Separian - Book 1

Chapter 48

I grabbed the two cups sitting closest to one another and made my way over to where Mike was sitting. She followed me. Mike was standing from his seat and offering her his hand as soon as she was close enough.

"Mike. A pleasure to meet you-"

"Noah?" Her voice was unsure of itself, but she went on, ignoring Mike's hand completely. "Noah McDavis?"

I wanted to lie, my instincts told me to betray her and keep my identity a secret. Or run. But I didn't. If I was going to adjust back to my old life, I needed to start somewhere. I never would have thought I'd run into her first, of all people. "It's nice to see you again," I responded casually.

She turned around, I assumed to look for a hidden camera or at the very least make sure I'd still be here when she turned back. A mean joke slipped through my mind as I contemplated fleeing the scene and making her think she was crazy, just for the fun of it. If I hadn't been broken, maybe I would have. But I waited patiently for her to turn back around and continue where she'd left off.

"Noah!"

I held my finger to my mouth, "Not so loud."

"Oh my Gosh!" She ignored me. "How are- Where- What are you doing here?"

"You want me to answer all of that?" I couldn't help half laughing at her. I knew it was wrong, but her flustered expressions amused me. She nodded. The boy behind the counter was now eyeing me with distaste. I suppose his comment was meant to ward me off from any conversation with her.

I motioned to the table where Mike was already seated once again and offered her a chair. She didn't take her eyes off of me, even to blink. I wasn't sure which question I should answer but I made sure to play nicely for a bit and explain what she wanted to know as best I could. "I'm not dead. So you can stop holding your breath." For a moment she did nothing, but eventually her shoulders relaxed and her breathing returned. I could only assume her heart rate was still through the roof. "I can't explain every detail, but what you need to know is that I'm alive, I'm okay, and I'm back." I looked around the coffee shop briefly. All eyes were on our table, but none looked like they were ready to jump in. "Did you come here alone?" I asked. Her head nodded. She still refused to give in and believe her eyes. "Do you have anywhere else to be right now?" Her head shook. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

"Where have you been!" I held my fingers to her mouth and hushed her again as she ignored my proposal. People in the shop were already too interested in us and her sporadic outbursts weren't helping the situation. "Where have you been?" she said quietly but with just as much intensity as a full blown scream.

"Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia..." I think that covered all of the places I'd been through since this mess started. "I'm sorry, I don't mean for it to sound like I took a spontaneous vacation."

"You've been missing for half a year!" she whispered loudly. "What happened? Does your family know you're here?" Her hands were shaking uncontrollably as they held on to the coffee she'd just purchased. I reached forward slowly so as not to startle her and removed the steaming hot mug from her fingers. "Sorry. But you can't imagine how unbelievable this is."

Oh, you'd be surprised, I thought to myself with a hidden smile. Mike drank his coffee silently and hid a similar smile behind the rim of his cup. "I guess I should start at the top." She transitioned her hands from the table to her lap and leaned forward. "But before I go on, I have to ask you not to say anything about my being here to anyone. At least not yet." Her head cocked to the right, but her eyes remained wide. "Sorry, to answer your previous question, no, my family doesn't know that I'm back yet. And I'd prefer they find out from me rather than the social network of a high-schooler's cell phone. No offense."