We turned into the town plaza. It gave me a bit of indigestion, but I ignored it by racking my brain with the possibilities of what we would be getting for lunch. There's always pizza! It was a staple for moving.

And we passed the pizzeria.

Right! Our greasy hands would get all over everything. Good foresight, Jaynee. Avoiding any couch on toes with a good ol’ sandwich!

My eyes stayed on the shop as we passed it too.

The other options would be a hassle, especially going to the store. It would mean using Remington's dishes, and the cleanup would take time. Which leaves only one other option that brought back my upset stomach.

"Jaynee," I called out cautiously. "Where are we going?"

"Villa's, of course! Estelle saved us some empanadas,” she sang.

I stopped in my tracks. No Siree Bob. Despite how delicious and savory mi tío's empanadas were, this was not a happy tune for me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move. I jumped back in case it was the shadow again. However, I found it was too colorful of a blur. I relaxed after I saw it was only Remington.

After they caught their balance, they gave a little laugh at their own expense. "Sorry. I didn’t notice ya stopped."

"What's the hold up?" Jaynee called out.

Excuse me? I bite down my anger. "You know exactly what the hold up is. I'm not going into Villa's!"

Jaynee gave a bit of a pout. "It's pickup. We'll be in, out, and done."

I knew she meant well, but I wished she wouldn't take this as a fear that needed to be faced and conquered. I shook my head. "Not with the line out the door. The staff will be busy serving and cleaning. We'll have to wait off to the side. I'll be alone with my thoughts, and I'll think about Papa, then bam! Here comes the tears, because I'm a big cry baby!"

Jaynee's hand found her hip. "You're not a cry baby. Stop letting what your ex said get to you."

"You're my ex too, and I respect you."

She rolled her eyes at this, which made me laugh through the pain. "That doesn't count. We ‘dated’,” she quoted the air, “in high school so people would stop asking us out!" Jaynee waved her free hand quickly. "You're distracting me! Where are you going to be waiting?"

I spotted the only bench open in the whole plaza. I realized that it was a bit far from the restaurant. "Over there," I pointed. "I'll keep an eye out for you, so you don't have to walk so far."

After she nodded, I went over to the bench. I knew this was what I wanted, but I felt guilty letting her go in there alone. Hopefully her equally stubborn sister was nearby to find her a seat.

"Care if I join ya?" I glanced up to Remington. They immediately looked off to the side. "I seem to have become both Georgie's and now Jaynee's watchdog today."

"What kind of dog?"

At first, the question seemed to offend Remington, but soon they tilted their head in consideration. "Um, I dunno. I'm more of a cat person."

Remington looked around. Instead of sitting by me, they went to one of the pumpkin sculptures nearby. I did a sniff check on my oversized flannel. I may have left it in the washer a little too long.

"Georgie is a golden retriever though," Remington said with a smile.

"Is he? I've never met him before."

Their face went from confusion to disgust. I'm picking up real quick that Remington wouldn't be able to hide their true feelings. "Calabaza ain't that big of a place. You're sayin' you don't know Georgie Clarkson? Him and his parents are the only dentists 'round here."

"Oh. He's that Georgie." I crossed my arms and mumbled, "I didn't wanna assume."

Speaking of living in a small town, I glanced over to Remington. I've lived here all my life, and my family knew most everyone due to the restaurant. Yet, I don't think I've ever met Remington before, let alone seen them. Maybe they moved here recently. Jaynee never mentioned Georgie having a roommate, so it was possible. But she also never really talked about him in the first place…

Remington shook their head. Their hair bouncing around reminded me of a Chow Chow's. What would I be? I groaned as the image appeared clearly in my mind, "A Rottweiler with anxiety."

"What?"

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

My eyes grew wide. I covered my mouth. "Sorry. I was still stuck on the dog question. You're not a Rottweiler. I was thinking what I was, and..."

"It's alright," Remington gently held up a hand to stop my rambling. "I've been there too."

I wish I could restart today. "Hey, I'm sorry for pushing you earlier. I don't know what happened."

"Sounds like yer going through it."

"Something like that," I said through gritted teeth. "And, before I embarrass myself anymore today, what are your pronouns? I default to they when I don't know."

Remington smirked. "You know, I see that Rottweiler."

I dryly laughed. Great. They'll see me as some lost puppy anytime we're around each other.

"For now, they/them is preferred, but he is alright too. And she. I'm still trying to figure it out."

I've been there too, being trans. It was a confusing time when you're finding out who you are. "It takes time. Baby steps," I tried offering comfort.

They softly smiled. Then, they begun to blink rapidly. "Speakin' of embarrassin', what's your name? I don't think we've met before."

Ah! They noticed it too! I waved my hands around in excitement. "I'm Tetsuo. I use he/him."

Mama helped me pick out my chosen name. She based it on her favorite superhero but kept the Japanese theme going. I'm not sure I'll ever live up to the name, but it does make me happy.

