Speed ➢ harry styles

Ch. 29 ~ Compass Keychain

I slip the compass keychain into my coat pocket and go back inside the cafe where Anella was waiting for me to return and explain my arbitrary actions. But the only issue is, how do you explain something that even you aren't sure about? 

Sure enough, I haven't even pulled out my chair to sit on before she looks up at me, putting down her book, a confused expression tugging at her features. She doesn't even have to open her mouth, I already know what she wants to hear. I sigh deeply. "I um, well there was this um hand and it was beckoning for me to come and I was curious and it turned out to be a homeless man and well yeah I don't know what gotten into me," I finish and try to read her changing expression. Is she angry? Is she amused? 

She studies my face for a little while and in the moment I feel so tiny, so trivial. She's looking right through me but it's not like I have anything to hide. Well except for the fact that I'm now playing a game of life and death and whatever the hell else. She holds out her palm. "I saw him give you something, can I see what it was?"

"Ehrm, sure," I say and pull it out of my pocket and drop it in her hand. She examines it. 

"It's pretty," Is all she says before giving it back to me. "That was really sweet of him to give you it. For him, it must've been one of his most prized possessions, you know? But you're also sweet, I saw you give him two twenties. That's very generous," She smiles at me. 

I run my thumb over the keychain and feel the cold brass against my skin. I see Anella narrowing her eyes at it. "What is it?"

"Oh I dunno, it's just so weird how your initials are on the back..." She murmurs.

"What?" I say disbelievingly. I turn it around and sure enough H.S. is engraved in the back. 

"What a strange coincidence?" Anella suggests.

Coincidence, sure, I think. Was this all Speed's doing? What are the chances of this keychain having belonged to someone with the same initials as me? I'm suddenly uneasy and I drop the keychain and it falls on the table with a loud clatter. 

"What's wrong? Did that freak you out?"

I nod yes. "What are the odds?"

"It could've belonged to a Henry Smith or a Horace Sanders..."

"Or maybe it was meant for a Harry Styles?" I mutter. 

"You don't really believe in coincidences do you?" Anella asks, looking into my eyes, searching for the reason behind my restlessness. 

I want to say "why should I? After all that's been happening lately" but instead I just shrug. 

"Is there something you're not telling me?" She acquires, not taking her gaze off of me. 

"Actually, I think there's something that you're not telling me." I say without thinking twice. She is now bearing a pained expression and I feel deep remorse. I didn't mean to come off so rude, I really just wanted to get her off my back because I didn't want her to become involved in all this danger I was likely in. 

"What the hell do you mean by that?" She demands, slight irritation evident in her tone.

I shake my head. "I'm sorry that didn't really come out right."

She bites her lip, in thought. "No, no, no. It's fine. It really is. What do you want to hear?" She speaks more softly now.

"I just...I-" I stop midway. I don't know how to word this. Of course I want to ask her about why she left behind her family in Cheshire because I was supposed to email her brother and let them know I'd found her and she was safe. I hadn't done that yet. They were probably worried sick. But then again, they hadn't tried to contact me either. It didn't really seem like they were in any sort of hurry and that didn't make any sense to me. Honestly nothing made sense to me nowadays and that was scary.