She was stuck in a memory. She thought maybe it was the reason she’d been so suspicious of him last night. It was a day back in high school. She’d been surrounded by a gang of boys. Intent on something evil. All the girls had fled. None had stayed to help her. None had sought out the help of a teacher. She’d been terrified. All those boys had formed a circle around her.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of watching them, her eyes darting from one cruel face to another, her heart pounding in her chest, blood rushing to her ears, she had been about to try to run through the wall of their ranks when one had pounced on her. He’d grabbed her by her arm and yanked her up against him. His other arm had snaked around her waist. What had happened next had stopped him cold. And the rest of them too.
She’d never been so scared in her whole life. As he dragged her up against his chest, his hand had grabbed her bottom. She had leaned forward and vomited forcefully. All over the front of his shirt. Instantly, he had recoiled. His intrusive hands had slid away from her. She had never been so grateful for puke in her whole life. The entire class of boys had fled from her in that moment. They’d never bothered her again.
But she’d spent the rest of high school alone. She had become infamous. Everywhere she was known as Hurl Girl. Privately, she’d been thankful. She could have been given worse names if the boys had acted out their evil intent that day.
She hadn’t trusted anyone since. Now, she lifted sad eyes to the golden man standing in front of her. Was it just some fancy of hers that the sun seemed to be rising inside of him, its rays framing his body? As she narrowed her eyes in an attempt to ascertain the source of those rays, she suddenly realized that the sun was rising, its rays flowing through the window a few feet behind him. Hobi wasn’t really glowing then, was he?
But as her eyes met his once more, she wasn’t really convinced that the light wasn’t coming from somewhere inside him. His eyes were just…kind. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen anyone with such kind eyes.
“Please. Please sit with me,” he begged her. He couldn’t have explained why he cared so much. But he did.
However, she turned from him. She took a step forward.
That’s when someone suddenly turned off the lights.
Hobi lunged forward as he realized that she was crumpling to the ground before him. His lithe dancer’s body was just in time. He caught her from behind in his arms and dragged her up against his chest. He backed into the booth, sitting down abruptly, pulling her up onto his lap. Her head fell back against his shoulder. She had passed out.
