The restaurant cleared of any customers. I played with one of the stuffed bunnies we kept in the abandoned claw machine. It was so neglected that we could just slide open the clear top and take any toy we wanted. Only I ever did that, though. It was embarrassing, even if most of the customers never eat inside the restaurant. I didn't usually wear a name tag, so it’s not like they’d remember who I was.

Lucky for me, the school year ended a week ago, and today was my final day.

I tossed my book bag in the manager's office, which was about the size of a small classroom. A flat-screen in the top corner of the room. No windows. Just a pile of nonsense documents on a small desk. I leaned against the navy blue walls under the one flickering orange light.

I heard the others outside the room.

"Darien?" I heard. "You’re still here?”

It was Casper. She hooked onto the door frame and held out her hand. Her hand felt like that of an older brother's. Or from what I know about older brothers. Her skin is a bit darker than my almond skin. She has broad shoulders and clothes that draped over her figure. And dwarfs me with her height.

“I wanted to help clean up,” I said.

“Okay. I’m gonna head out now.”

"Isn’t it raining?”

"I got an umbrella. Not for the bike, but it's something.”

Though I didn’t want to, I followed her back into the dining area.

We sat near the front counter. Casper took her red Salvatore's Pasta and Bread cap and tossed it in the middle of the table.

Mr. Hollenstein emerged from the kitchen and stood under the dim light behind the counter. He was our boss—a former army man who gained a few pounds and seemed to have gotten shorter. His skin is always rosy and his hair is graying, shaggy, and falls to his ears.

He slammed his fist into the countertop and pointed to us. "Casper, ready to go? One last delivery then you can go home for the night. 103 Relic Road."

"I know." Casper rolled her eyes. “Do you have to keep telling me?

He was less of a boss and more of an uncle. Just another out of the eight I already had.

Another employee named Alex set two black and green pizza boxes on the counter. He was tall, with a black and blue ponytail, and spoke with a slight Italian accent. "Sorry, I didn't think people ordered this late. Maybe we should change the hours again."

"You don't fix what isn't broken,” Hollenstein said.

“Whatever. At least we’ve successfully attracted all the weirdos.”

“Just in time for summer. Didn’t think we’d make it this far.”

Casper lumbered over to the counter and held one of the pizza boxes. She looked inside. "What is this? A buffet pizza?"

"He said he wanted everything except garlic," Alex explained. "I just did what he asked."

"Whatever. I’ll make it quick."

“Can I go too, Mr. H?” I asked.

He snickered. “You’re still here? Trying to make the last day count?”

I shrugged. “I just thought it sounded fun.”

“You know I can’t pay you for that, right?”

I nodded and carried on.

We started through the kitchen, where the few cooks we had hung up their aprons, and left out the back door. Fog stuffed the air and stuck to my hands. Our motorcycles were parked beside each other alongside the restaurant. They were both lime green with black handles and a giant box on the back of it that read the restaurant’s name.

She flipped open the top and placed the boxes inside. At least the pizza won’t get sick.

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to, you know,” she reminded me as she buckled her helmet.

“I want to go,” I said.

“It’s really dark out.”

“I know.”

We got on our bikes and left the back parking lot. Our bikes vibrated from the gravel scattered across the road. After riding through the streets of downtown Caedispear, where the shops and cafés still resembled how they did a hundred years ago, we took a back road. Peach blossom trees caved in on the dirt path. The pool of soft golden light left behind us. Ahead, only murky teal skies.

The thing is… I didn’t actually know where we were going. I just followed Casper’s every move.

Eventually we reached a narrow, dirt road with a single, two story house sitting by the shallow woods. Its orange porch lights were the only thing guiding us.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Casper's bike braked. Mine hit the back of hers. Rocks poked at the wheels and stopped them from turning. Drizzling turned to a shower. The water seeped through our caps. Ahead, just a mass of fog plaguing our sight.

"Are we out of gas?" I asked, most of it drowned out by thunder.

"No, we're just stuck," she said. "There's a lot of mud here. At least we're here. Maybe they can help."

Her bike trembled and so did mine. I jumped off and splashed in the muddy water. I couldn't lift my leg to walk from the thick mud doming my shoes. The thunder crashed against the sky. My breathing was erratic. I was drenched from head to toe.

