Different

Chapter Three

   God bless small towns. The store was merely two minutes away from the high school. I made the drive easily, a stupid smile on my face as I replayed my time with Ry over in my head. That boy was trouble. I knew it. I didn't care.

   Miller's Grocer was a small brick building that had two isles for food, one for pets and laundry needs, and a frozen section. Where did people shop for clothes?

   Perhaps there was a Smith's Clothing near by. I snorted at my own joke as I walked towards the frozen section. I smiled at a boy stocking shelves and I wondered if this would be a good place to get a job.

   I was scanning the poor selection of yogurts for my dad's must have breakfast when a bony hand curved around my shoulder. I turned towards the touch and found a small wrinkly woman with wise green eyes looking at me.

   Weirded out, I politely stepped out from under her hand, "Um, can I help you with something?"

   She stared at me a moment longer then nodded. "Yes, yes you're the one."

   I pressed my lips together and looked around. No one was looking at us. In fact, it almost seemed as if everyone was avoiding looking at us. My gaze went back at the lady to find her watching me expectantly. "The one?"

   She gave me a toothy grin. "That's right, dear. You know the suits."

   Okay. I understood. She was crazy.

I stared into her oddly intelligent eyes. She didn't have the eyes of a crazy person but she looked crazy and she definitely sounded crazy. "Right...and who are the suits, again?"

   She threw her head back and let out a cackle. "You know! The suits. The men in the suits. The black suits. They're here again and this time they know who they're looking for."

Quicker than I would have thought possible, her knobby hand shot out to grasp mine. "You should leave."

   What the hell was this old woman smoking? Men in black? And telling me I should leave? Was that a threat?

   I was about to ask as much when a guy who looked a little older than me stepped between us. "There you are!"

   The woman didn't take her eyes off me as she patted his cheek. "Hi, dear. I found her!"

   I cleared my throat and studied the can of soup my cart.

   This was weird.

   The guy turned around and I realized he was kind of cute. Not as good looking as Ry, but cute nonetheless. He gave me an apologetic smile. "Um, hi, sorry. This is my grandma, Magatha. I'm Jake."

I smiled a bit awkwardly. "Hello. I'm-"

"Brooklyn!" The old woman, Magatha, cut me off.

My head jerked towards her. "Uh, yeah. Brooke..." I looked at her very seriously. "How did you know that?"

   She smiled at me knowingly and Jake paled. I narrowed my eyes at the pair. "I know because you're the one they want. Or very close."

    I felt my brows scrunch together and Jake shook his head at me slightly. "Sorry..."

    He turned his back to me, speaking to Magatha in a low voice. "Gram, stop. We don't even know her..."

    Magatha was already shaking her head. "No, we do. Remember? The suits will want her and you know-"

    Jake cut his grandmother a sharp look and she stopped talking. I suddenly felt uneasy. What was going on?

   Jake turned Magatha away, walking her in the opposite direction. "It was nice to meet you! See you around?"