The Space Between

Chapter Two

"What's that you got there?" Aylen asked the next day when he noticed the new bracelet around Cole's wrist. "I've never seen you wear that one before."

"It's because I haven't," Cole said, searching through the lunch bag the boy set in front of her. "I found it out in the old quarry."

"I don't know how in the hell you survive outside in this," Aylen watched her as she pulled out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bag of potato chips.

"And I don't know why you act like such an ass all the time," she smirked. "Just some of the world's great mysteries, I guess," she said, popping a chip into her mouth.

"Hey, I'm a nice guy!" Aylen retorted. "Take that back or I'll make sure my mom only makes you lunches with meat from now on."

Cole rolled her eyes. "Please. We both know your mom is, like, the kindest person on the face of the planet. No way she'd ever do that to me."

She was right, and Aylen knew it, but he still liked teasing her occasionally. Cole was pretty easy to get along with once you got to know her, and not a lot got under her skin. The only time she'd ever punched him had been when he'd made a comment about her hairstyle back in elementary school, telling her she looked like a dollar store version of Princess Leia. Turned out, she didn't take too kindly to having her Zuni heritage insulted, and she'd clobbered him. And that was where their friendship had begun.

They hadn't hung out so much lately, mostly because once high school hit they'd formed new groups of friends and were each involved in a bunch of things after school. But most of their friends were either busy during the summer or on vacation, so it now left more time for the two to spend together.

Not that Aylen minded. Though he hadn't told her yet, he'd been developing a crush on Cole for the past few months. He planned to ask her out eventually, though he was afraid of how she might take it. He might have done it sooner if he hadn't broken up with his now ex-girlfriend, Aspyn Carter, a little over a month ago.

Then again, Cole hadn't really shown interest in anyone, at least not since eighth grade, after Peter had left town. Though she rarely spoke of him now— and hadn't heard from him in several years— Aylen knew that losing that boy had left an empty space in Cole's heart.

Instead of bothering his father, he pulled up an extra stool and sat down next to her. Aylen knew for a fact that she was working a longer shift today, so he might as well keep her company. He was off today because of a doctor's appointment, but that wasn't until later. He'd stay here as long as was necessary.

Cole pushed the cooler towards him. "Here. Just try to keep it away from me."

Aylen chuckled. "One of these days, I'll convert you over to the meat-lovers' side."

Cole rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. Maybe when I'm the queen of Russia."

"Russia doesn't have a queen?"

"Exactly."

They ate in silence, each lost in their own little worlds, when a dust devil kicked up and suddenly the door flew open.

This was not uncommon. The door to his father's business had needed to be fixed for years now, but the old man had just never seemed to get around to it. Too preoccupied with other things.

What neither Aylen nor Cole expected was to see a man standing on the other side of the door. There were no cars outside, and they hadn't heard anyone approach. And, even though the dirt was blowing fairly hard outside, it wasn't enough to completely obscure vision.

The man didn't look like a tourist either, though he was most definitely sweating underneath all the clothes he wore. He had a cowboy hat pulled low over his eyes, and his boots clicked as he walked across the floor. The duster coat he wore was several sizes too big, almost seeming to swallow him inside of its deep folds. However, despite the coat making him seem small, he walked with assuredness, as if no one had ever dared test him. The man seemed to come from another era altogether, though that was, of course, ridiculous. More than likely he was a re-enactor from somewhere, though neither of the two kids could think of where. Nothing like that existed in Reino, as it was far more known for its weirdness rather than any actual events that had taken place.