Strays

Chapter 9

The next time Wren saw Lindley, he found himself surprised by how excited he was. He had been walking through town, killing time outside of his apartment; now that his friends were gone, the apartment felt too empty and quiet. Walking down Main Street, he caught sight of her popping her head into a bookstore contemplating going in. When he saw that she decided to go in after all, Wren crossed the street and went in quietly behind her. He stayed a few feet behind her, watching her run her finger over the spines of the new releases, before stopping at an interesting title. She picked it up and looked over the description on the back. With a forlorn look, Lindley sighed and put it back on the shelf.

"Not up to your standards?"

Lindley jumped, turning toward him. "What are you doing here?" Her tone was forceful, but not necessarily angry.

"I saw you come in and thought I'd say hi." He smirked at her, saying, "Hi."

"Hello," she answered exasperated. "No, it sounds great, but I hate buying books when I can get them for free at the library." She looked back at the book she had picked up. "But our library is so awful—the Da Vinci Code is still in their new releases section." She took a breath before looking up at him pleasantly. "Anyways, what are you up to? Your friends already left?"

"Yeah, they left first thing in the morning. So I thought I would explore my new town," he answered her, turning back toward the window facing Main Street, giving Lindley an opportunity to study his face, the way his lips were well defined and tended to quirk up in the corners, and his sharp nose that was almost feminine. Wren turned back toward her and asked, "Care to show me around? You can give me the insider scoop on everything."

Lindley shrugged—why not? Wordlessly, Wren followed her out of the bookstore. "Well," she began as soon as they walked outside. "Here is Main Street. If you ever get lost, just remember, all roads lead to Main Street. It's literally the only way in or out of town." She then pointed across the road to Big Mama's Diner. "That's the diner you saw me working at. I work there most days now that school is out. Speaking of school," she turned the opposite direction, "if you hook a right after the gas station, you'll eventually hit a giant football field followed by a tiny school. That's the high school. Everyone in town goes or went there, except the really religious kids, who all get home schooled."

"Did you go there?" Wren asked, interrupting her. Lindley paused for a moment.

"Yeah," she answered, almost begrudgingly. "I did. You won't find my family at Sunday Church. And now," she turned to point down Main Street in the other direction, "my favorite part of town. The road leading out of it. If you take main street west for about twenty miles, you reach WTCU, which is the farthest I've ever been out of town."

"Is that where you go to school now?" Wren asked her, finding himself amused by her stationary, bitter rendition of a town tour.

"Yup," she answered, beginning to walk the opposite direction from where she had pointed. "For one more semester, and then I'm getting as far away from this hell hole as possible."

Wren followed her, smiling despite himself. "It has a certain charm to it that the big cities don't have."

"Well, if you want to live and die here, be my guest," she retorts, pulling open a door to a coffee shop, holding it open for him to follow her in. "I'll wave to you in my rearview mirror."

"Where are we now?" he asked, hoping she would have another pithy description for this comfortable, albeit quiet coffee shop.

"The newest place in this old town," she answered, taking a seat in a comfortable armchair. Wren followed suit, and sat on a plush couch across from her. He felt it swallow him up, and heard Lindley laugh across from him.