A Strange Attraction

Chapter 3

                  

As soon as I crawl in bed, my dad comes in and my parents start yelling and screaming over alcohol. My dad seemed to be drunk. They proceeded to scream for an hour or two, until I heard my dad stumble down the hall to bed. Soon I was in my own dreams.

That night I dreamt of the liquor store stranger.

The dream started out in a field. I was standing in a field. The dream was real patchy, like parts were missing. The only things that weren't fuzzy were the stars sparkling above and the stranger standing off to one side of a clearing holding his hand out, beckoning for me to come over to him. Then the dream ended abruptly.

I wake up immediately, flashing my eyes with blinding sunlight that pours in my half open blinds. The strange fuzzy dream never leaves my thoughts. I get up and run my hands through my short military pixie haircut. I gaze into the mirror to see if I helped the look any.  My hair kind of stayed sticking up on top in a poof, since my sides were shaved. I sigh and pull on some camo cargo pants and an Indian hamsa henna shirt. I then top it off with my soft calfskin lace up boots. I don't truly care for style. I have three modes of style- Mismatched Tomboy, Goth, and Hippy. My eccentric personality shows through with my funky style. I apply some grapefruit scented cheek stain to the apples of my cheeks. I roughly swipe some highlighter across my cheek bones and nose and then add two coats of mascara to my lashes. My look is finished.

I walk out my door and into the Native American décor of the living room. My mom sits on the couch with one of our dogs on her lap. She looks dressed for a shopping trip, less sloppy than usual. Oh, shit... Shopping. I was supposed to wake up at 10 and take her. I had slept through 3pm, so she had probably been waiting since 10....

            "I am so sorry. You should have beat on my door this morning." I say.

            "I heard you snoring loudly so I didn't want to ruin your good sleep. I know how you have trouble sleeping and all." She replied, looking genuinely NOT upset.

            I sigh, "Okay. Get your stuff together." I walk off to go grab my canvas jacket and satchel.

When we are both settled in we set off on our way to Walmart.  When we get to our destination, my mom loads herself onto an electric scooter. I walk alongside her as she makes her way around on the provided scooter. I fetch stuff for her that she isn't able to reach on the shelf. I have to climb the shelving every once In a while to reach what is needed, since I am so short.

Thirty minutes in on shopping and I feel like someone or something is watching me. We continue to traverse the isles and the other shoppers. I start thinking of my fuzzy dream containing the stranger. Why would he be beckoning for me? Why were the other details not revealed to me in the dream? What did this mean? Was this a meaningless nothing dream? My mom stopped abruptly mid turn. I fall over the back of her scooter and catch myself on the back of her squat seat. She's saying something to me but I can't hear because I'm prying my shoe out from between the floor and the pipe bumper of the scooter. Great. My shoe is scuffed. My mom is yelling at me now like I'm deaf and dumb.

"What?!?" I raise my voice in exasperation and frustration.

"There's a man staring at you. He seems like he wants to catch your attention. He even beckoned for you. He looked good. Like that book character we always talk about." She said, referring to a demon hunter novel.

            Stranger guy has to be here stalking me. That has to be who she's talking about. He is the only one that fits that description!! I look around and see who she's talking about. Stranger guy is standing in the Cereal with his arms crossed. He is absolutely glaring our way, looking quite annoyed.

            "Continue with your shopping. I will take care of this." I say to my mom. I make my way over to stalking stranger.

            "It is my mother's impression that you wanted to say something to me, so say it. I don't have the time for this." I sigh.

            He looks at me all serious. I stare at his handsome, rugged face as he says, "Look. I just wanted to apologize for the other night. I wasn't in the best of moods then. I'm new in town and I really don't know anyone else. I saw you here and it gave me a little hope for someone to talk to. My name is Sebastian, by the way. I like to go by just Bast, though. "

            "Hello, Jackass. My name is Luce. Welcome to our sorry little town. There's nothing here for you at all. To tell the truth, I'm always in a bad mood and I can't keep friends because of my vile ways. That is just a fair warning for you. Now, I gotta go."

            He hesitates, looking like he's going to say something, then he just stops and nods. I walk away and catch up with my mom. I find her over in the granola and nut isle.

            "Who was that?" she asks with one brow raised.

I sigh. "Just some asshole that wanted to apologize for being an asshole" I squint, then half tell the truth and lie by adding, "He was at the Grill the other night and I lit a fire under his ass when he assumed stuff about me."

            "Ah." She replies.