Recovery And Magic

2

The air felt cleaner as I stepped through the door. The air of metal, stale donuts, and sweat was sucked behind us as a sharp smell of citrus brushed against my nose. Any signs of the police department were gone. The three of us were standing in a kitchen, being used by several people.

A guy with long brown hair was anchored at the stove. His hands did nothing as ingredients dropped themselves into the pan. A short guy with a small stubble chin was drumming next to the long hair guy. His eyes watering at the presentation. A small line was starting to build behind the small chin man. A mix of people talking to themselves waiting for the food to be done. A couple of them looked over at the three of us and waved. All of them were saying hi to Ian and Andy while I tried to shrink myself. Hunching my shoulders while I put my head down.

I tried, but someone was already staring at me. A thin black-haired girl sat at one of the counters peeling an orange as she kept eye contact. Milky white irises studied me as Ian shut the door behind me.

Those contact lenses have to be painful. Why would she and Ian wear those? But something was off. You can always tell if someone was wearing colored contacts. But these, they felt here. They felt unnerving. Hers at least. The longer I stared back, the more of a cold knife dug in my back. Ian's eyes were weird and kinda comforting at the same time.

"Hey, Niki!" Ian waved, taking a couple of steps in the center of the chaos.

The white eyes glanced back at Ian, resuming the peeling of her orange. "Hey. She's the new girl?"

Ian nodded with a smile. Andy waddled over to a lone coffee cup with a crooked tree on the corner closest to the fridge.

"Yup!" Ian turned back to me and thumbed over to his friend. "Meril this is Nikki. Nikki has-"

"Hey." Nikki motioned with the orange in her hand, getting up and leaving the kitchen.

The cold knife in my back left with her as it traced over my leg. I let out a shiver as Ian gave an awkward positive smile. Andy was too busy examining the tea bag in his coffee cup along with the other people in the kitchen.

"She's not always like that," Ian assured. "She's nice when she gets to know you."

I nodded back swallowing memories of a kid me alone. Everyone keeping their distance from the corner of their eyes. Nothing really changes when you grow up. It just gets worse or stays the same.

"So this is the kitchen," Andy coughed.

Ian perked up, gesturing around the room. "Yeah! We got so many different kinds of foods that you can make. Most of our fruits and vegetables are grown from Andy and the greenhouse group backyard. If you have any allergies please let us know and we can totally work with that."

I glanced over at the other people that stayed in the room. The line had finally started to move. They were busy grabbing glasses and plates. No one was rushing out. They all were unfazed with the sudden appearance of three walking out what looked like the pantry. A couple of them chatting with each other about something. Pans and knives moving on their own as food hovered and glowed a green tint, gliding to the plates.

"Did you want anything to eat?" Andy asked, taking a sip of his mug.

I shook my head. "Nah, I'm good."

My stomach rumbled in pain. The last good thing I ate was stale donuts that an AA meeting was about to throw out. This seems nice. But it only takes a second for it to all blow up in your face.

Ian and Andy gave each other looks before the door to the back slammed open. A guy with fresh cuts and sweat splashed on his face barreled through. His shirt was torn open with grass stains and dirt covering his jeans.