I’m a high school senior, and I’ve been seeing my girlfriend for a year now. Sarah has been great. We met at a friend’s party last year and really hit it off. Oddly enough she’s not really my type. I’ve always liked blonde hair, bubbly girls. Sarah is pale white skin and dark hair. She’s short, confident, mature, and extremely smart. I can’t put my finger on why, but she charmed me right away.
Here’s the problem: her ex-boyfriend. She had warned me about him before, but I didn’t put much thought into it. If he had words for me, I could shrug it off as long as he left her alone. That’s where I’d draw the line, even though she told me not to. Like any girlfriend would.
That all changed last night.
*****
We went to a bowling ally to celebrate our one-year anniversary. It wasn’t very crowded. Summer vacation meant a lot of our friends were off camping or on trips while school was out. I knew something was off when she grabbed one of the 16 lb balls, the heaviest ones there, and pitched it down the wooden lane with ease. Another strike.
She did one of those cute, double legged jumps, both hands outstretched in cheer. I smiled. She was so innocent and pure. I thought.
“I’ll be back, babe. That Dr. Pepper went right through me.”
“Ok! I’m gonna get us some hot dogs.” She smiled, whimsically striding towards the concession counter.
The restroom was surprisingly well kept. Not as clean as a Buc-ees but much better than our downtrodden school’s were. No one was inside, so I took the traditional spot of the last urinal in the row of five.
I breathed out as I relieved myself, thinking to myself but not of anything in particular. That’s when someone pulled up to the urinal next to me. Initially, I thought that was some bad restroom etiquette. Everyone knows you spread out at the urinals. Then I slowly realized I didn’t hear him come in. I glanced over at his face, breaking some of the restroom etiquette myself.
He looked like a rockstar. Sharp sunglasses matched the rest of his edged face. Taut, angled jawline, high cheek bones, paler than even Sarah. Black lipstick contrasted his skin the same way his shoulder length black hair did. He was maybe an inch taller than me, yet was ridiculously thin. I could see that hollow collarbone protrude from underneath his plain white tshirt, itself mostly hidden beneath a black leather jacket. A simple, silver cross hung from a thin chain and rested flat against his sternum, outside his shirt.
“Nice equipment. I see why she likes you.” He said, still faced ahead and never motioned that he’d peaked at my, well, equipment.
“Ah, you must be the ex I’ve heard so much about.” I said, also stared forward. Maybe his apparent frailness gave me confidence.
“Ex?” He smiled with sharp lips, “We’re just on a break.”
I didn’t respond as I hit the urinal’s handle, the rushing water combined with the sound of my zipper. Sarah had asked me not to confront him at all, and he was obviously goading me. I opted to respect her feelings, and instead walked over to the sink. I washed my hands in a calm manner though, with the full knowledge and intention this would piss him off more. I kinda liked that.
As I turned the facet off and rose, I saw his face directly over my shoulder in the mirror. His glasses twitched up at the same time as his nose, before dropping back down to their natural place. He was irritated. My lips cracked into a blatant smirk in the mirror towards him.
I grabbed some paper towels, turned as I wiped both hands between us. He looked down at them briefly, and a smile broke on his face to match my own.
“You’re cocky. I dig that.” He said.
“So does Sarah.” I couldn’t help myself.
His head tilted slightly to the left, neck popped in a loud crack. Mouth became long, as if searching for a response to the jab, and both hands rose to the rims of his shades.
“Kid,” He said as he removed them, “Me and her go back a long way. Much longer than you think. You’re not going to be with her long. You are simply a phase. Something she does for fun, to feel normal. But make no mistake…”
He slid his face right up to mine, both irises flattened as he spoke. They became long, horizontal ovals, then the edges hardened into solid rims, formed black rectangles. His nose paused centimeters from mine.
“You. Are. Nothing.” He spoke with sharp, rhythmic timing.
“Nice contacts, weirdo.” I quipped, “No wonder Sarah dumped your weird ass.”
I turned my back to him, headed towards the door. A long-fingered palm struck my chest and held, stopped my exit. I looked up in open alarm as he stood in front of me, smiling. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure there weren’t two of them, twin brothers or something. No one was there. My head slowly turned back to him.
“S-She’ll be pissed at you if we fight.”
“Fight?!” He sputtered with a high pitch, “Kid, I like you, but you really overestimate yourself.”
My body floated. I can’t explain it. His palm stayed on my chest, all my limbs frozen, and I rose into the air. I could turn my head, I could speak, but didn’t. I felt a distinct and clear dread fill me. He noticed.
“See, kid,” He said as he pulled the hand back, but I continued to levitate, “We go back a long time. We are bound by blood. She called me. We are destined to be together. Always.”
Then, it finally happened. His cool, calm demeaner broke. His head trembled, limbs shook as he marched in front of me, back and forth, hands making and unmaking agitated fists. More having a conversation with himself now.
“Then she has to get all sentimental about a ‘childhood she never got to have’ and we do this shit again.” He brought up his fingers for air quotes and imitated her voice, but was still not directed to me.
“Sure, its great you animals came up with medications that help her. I’ll grant you monkeys that. But all this sentimental nonsense about ‘childhood memories’ and ‘living life’, whatever that’s supposed to mean…”
“What the hell are you?!” I managed to spit out.
He paused, as if suddenly remembering I was there, hovering a foot away from him as he monologued. That smile had become sharp. White tips interlaced between each other in a way that had not been there before. His rectangle irises slowly turned vertical as he spoke directly to me.
“Every couple hundred years she gets this wild hair on her ass. Uses some brat like you to give her a fake, imitated experience. You’re a toy, kid. So watch that attitude of yours.”
I finally realized what his eyes changed into as his anger, and his voice, rose. Twin black slits pulled in taut, vertical lines. The eyes of a snake, of a predator. Or maybe something worse.
“I swear,” He spoke, spittle flung from his lips in rage, “The only reason I haven’t wiped your miserable race out is because of her. I love her! You don’t even know her!”
His nostrils flared out in a long, deep breathe, composure again reclaimed him. I saw his pupils begin dilating again, but he closed them before I could see what horrible shape they’d assumed. He returned his sunglasses to the bridge of his nose, my weight returned instantly. I caught myself on two, wobbly feet. I paused for a moment, realized full well what had happened, and why the atmosphere had become drastically tense.
Sarah stood in the bathroom door. She was fuming.
“AC!” She screamed, “I told you to leave him alone!”
“We were just having a chat, babe.”
“I’m not your babe!”
The rest of their argument seemed distant to me. I felt like I was in a world I did not belong. Mysteries and horrors of the universe unveiled in a dingy bowling alley bathroom. He looked over his shoulder at me with a frown, eyes masked by darkened lenses.
“Gah, I should’ve wiped you out the day you invented Twitter.” He spat with obvious contempt.
“Just go away.” Sarah spoke with arms crossed.
“Not how you felt during convocatio.” He said with what sounded like genuine hurt, “The opposite, in fact.”
“That was different.” She muttered.
“So were you, Sarah Good. So were you.” AC said as he left the bathroom.
Weirdly enough, I kinda felt sorry for the guy.
*****
I told Sarah I needed some time to process what happened. There was too much I didn’t understand, and when I asked, she said she didn’t want to talk about it. I like her, I think. But it just feels weird now. Not only as I don’t really know her, but like I didn’t really like her in the first place.
I’m just worried he’s going to find me if I keep seeing her, but on the other hand, I’m scared to break up with her now…