Tempting

The text read:

Meet me in the alley

A foreign number, but not an unusual request. Though it was unexpected.

Very unexpected.

I lean my shoulder against the brick wall, folding my arms across my chest while watching an anxious person at work. He ruffles his dark hair, picks at the dirt beneath his fingernails, sighs, and walks in a circle unaware of my presence. He seems unsure of what to do with himself.

Behold the boy who will never grow up.

His back is against the wall. One foot sturdy on the ground and the other against the brick. The boy’s hand wanders to the back of his jeans, fingers slipping to the pocket and pulling out a lighter. It sets fire and then disappears. It sets fire, disappears. Sets fire, disappears.

It stops.

My eyes fall to the boy's, and his ominous, dark eyes are on me.

I have forgotten how to breathe.

“Annabelle?” he asks, cocking his head to the side. He looks unsure.

I shrink against the wall. “Hey,” I say, managing a half smile with effort.

He stares at me with his unblinking pools of black. Looking from my old sneakers, torn jeans and short sleeves; my face. He holds his soft gaze there for a moment before saying, “You’ve changed.”

“Have I?”

“It’s in your eyes.”

I consider him. He seems to be the same. The atmosphere around him remained awkward, and therefore intimidating to approach. His mysterious mood was held in his murky eyes; impossible to interpret.