After Midnight

2

"-I'll see you soon!" Martha called out as she exited the convenience store. I gave a small wave and smile from behind the counter at her retreating figure even though smiling was the last thing I wanted to do at this point.

I was exhausted. The extra shifts I had picked up recently were not ideal to my schedule, heck I didn't think they were ideal to anyone's schedule. Getting to the store at eight at night and not leaving until two in the morning was starting to take a toll on me, especially since I had to be up at six in the morning the next day for my other job at the library. I needed the money though, and so I tried my best to push on through.

Though all I wanted to do was sleep.

I leaned back in the squeaky plastic chair that sat behind the cash register. It was a little after midnight and I didn't expect to see any more customers for the night. Nobody really came out here after midnight, not in this town. Everyone was probably sound asleep.

Like I should be.

I groaned and rubbed my face with the palms of my hands while getting up from the chair. Sitting around and longing for my much desired beauty rest wasn't going to make the time go by any quicker. Besides, the chair I was sitting on was pretty uncomfortable, so I decided to spend some time checking up on the aisles, fixing anything that was out of place.

I was contemplating whether or not I should buy either the vanilla or the chcolate ice cream that sat in the back of one of the freezers for a late night snack when the bell on the door chimed. I sighed inwardly, taking it as a sign that I shouldn't spend my money on either of the desserts since I needed all of my money to help pay the bills, and made my way back behind the counter.

He had brown hair and a pale face, the man that had walked in. He looked to be deep in thought as he stared down at the wide array of candy bars placed in front of him, his concentration only breaking when he saw me move back behind the counter.

"I was wondering if you could help me out with some directions." He said while placing a map on the counter. "I was using a GPS, but the service out here is pretty rough, i'm not getting any signal."

I nodded on complete understanding. The service in this town was very unreliable. I think I remember hearing my friend Kate talking about how it had to do with the forrest and hills nearby but I wasn't so sure.

"I'll try my best." I said while giving the man a reassuring smile. Although I had lived here my whole life, I wasn't the best with directions, especially when it came to explaining them.

"I'm headed to Panett Street." He said while sliding the map to me. "I heard that it's right by-" his voice stopped as he looked up at me again, his eyes not transfixed on my face though.

They were settled on my neck.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and instead fixed my curly brown hair to cover my neck. I usually wore my hair down because of it, because of all the staring. In fact, that's probably why I let my hair grow out so long, it made it easier to hide.

I watched as his cheeks flushed, sudden embarrassment evident on his face.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"It's fine." I said like a broken record. I couldn't blame the guy for staring, everyone did. I mean how often do you see someone with a weird mark embedded in their neck? "You're actually really close to Panett street. Just continue on Winterberry road for a little while and it'll be the second street on your right." I said while sliding the map back to him.

He nodded his head and with a short thank you and a tight smile he left the store.

I frowned as I looked at my reflection in the window. Moving my hair back, I tenderly touched the marked area of my neck. It wasn't an ugly mark, at least I didn't think so, it was just....interesting.