Blackbird

Darkness

Forks, Washington

I had trouble focusing in class the next few days. My mind kept wandering off to Nixon, and those black eyes of his. The way he was deathly quiet and rather vulnerable when he was holding my belongings was lingering in the back of my mind; yet, his voice, his eyes, the way he carried himself revealed his persona to be something far from vulnerable.

Maybe I am overthinking things. Maybe Nixon is just what he seems to be; a stranger. Nothing more.

"Jesse, what is taking so long with the coffee?"

I jumped out of my everlasting thoughts at the sound of my mother's voice. She seemed a bit agitated, considering I was told to brew a fresh pot of coffee about twenty minutes ago.

"Sorry, coming right up!"

I exclaimed, quickly beginning the task that should have been finished by this point.

Her bakery, known as Doughy Delights, is the sweet spot of the town. Not only is it a bakery, but it's a mini cafe as well. It's rather popular and was the talk of the town for a good couple of months when it first opened.

Customers would fly in and out like bats, and two workers was just not enough; therefore, I offered to help. I knew if I started to work at the bakery and give my mom and her best friend, Betty, an extra helping hand would mean I needed to gear my head in the game. Doughy Delights is known for its fast paced customer service, and I just slowed it down about twenty minutes.

A small smile appeared on my face, directed towards my mother. She returned the gesture with a disappointed look. Betty, on the other hand, gave me a wink. She always eased the tension if I ever did something wrong at the bakery, knowing my mother isn't the best at controlling her words or actions when it comes to stress.

I went out to serve the waiting customers their coffee. Luckily, none of them were impatient or irritated with the slow service.

As I was pouring the last bit of caffeine into the lady's cup, I noticed a strange body outside of the bakery. I squinted my eyes to get a better look, cursing myself for not wearing my glasses when I should.

I couldn't grab a better view of the stranger, so I decided to politely walk away from the customer, set the coffee aside, and walk out of the bakery.

As I ventured outside, my vision became clearer. I was starting to get nervous because the figure was clearly staring right at me. I noticed he had black hair, but I needed a better look to recognize who this person was. I started to walk farther away from the bakery until the tie on my apron caught onto the door handle.

Just great.

I quickly turned around to free myself and before I knew it, Betty came to my rescue.

"This happens to me all the time, it's quite annoying."

I quickly resumed my attention from the door handle back to the stranger as Betty was messing with my apron.

He was no longer there.

I sighed at the misfortune. I was eager to see who that person was. Though, It was a slight relief to see him gone, considering he was standing right outside the bakery for no apparent reason.

"So, Linda wanted me to ask you what caused the hold up with the coffee? Were you thinking about something or maybe a special someone?"

Betty hip bumped me and gave me a teasing smirk.

"My mom thinks I was thinking about a boy?"

I laughed, it was clearly fake to Betty.

"Oh alright, whatever you say."