ReBoot (MAC Security 4)

It’s small, only a few booths lining the wall of windows that look out onto the main road, along with a few tables scattered in between them and the counter. The counter has black leather stools that sit on silver colored poles, people digging into food and drinking coffee.

I swallow, hating that I’m in a new place. Livvy has been with me each time I come to town, and I feel safe with her, not that I don’t feel safe with Evan. It’s just… I don’t know him, and he makes me feel out of control of my own emotions.

My gaze swings from the booth to the door we walked in, wondering if I can run out of here and him not notice. My flight instincts are kicking in but my feet won’t move.

“Don’t look so scared,” he whispers in my ear. My gaze snaps up to his, seeing the sincerity in his eyes; I know he won’t hurt me but I can’t help the way I want to escape.

“I-I—”

“Sit down, eat some pie.” He shrugs.

I bite on my bottom lip, closing my eyes before scooting into the booth and placing my new boots next to me. “Okay.” I take a deep breath, willing myself to act normal and not make a fool out of myself again.

He sits opposite me, his eyes not moving from mine as he cocks his head to the side, watching me and waiting. I don’t know what he’s waiting for, but when two plates with pie and two glasses of milk are set in front of us, he finally looks away.

Picking up the fork with shaking hands, I break off a little pie and bring it to my mouth, moaning at the apple and blackberry fruits that are encased in sweet pastry.

“Good, huh?”

He’s already demolished half of his pie and is picking up his milk. His eyes close as he swallows and I can’t help but wonder if there’s something magical about the milk, so I pick mine up and take a small sip.

Wow. So milk and pie go together like peanut butter and jelly. You learn something new every day.

“So, Lexi… tell me about yourself.”

I swallow, the glass of milk suspended in midair. “I… erm... What?”

He chuckles, finishing the last of his pie. “This isn’t an interrogation, I just want to know more about you. I mean, we are going to be working at the community center together.”

I narrow my eyes, placing the glass down and looking down at the pie. “There’s not much to know.” I shrug. “You know I just got out of…” I look around, lowering my voice. “Prison.”

He lays his hands down flat on the table and I can’t help but stare at his long fingers, the way they drum softly on the white plastic that is covering the surface.

“There’s more to you than that, Lexi.”

I shake my head. “There really isn’t.”

“Hmmm.” I look back up at him, seeing something in his eyes that I can’t work out. “What about the tats?”

I look down at the ink on my arms, not really wanting to talk about me. “They’re nothing.”

“See.” He leans closer. “I don’t think that’s true.”

I bite my lip again as his scent washes over me, breathing in lungsful of air. “I got them while I was inside.” I pause, wondering how much I should say. “People think that when you’re inside that you can’t get a hold of anything, when it’s actually the opposite. There’s so much offered to you inside those walls. Drugs, tattoos, gangs, weapons. It’s the same as outside, only you’re trapped with it all in one place and not able to escape.”

I bring my gaze back up to his, waiting for him to say something but when he doesn’t, I continue, “The first one I got was this.” My fingers skim over the flower on my arm. “My gran… she loved flowers, it made me think of her.”

My throat closes up as I think of Gran and the flowers she tended to every day no matter how much pain she was in. They were her pride and joy.

“Do you still see her? Your gran?”

“No.” I shake my head, tears starting to form in my eyes and making him blurry. “She died while I was… inside.”

The air crackles with tension as we’re both silent. I feel exposed, like he can see everything with only one look in my eyes. I don’t like the feeling of not

being able to hide from someone. I became good at making myself invisible, but right now I feel like I’m naked.

I dip my gaze from his, needing a reprieve. I can’t stop the snort that breaks free as my eyes land on the writing that’s on his t-shirt. “Home is where the Wi-Fi is.”