Love Lines

18: The Illusionist

I was too busy trying to disregard the pair of eyes staring into the back of my neck anyway. The origin wasn't hard to discern. There was only one person in the cafeteria who would be staring at me who wasn't sitting at my table.

Not to mention Allie kept elbowing me and Kaylee kept shooting looks over my shoulder. She'd mouth "He's staring at you" and in combination with Allie's painful jabs, I was getting annoyed. Five minutes before I knew the bell was going to ring, I'd had enough and got up to go to my locker. I was sure Allie had given me a bruise and when I checked, sure enough, the skin was red.

"Freaking best friends."

I pulled up on the latch of my locker, combination already put in. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do but normally I was in a rush and it was easier to have it already done. There wasn't anything valuable inside so even if someone did decide to steal something, there was nothing in there but books and papers. All the books were numbered on the edge of the pages so I mean, come on. Not to mention, who would want to steal high school textbooks?

The second the door to my locker opened, I was accosted with fluttering of paper. I was transfixed as white origami paper birds flew around my head for a couple of seconds. One by one, they fell to my feet, the last one landing in my hands. It was the strangest thing I'd ever seen but the most enchanting.

Very carefully, I unfolded the bird and in uncommonly neat handwriting for a boy one word graced the page.

Dinner?

I chuckled and looked around but there was no one else in the hallway. I had no idea how he'd managed this but if there was one thing I knew, it was how to use his Particular to answer his question. I fished a pen out of my backpack, scribbled my answer on the palm of my hand before heading off to my next class. I was completely oblivious to my surroundings, including someone who was lurking in the shadows by the cafeteria doors.

Fishing my keys out of my bag was easy; convincing Schylar to stop ragging on me was another.

"So why didn't he sit with you at lunch?"

"Schy..."

"I mean seriously, he staked his claim yesterday and then left you high and dry today. It's as if nothing has changed. Amazing."

"Not everyone is like you and Brittany, Schy. I'm not overly fond of PDA and you know that."

He rolled his eyes and leaned against his truck we'd reached to first. "A little PDA is not the worst thing. The only thing either of you did to acknowledge you were dating was to stare at each other when you thought the other wasn't looking. Opie told Chris and I all about it in computer class. It's pretty damn weird."

"Yeah, well, you think Winnie the Pooh is weird." Again he rolled his eyes and I just gave him a look to let it go. "Look, as much as I'd love to sit here and argue over my newly formed relationship, I can't because some of us have to get to work."

He took what I said like it was nothing more than a brief gust of wind. "Speaking of that, do you want me to bring you dinner on your break?"

"No. I'm square on that front. I'll see you tomorrow."

I made my way to my car, ignoring all the other people milling around in the parking lot. I dodged a few cars as they pulled out and didn't pay much attention to mine until I was sitting in it about to start it.

"So..." I stifled my scream and jerked in my seat, knowing full well who that voice belonged to. What I wanted to know was how the hell he had gotten in my car. "How was school?"

"How the hell did you get in here?"

He looked at me like I was stupid. His eyes may have been hidden behind the perfect replica sunglasses Tom Cruise wore in Risky Business but I still knew the look he was giving me. "I'm a gypsy. By definition I can pick any lock, run any scam, and 'borrow' any item I want. Getting into your car was a piece of cake. A toddler could do it."

"Anything else you want to add to that little info session?"

"I like shinny objects." Well at least his bad mood from yesterday was somewhat gone. "Put any shinny object in front of my face and I'm yours."

"Good to know." I put my keys in the ignition. "Now you can get out."

"Can't. We have things to do." He rolled a particularly 'shinny' piece of mirror over and over his knuckles, the sun glinting off the surface and into my eyes. "We need to go back to the Schola so I can..." He stopped talking when he saw me shaking my head. The piece of mirror stopped flipping and I could feel him staring at me from behind his sunglasses. "What?"

"I can't! I have to work and then I have homework..."

"Ditch. What I have to teach you is more important than working in your mundane coffee shop and completing your history project."

"No!"

"No?"

"No, Andrzej. I have priorities and exploring the Schola with you isn't on the list..."

The mirror started moving again even though his knuckles didn't. When it reached his thumb, it slipped into the palm of his hand. I wasn't afraid to confess I was a little interested. After Cecil's incredible paper trick, moving objects with no human being holding it was completely fascinating.

When he opened his palm, the mirror was gone and I frowned, darting my eyes up to look at him. He reached out, running his fingertips along the edge of my ear and when he pulled back, the piece of mirror was between his fingertips. It was the basic magic trick I'd seen at birthday parties when I was a kid but there was something different about this one.

For one, it was no longer a mirror but a Roman coin. Janus's double head gracing the surface facing my direction.

"I think you like shinny objects too."

"What's your point?" I looked from the coin to him. "No coin trick is going to convince me not to go to work and hang out with you instead. It's irresponsible..."

"Haven't you ever wanted to do something irresponsible? You're so straight laced and vanilla I can taste it in the air around you. Take a chance, do something daring for once."

I shook my head. "No."

"I have more magic tricks."

"I'm sure you do but I'm not in the mood to see them. Get out."

It was his turn to shake his head. "Nope."

"Fine. Then you'll just have to come with me."

"I like coffee." He nodded and looked out the windshield. "How long do you have to work?"

"I never said you could stay when we got there."

"It's a public establishment. I can stay if I want to. I'm supposed to be teaching you stuff anyways and if you're not going to make room for me on your apparently busy schedule, then I will worm my way into it. Even if it means sitting in a dark corner of your beloved coffee shop. Honestly, I don't have anything better to do."

Somehow I believed that.

Several times when I was supposed to be making mochas or clearing up a table after a group of patrons had departed, I was watching Andrzej off in the corner instead. The way he dressed didn't distract me anymore, not even his newly added top hat which he'd placed conveniently on the table in front of him. What held me enthralled along with most of our clientele that day, was the little coin tricks and other illusions I'd never seen before. When he wasn't doing those, he was scribbling something down in his little black book he'd pulled out of his back pocket.

There was definitely something very off about him and I couldn't put my finger on it.