"Nice to meet ya, Tetsuo."

"You too."

I looked back over to the restaurant. The line had yet to move. It made my heart go out to Estelle. She's been a manager there for years now, but she hates it. I didn't know why she didn’t try finding a new job. Fernando offered her a position at the orchid, but she refused to take her father's help. She wanted to make her own way through life. That's something Papa wanted for me too. I was going to go into the family business when…

"I used to work at Villa's," Remington's voice cut through my thoughts.

This revelation confused me more. I've been introduced to everyone at the restaurant, even now. "Really? I don't remember seeing you there before."

They yanked their thumb back. It reminded me to check for Jaynee. She wasn't out yet. "Probably because I was a dishwasher in the back. Only worked there for a year or so." They took a moment to think. "That was eight years ago. Then, one of the owners approached me and said…"

"Escúchame bien lo que te voy a decir."

My chest tightened at the sound of the voice. It couldn’t be. Papa was… As I turned to see who said the phrase, one I have heard so many times before, there was my father. He stood there with his arms crossed. It was the stance he took to let you know he was being serious. My heart dropped. It has been two years since I’ve seen him. It was him, but something about it seemed more like a memory being replayed rather than actually him.

"You don’t belong in the kitchen. Not that I won’t have you, but you should find your own path."

"Ain't he dead?" Remington whispered loudly.

I frowned deeply. I turned to them, my arms flung toward Papa. "Oh, you can see him but not the shadow ghost?"

Remington glared in return. They gestured their own hands in the same direction. "I can see both now, if that makes some difference."

Both? I slowly looked back. The shadow towered over Papa. At least it was far enough back that the acid wasn't falling on him. Or is it going through him? It was pretty difficult for me to tell when I'm being emotionally damaged over here.

The shade's head flopped forward, as if it was adjusting itself to look at me. “Say goodbye.”

I didn't understand, nor did I have time to put the puzzle pieces together. The shade raised its hand up. Claws shot out of the fingertips. Those empty eyes now on Papa.

No! I couldn't lose him again!

I stood up with my hand out. Please, magic. This one time, please work without delay. One good shot is all I needed to save him. Energy began to gather in my palm.

“Stop!”

Remington lifted my arm up into the air. The magic blasted up into the sky. I quickly yanked my arm away. “What are you doing? I could have saved him!”

“I'm not takin' the chance for you to hurt them!”

I looked back to where Papa and the shadow stood. In their place was Jaynee and Estelle. “When did... Where is Papa?”

Remington shrugged in response, seemingly as shocked as I was.

"What are you doing?" Jaynee asked.

I was about to reply when I noticed her attention was on Estelle, who's kicking at the ground. It was always odd to see her in uniform. Blue was not her color, and her hair up tight in a bun always gave her headaches at the end of the day. "There's some weird energy here. Well, there was. It’s gone now." She looked over to me. "Did you see it?"

I threw my arms up in the air. Finally, a fellow witch to talk about this to. "Yes! This is the second time today. This weird shadow thing was about to attack Papa." I pointed over to Remington. "They saw it this time too! I'm not crazy."

"Oh, are you a witch?" Estelle asked. "There's not many of us left in Calabaza."

Remington shook their head. "No. I'm human as human can be."

That didn't make any sense. I held my head in confusion. "What if this keeps happening while we're moving Georgie in too? I'm already scared of dropping the couch on his foot! I didn't want to end up destroying the apartment. Think about the deposit!"

At this, Jaynee held up her phone. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that anymore. We were texting back and forth, and we decided we're going to use the local movers. It would help my leg and be less stress on Georgie."

"I can go home?" I asked nearly in tears.

"Don't you want to hangout?" Jaynee frowned.

Guilt made me rub my hands together. Luckily, I got to hide my shame in a surprise hug from Estelle. I couldn't help but smile as I gave one in return. She was like chai on a winter's day. "Hola, Estelle."

"Hola, Tsuo." She leaned back, poking at my collar bone. "I think you should go home. Whatever that was has your magic frequency bouncing everywhere."

I stepped back to look for myself. I had to concentrate to actually see it. Estelle comes from a powerful line of witches, so despite her not using magic, she could easily sense it.

My eyes darted every which way trying to follow the magical line. It was like the old computer screensaver with those 3D pipes bouncing everywhere. "What's wrong with it?"

She shrugged. "I can ask Dad later, but you know he'll ignore my question. He always does when it comes to magic."

I turned to Jaynee with an apologetic look. She dismissed it with her hand. "Go home. We can hang out later. Your magical wellbeing or whatever is more important."

That didn't make me feel any less guilty. After saying our goodbyes, I started home. I watched my frequency, trying to figure out what might be going on. It wasn't something I could simply go to the doctor for.

As I stepped out of the plaza, my frequency absorbed back into my chest, returning to the calm form it should be; a faint glow radiating above my soul. My hands go up in frustration. This was future Tetsuo's problem now.