Out of Town

Chapter 1- A Meeting

As she was walking around the block to cross the street, a bug flew in her eye, and she could not see where she was going. Simultaneously on the same block, he was in a heated phone call with the boss. If he did not deliver the "package" in time, well, it would not be a pretty sight. They were so engrossed in their actions that they did not see each other and collided. Being a foot taller and 50 pounds more than her, it was natural that she lost her balance and fell to the ground while he was still on his feet.

"My goodness, I am so sorry. I have a bug in my eye and I didn't see where I was going and-"

"Ly?!" Kai exclaimed. "Well, you were always a klutz," he murmured as he extended his hand to help her up.

Lyra opened her eyes and was astonished when she saw who it was. "Kai?" she asked slightly puzzled, "What are you doing here? Well, I mean, you live like what- fifteen minutes away from here? Why are you down here?" She continued, too preoccupied with talking to notice his outstretched hand.

As Lyra rambled on to herself, trying to get her words together, Kai straightened himself and let his hand return to his side. If he was honest with himself, Kai could not help but stare at the cute bundle of nerves. She looked neat, as always, and was wearing a pair of denim jeans with a striped shirt. Her hair was perfectly French braided into pigtails with a straight middle part. She seemed thinner as if she had lost a couple of pounds, her hair was a lighter shade of ginger, and her cheeks were a matching red, either from being sun-kissed or flustered. She seemed a bit shorter, but the last time he saw Lyra was when they were the same height. Overall, she seemed happier and healthier than the state he had left her in. He flashed back to the eventful breakup, the split of their friend group, and the following months of longing when he tried so hard to get over Lyra but could not. He knew that he would have had to end things with her eventually, but that did not stop his heart from hurting. After Lyra found out that he had been cheating on her, she despised him; and he could sense it every time he walked into the same room as her. A couple more months of petty disputes and murmured insults, and he could not take her being mad at him anymore. He finally apologized, and of course, being the person she was, she was quick to forgive.

Kai shook himself out of the daze and realized she was staring at him expectantly, "Sorry, what'd you say?"

"I said, what are you doing in this part of town? On a date with your girl?" She winked at him.

He immediately looked away, slightly embarrassed, and said quietly, "We broke up." Lyra could never find out why he was here. "I'm just here picking up something for my parents." That was not true. Recently, he had gotten into the drug dealing business (the reason Lily broke up with him); and he was here delivering drugs to a client. "What are you doing down here?"

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry... Anyway, my brother and I are here to visit my grandparents. I'm headed to this cute little bookstore I go to every time we come, and then I'm going to find somewhere for dinner. I'm by myself tonight; I would eat with my family, but they decided to eat at a bar, and I couldn't come." she huffed.

Of course, she was going to a bookstore. Kai knew Lyra like the back of his hand. Even while he was with his ex-girlfriend, Kai never stopped thinking about Lyra for a minute. All of a sudden, he got a text:

Get the package delivered, or you know what happens. We are watching you right now. Hurry up.

He quickly responded:

Please, give me more time. This girl is a close friend of mine. I won't get another chance to see her for a while. Can I get more time or deliver it elsewhere?

The response came back:

Fine, deliver it to me. I am walking down the block right now. Introduce me as your dad's friend and give me the package.

Kai bent over and reached out his hand for the second time and said, "Well, we better get going. It's going to be dark soon."

Lyra turned an even deeper shade of red as she took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. After gaining control of her words, she said, "We? Are you headed to the same place?"

Before he could respond, the awkward couple was interrupted by the "boss".

"Oh, Lyra, this is my dad's friend, Sean," he said as he took a protective step in front of her. He did not want the creep to get any ideas about her for a minute.

Annoyed at his stance, she popped out from behind Kai to get a closer look at the man. Upon closer inspection, she could see that he was... A good word is creepy. He was tall, taller than both of the kids, and he was wearing all black, with a baseball cap pulled over his eyes. After a moment of silence, she finally stammered, "H-Hello, sir. Nice to meet you," and quickly stepped back behind Kai.

Sean glanced over Kai's shoulder at the petite girl and said, "Well, nice to meet you too, Miss Lyra. You can come on out; I don't bite." When she finally stepped back around next to Kai, the man continued, "You're awfully pretty. What's someone like you doing hanging out with this jerk?" the boss said, gesturing to Kai. He did think that Lyra was quite pretty, not like any of the other girls in town. If she was a few years older and a few inches taller, yeah, he would do her.

Before Lyra could respond, Kai quickly stepped back in front of her and said harshly, "Well, here's the package my dad told me to give you. We have to go." He sensed that Lyra was scared of the man and wanted to get her out of there as quickly as possible. He offered his arm to her to give her some stability and motioned for her to take her. After she finally put her arm through his, he said, "See you around," and tried to walk away.

The boss gave them a toothy smile and grabbed Kai's arm before he could walk away. Lowering his voice so Lyra could not hear, he said "We understand she's one of your weaknesses and we'll be watching. One wrong step and she's gone." Sean let go of his arm and made a subtle slitting motion across his neck. With that, he walked away, looking back viciously.

Once the man was out of earshot, Lyra said with a shiver, "Creepy guy. What'd he say to you?"

"Oh, nothing important, just family business. Forget about him, let's get going."

Unbeknownst to the teenagers, Sean curiously watched them from the shadows as they walked into a book shop. He would have to keep his eye on them. They were interesting. Very, very interesting.

A/N: Thanks for so many reads on this chapter :). Since I will be updating more often I'm gonna do a question of the week and I'm going back here to start it.

Question of the Week: What part of the world are you reading this from?