wondering what was going through Riley’s head as she seemed to relax a little and meet Miriam’s gaze. He was surprised when Riley spoke with a causal tone. “So…Miriam, I noticed you didn’t get your lunch yet. Aren’t you going to eat?”
Michael knew immediately what was going on. Riley was trying to get rid of her, if only briefly. Miriam was quick to respond. “Oh, I actually brought my lunch today, but I’ve decided to save it for later.” Michael uncontrollably gulped at the implications, wondering if she was referring to him.
“Oh, I see…” Riley’s poker face disappeared briefly as she allowed annoyance to slip into her expression. She then quickly recovered. “So then, tell me Miriam, how did you two meet?” Riley’s overuse of her name made it sound like she was interviewing her in a formal setting.
Grinning, Miriam replied. “We met this morning of course. This is my first day after all. Michael was generous enough to entertain me during our first class.”
Riley scoffed, speaking in a low voice. “I’m sure it was out of the kindness of his heart.” Then louder she retorted. “Aren’t you too old to be in high school? Shouldn’t you be in college by now?”
Miriam appeared to be enjoying provoking Riley a little too much. With a grin, she replied. “No, I’m just very mature for my age.”
Riley’s face immediately turned bright red and she looked away. Grayson was looking down at his food, clearly just as uncomfortable as everyone else. However, Michael felt helpless to intervene, knowing what Miriam really was. It was a miracle that she had said she would respect his wish to not harm any of them, so he didn’t want to give her any reason to change her mind by attempting to control her behavior.
A mouse who was being ‘humored’ by a cat would be foolish to try to control the cat, thereby provoking it to show who was really in control.
Amelia surprised everyone by chiming in to change the subject. “Michael, aren’t you going to eat? Your food’s getting cold.”
“Oh, umm…”
Miriam cut him off, grabbing the pizza a little too quickly. “Your sister’s right, you need to eat.” She held it up for him to take a bite. “Here love, let me feed you.”
“Oh, that’s alright. I’m not very hungry.”
Instantly, while still smiling, Miriam’s eyes flashed red and he quickly took a bite, wondering if only he had seen the drastic change in color.
Riley immediately stood up from the table, picked up her tray, and walked away in one swift motion. Amelia got up too, apologizing, and ran after her. Grayson groaned in response to the suddenly vacant seats. “Well,” he said more to himself, “that went well.”
“Hmm…” Miriam stated innocently to Michael. “I don’t think your friend likes me very much. Did I come off too strong?”
“Maybe a little,” he admitted. Michael then took another bite when she gestured for him to do so with the pizza in her hand. He didn’t want to give her any reason to be upset with him. After a few more bites, Grayson excused himself too, leaving them relatively alone at the table.
“Well, I think that went well.” Miriam mused to herself.
“Based on what criteria?” He wondered out loud.
Miriam set the rest of the pizza down, her expression serious. “It would probably be best if you distanced yourself from them, for their sake.”
“Oh…” Michael looked down at his partially-eaten pizza. “Right. Although, I don’t think that distancing myself from my friends will make it easier on them if you decide to kill me.”
“True.” She agreed. “But it will make it easier for me to be around you.”
“Why is that?” He wondered.
She didn’t answer, instead picking up the pizza again, and offering him another bite. If he was being completely honest with himself, he really enjoyed having her feed him – who wouldn’t want to be fed by a goddess? – but he couldn’t help but wonder if she was essentially fattening him up, like a pig for slaughter.
Just as he took his last bite, her slipping the last piece in his mouth with her thin fingers, the bell rang indicating that lunch was over. Sighing, he grabbed his milk and gulped it down. Miriam watched him intently, as if she was still trying to memorize every movement he made. When she continued to stare at him, he felt his heart swell with desire. “Miriam…”
“Yes love?” She asked.
&n
bsp; “When…when will I see you again?”
“Hmm…” She smirked as she contemplated her answer. “How about tonight?”
Shocked, his eyes widened. He thought she’d been joking when she’d mentioned it earlier. “Tonight?”
“Yep. Just leave your window open again. You might want to try to get some sleep after school, so you can entertain me when I visit.”
Michael felt his face turn bright red again, although he knew that his definition of entertaining her might be painfully different than her definition. “Wait, how did you know I left my window open last night?”
Her grin widened, but she didn’t answer. “You better get to class. And don’t forget to get some sleep after school.”
She leaned in to kiss him on the forehead, inducing his blood to pool in his cheeks again. Then, instantly, she vanished right before his eyes, causing him to quickly look around to make sure no one had seen. While he couldn’t see very clearly inside the building, he knew at least no one in the courtyard had witnessed her disappear – he was now the only one left.
Grabbing his trash, he went back inside to throw it away and head to his next class.
Chapter 4: Façade
Michael’s fourth and fifth classes passed by a little too fast. He was glad that he was a couple hours closer to seeing Miriam again, but he wasn’t looking forward to sixth period. It was the only class he had with Riley that semester, not counting lunch. He passed the time mulling over what he might tell her.
Amelia had sent him a text message indicating he should just give her some space for now. His sister admitted that even she was a little upset that he hadn’t told her how serious they were already.
He apologized, having no excuse to provide. He hadn’t known Miriam was going to act so friendly towards him. It confused him, because if she intended to make him her meal, then wouldn’t it be bad for her if they both disappeared at the same time? Then again, it’s not like they could find her if she returned to her home…in hell.
When he got to his sixth class, Riley was already there reading something in a magazine she had brought from home. He sat down next to her cautiously, unsure if he really wanted to risk everyone finding out just how upset she was at him.
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