The Time Mage

Chapter 3: The Envelope

I felt the car come to a stop and I heard the engine turn off. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. Through the window, I could tell that we had stopped in the center of a quaint little town. A few people walked passed on the sidewalks, but it was still too early for most. Looking at the clock on the car's dashboard, I saw that it was almost 8:00 AM. We had driven for over an hour. 

For a moment, Toby and I sat in silence. Then he finally spoke. 

"Let's get something to eat," he said, nodding his head towards a small bakery that stood sandwiched between a local bookstore and a shoe repair place. Toby opened his  door and climbed out of the car, but I remained where I was, staring out the window in silence. I watched as he made his way around the front of the car and stood outside my door, waiting. 

"Are you coming?" I heard him ask through the glass of my window. 

"I'm not hungry," I replied. It wasn't a lie. I hadn't eaten anything since the night before, but the events from this morning made it difficult to think about food right now. 

"Fine then," he said casually. "I guess I'll get something to eat by myself."

He turned and started to walk towards the bakery door. He slipped inside and disappeared. It only took a minute for the silence and emptiness of the car to fill me with paranoia. Every person who walked past looked like a robot, and I could hear the voices from my dream ringing in my ears. Give us the ring, Emmaline. We need the ring. 

I grabbed my backpack and threw the car door open, slamming it behind me. Then I sprinted to the bakery door. Once inside, I carefully scanned each customer's and employee's faces, studying their movements, trying to determine if I could trust them or not. My heart pounded in my chest loud enough to drown out the coffee shop music playing in the building. I would've sworn everyone else could hear it beating too, but if they did, they didn't show it. 

Toby waved at me. He was standing behind one other person in line. I made my way over to him, hoping to appear calmer then I felt. 

"So, you decided to come after all."

Toby smiled at me. His voice was pleasant, almost cheerful, and if it had been anyone else, that would have upset me. However, I had known Toby for a long time and understood that this was just how he was. He smiled through everything. If he failed a math test he'd crack jokes about it, when his grandmother died he smiled at everyone at her wake, and even a week after his dog went missing he remained optimistic. Though I sometimes found his optimism annoying, he always knew how to make someone feel better. That might have been why he brought us to a bakery. He knew I never started my mornings without a coffee. 

"I can help whoever's next," said a young woman behind the counter. 

My mind had been so clouded, I hadn't taken time to look over the menu, but to my relief, Toby ordered for the both of us. He knew what I liked from the many times he'd get coffee for us before driving to my place to pick me up for school. 

We grabbed a seat while we waited for our drinks, and I realized we were the youngest customers there. It wasn't busy, but there were a handful of people grabbing coffee and quickly leaving to get to work, as well as an elderly couple sitting in the corner. It made sense that there were no other high school aged kids since it was a school day, and I hoped no one would question why we were there. 

It didn't take long for our food and drinks to be prepared. Toby got me my usual: an oat milk latte with caramel syrup, and he got a mocha. He also got each of us a muffin, his was blueberry and mine was lemon poppyseed. 

"So," said Toby as soon as he sat back down. "Do you want to explain what exactly happened this morning?"

His voice was gentle as he tried to get straight to the point while also maintaining compassion for what I had just gone through. I knew talking about it would make me feel better. It always did. Whenever I was upset or stressed about something, I would tell my parents or close friends. It would make me feel like I wasn't going through things alone.