Melodie held her heart sympathetically.
“It’s a different way of seeing the world. For you, the world is louder than it is to others. Counting grounds you. For me, sex makes me feel more human.”
“Maybe a little.”
She softened for half a second, and her smile seemed different, less fake, more…friendly?
“Too loud for you right now?”
I nodded once.
“Too many sounds?”
Another nod.
She leaned against the bar, tapped the wood for another drink, then turned back to me. “Then quit trying to hear all of them.”
“I don’t exactly have an off switch,” I argued.
“I know.”
That surprised me enough to stop counting.
“You know?”
“I’m not that different. But it is a choice. You have to keep your cards close, or Natalie will devour you. Don’t want that, do you, Jailbait? She already has a special attachment to you. Why is that?”She looked me over, studying me as if for the first time, despite the earlier voyeuristic shower.
“Dunno. Been with her since I was a kid.”
Melodie shook her head. “Jesus, kid. I’m sorry. I got into this life by choice, but I know I don’t exactly have a choice about leaving it now. People like us only leave one way.”
I swallowed, and despite the fact that I knew already, I asked, “How?”
“In a body bag. That’s the only peace for us. We can’t survive as normies. It would kill us more surely than a good death.”
The way she spoke the words was so nonchalant, as if she thought of her death often.
“I don’t want to die,” I stated stubbornly, and she shrugged.
“You will. It’s a matter of time.”
Unsettled by that, I grew silent again, but she kept talking.
“You’ve counted every loud noise since we walked in.”
“Have not.”
“You tapped the door four times before coming inside.”
Damn it.
“You noticed.”
“I notice everything. Remember, my ‘tism sees your ‘tism.”
Silence.
That was all I wanted. Silence.