Something nuzzled against my ankle. I looked down to find something I only saw in pictures and movies: a grown fox. Their red fur was covered in dirt and flattened by the rain. I could only stand there, not moving a muscle. Casper jumped off her bike and hid behind it.

"C-Casper," I hissed. “Help me!”

"What do you want me to do?" she snapped under her breath.

“Rev your bike or something.”

“I’m not wasting any gas.”

I scanned the ground for a stick and found a thin branch. I stuck it in the mud at the bike wheels. No luck, but the fox backed away. They whimpered as I stabbed the air by their legs. I took a deep breath... then sprinted after it into the nearby forest.

I ignored the twigs and leaves brushing against my skin—I just wanted the fox gone. The grass grew taller the further I ran.

Splash! My foot was submerged in water.

I looked down, and saw I was ankle deep in black pond water. Everything fell quiet.

I panted, and looked around for the fox, but she was gone.

"Where'd you go?" I whispered.

I noticed the water rippling ahead.

The fox! They swam in the murky water, covered in vines and leaves. Water spilled from her gaping mouth as she cleared her lungs. After another thunder crash and shriek, her head dipped below the surface. I felt my eyes heat up, though I didn’t know why. It happened so quickly.

I gripped the stick in my hand. It was long enough to reach out. But foxes can swim, can't they? Why didn't this one?

I waved the stick through the pond, feeling around for fur or a paw or something.

“Sorry,” I whispered.

“Darien!” Casper called through the storm. “Come on! It's pouring out here!”

I blinked tears away and trudged back to my bike.

Casper checked if her wheels moved in the sludge.

“Nevermind.” She sucked her teeth and swiped the pizza boxes from the back.

Mini lights decorated the short, stone path to the porch. Casper banged her irritation on the door, every waiting second doubling the endless night.

The door opened and behind it was a teenager about my age. A mess of inky hair veiled their face and big maroon eyes that were barely visible. He was cloaked in a black hoodie.

"Good evening," Casper greeted. “Drexel?”

He sighed in relief. “That’s me. Thank you. I’m starving.”

He stepped out of the house some more and called, "Lady! Lady! Food's here! Come on, Lady!"

Casper and I glanced at each other.

He turned to us. "Did you see a red fox? With black and white fur on her tail? She had some gray fur on her neck, too."

"Sorry, we didn't," Casper said.

"Dangit. She probably ran in the backyard. Thanks, anyway.”

He yanked a ten dollar bill from his pocket and handed it to her. Casper’s lips curled.

“I like your name,” I said.

He glared at me, his droning red eyes reading into mine. His fingernails ripped into the pizza box like claws.

“Sorry about your fox,” I said. “She must've ran off.”

“Probably couldn't eat it anyway,” he spat. “Bye bye! Goodnight!”

"Enjoy you—”

He whisked himself inside and slammed the door shut. Casper and I shuddered our way back to our bikes.

He must've known. Maybe he saw me chasing his fox into the forest from the window and gave me what I deserved. I didn’t want to see them cry their eyes out over a pet, but maybe that was better than lying about it.

“Wait,” I said. “We forgot to ask for help.”

“We’ll just have to get them unstuck ourselves and ride back,” Casper sighed.

With the rain loosening the mud from the wheels, Casper’s bike was free with a nudge. And with a little elbow grease, so was mine. We hopped on and drove back down the dirt street, eventually fading to the paved road.

Passing downtown, I glanced at the few people sitting around parked cars, listening to music out loud and eating. All talking with each other, laughing, and nodding along to the beat. I didn't know them or what they were laughing about.

I didn't know Drexel either. So why would I know what ticked him off? I had nothing to do with it, probably. I had nothing to do with it. But that stupid fox. Maybe the endless downpour got to me. Or was it something else that finally got to me. Whatever it was, I was going to pay the pr—

“Darien, pay attention!”

I was drifting against the line of parked cars hugging the sidewalk. I served back into the lane.

“Sorry!” I gasped. “Sorry…”

* ・○・●・○・●

Everything went how it usually did. We parked our bikes behind the restaurant and said goodnight to the others—with an extra goodbye from me.

I gave Mr. Hollenstein and Alex a big hug before I parted from Salvatore’s for good.

Then I walked back home.

The three, brick apartment buildings stood around a huge, square parking lot, one of them being Court Hall.

Once inside, I wandered up three flights of stairs and finally met the small white lounge with five doors.

The keys slipped from my fingers about three times before I walked inside Apartment 10.