I slide my eyes to their little group, noticing the buff, blond man who had called out to me. He’s grinning.
“What’s a young guy like you doing here in Port Orford?” he asks.
“I just moved here,” I respond, taking in the various personalities in front of me.
It appears that the youngest of them looks to be around eighteen, while the oldest could be in her thirties. One girl has a gothic vibe going, while the blond dude appears to be a total gym rat.
Then there’s the girl I noticed before, staring right at me, dressed in a pair of flared-out blue jeans and a white, flowyblouse. From up close, I realize why I thought she was so strikingly beautiful,
She reminds me of Atlas.
“From where?” the guy presses.
“California.”
A collection of‘ooo’s’rings out among the others, but I can’t seem to tear my eyes away from the brown-haired girl. She peers back, her eyes assessing and curious, and I find myself desperate to hear her voice, too.
Will it be sticky-sweet?
“You’re far from home. Want to get some food with us? We’re heading up the street to Checkers. It’s pretty famous for its cheese fries.” This time, it’s the lady who appears to be in her thirties who speaks.
“Sure,” I answer, giving her a smile.
“My name is Hailey,” she says, extending a hand.
“Julian,” I offer.
On the short walk to Checkers, I get the names of almost everyone else in their group. The blond-haired guy is named Cameron, the goth girl is Kimberly, and the guy who looks to be freshly eighteen is called Michael.
As we approach what appears to be a cute little diner, the brown-haired girl looks at me and finally speaks.
“I’m Cassandra. But Cassie is fine,” she says, and her voice is, unfortunately, not sticky-sweet.
It’s a nice voice; don’t get me wrong. But it’s not Atlas’s, and I find myself mildly disappointed.
I smile at her anyway, shaking her small, warm hand. “Nice to meet you.”
We head into the diner, taking our seats around a large booth that’s shaped as a half circle. I sit on the very edge of one side, right next to Hailey, with Cassie on the edge of the other side.
“So, what are you doing all the way out here?” Cameron asks from his spot next to Cassie, and for a moment, I wonder if they’re dating.
“Work. Do you know the Chastains?”
“The rich family who live on the outskirts of town?” Michael pries. “Yeah, we know them. They hardly come out, though. Even the kids were always homeschooled.”
“You work there?” Cassie asks with wide, curious eyes.
“Yeah, I help with the youngest and assist the older sons when they need help,” I explain.
“Oh, are they weird?” Kimberly asks, grinning as she leans over the table in search of any morsel of gossip I might give.
“Weird?” I parrot.
“Yeah! Like, they used to come into town pretty frequently, especially the eldest, though he’s not very talkative. But a few years ago, they just…stopped.And we’ve all heard of how weird the middle child is; how they all talk funny.”
They all think Atlas is weird? I mean, to be fair, he is very eccentric in his own way, and he does have that mysterious condition, but I wouldn’t sayweird.
And they’re just proper in how they speak, that’s all.
