Don't Eat the Girl Scout Cookies: Pt 1

Don’t eat the girl scout cookies…

``````It is a cold, October morning. Big surprise. Most mornings in October are cold. But this morning is different. The wind creaks through the trees, under the door cracks, into the house. Nothing is impregnable; everything is fair game. The wind chills all. This is different than most October mornings, you see.
         I wake to the screeching of my alarm. Damned thing. I hate it.
         I am coverless and frozen stiff. I’m a restless sleeper. I kick the covers off a lot when I sleep.
         It is late. Ten thirty. Why does my alarm go off at ten thirty you ask? Well, I work the night shift- or “graveyard shift” many call it- at this gas station. Yeah. I’m the only one there, staring into the glare on the windowpane, waiting for a ghostly customer to wander through on some trip.
         I roll out of bed and slip on some comfy sweats. I have stuff to do, homework to complete, food to prepare, and I’m late.
         I walk into the kitchen. A small box rests on the table. I scratch my head. What is it?
         I pick it up. It’s a box of girl scout cookies.

```````I stared at the windowpane, star94 fuzzy and in the background. My shoulder twitched to some upbeat song. I’m nodding off.
         The jingle of the door- there is a bell attached that jingles whenever the door is opened- startled me. I jolted upright on my stool. The little green numbers on my digital watch told me it was 3:46 am. Lovely. The lone customer wandered the aisles. It was a hooded figure, around four foot six. I rubbed my eyes. I could have been hallucinating.
         The customer pulled something off the shelf and tucked it under its arm. The figure made its way toward the counter. I tapped my fingers against the cool wooden counter to the rhythm of the song.
         The customer turned its hooded head to me. I saw that the figure was a child, a little girl. She smiled a lipless smile at me, large, wide eyes like oddly shaped teardrops. She placed a candy bar on the counter.
         I smiled in return. Where were her parents? “Is that all?” I asked out of courtesy. The child nodded.
         “59 cents, please.” I said, ringing up the candy bar, all the time looking over her shoulder or out the window for a guardian.
         The child dropped the dingy coins on the counter. She had exact change. I tore off the receipt and handed it to her.
         She turned and acted like she was going to leave. She stopped, motionless.
         At first, I was afraid that there was something outside, trapping her inside in terror.
         She turned back around. She approached the counter and asked in slow, pained English:
         “Do you vwant to buyee somet de giwl scout cookies, yah?”
         I couldn’t tell what her accent was, but it was unlike any I’d ever heard. “Pardon?” I asked. What did she say?
         “Do you wwwvant to buuy sum girwl scout cookies?”
         “Do I want to buy some girl scout cookies?” I asked for clarification.
         She vigorously nodded her head.
         “Uhm…well, technically, there is no solicitation at this gas station, so I can’t.”
         She cocked her head. “Do you wvant?”
         I rubbed my left eye. “No thanks.”
         She leaned on the counter, staring me down with her huge eyes. “Dese gud fo ya heawf, yah?”
         “Huh?” I asked.
         “Dese- da cookies son guud fo ya heeeeaawth.” She repeated slowly.
         I squinted. Did she just throw Spanish in there? “Hablas espanol, amiga?”
         She cocked her head. “Yah. I spveak evary  langu-age known to da man.”
         I frowned. “Really?”
         She smiled. “Yah.”
         I nodded. “I see.”
         “So, you wvant to buyee sum good cookies o nok?”
         I sighed. “I can’t buy any cookies.”
         “But zey son gud fo ya health!”
         I blinked. Girl scout cookies are good for my health? Who taught her that? “No, no thank you.”
         “No wvant to?”
         I shook my head firmly. “No.”
         She nodded once. She turned to go, but just like last time, paused and turned back around. She took a box out of her hoodie. She placed the package on the counter. “Dese are da cookies, yah? You wvant to tryee one?”
         I looked at the unlabelled and unmarked box. Could you trust a girl who spoke every language known to man? I shrugged. Why not?
         She smiled and opened the box. “Take vwun.”

``````I stare at the box of girl scout cookies. How did it get here?
         I know I did not bring it home from work with me. Did the girl follow me?
         How about the hot guy?

``````The door jingled and another figure vaulted through the doorway.
         “Nooo!” A male voice screamed.
         I looked up, startled by the figure, and dropped the cookie. This guy was not wearing his hood up, but he was clad in a hoodie and jeans like the girl.
         The girl was caught off guard. She stepped back and whisked away her box of cookies, leaving the one I touched.
         The guy, chest heaving, and the girl, eyes wide, had a stare down. The girl left the gas station.
         The guy faced me. “Sorry about that.”
         Huh? I was speechless. This guy was straight-up gorgeous. His brown eyes had a slim nose wedged between them and wavy brown bangs that flipped to his right. He smiled perfect teeth at me.
         I nodded. In a blink, he was gone. What just happened?

``````I open the box of cookies, half expecting the box to be filled with something other than cookies. It is a conglomeration of girl scout cookies. I reach for the thin mints. I love thin mints.
         I hear a series of tsks from the corner of my kitchen. I look over my shoulder. There, in my kitchen, is the hot guy from last night.
         He waltzes over to me and takes the thin mint. He sniffs it with his slim nose. In one bite, he stomachs it.
         “Hey!” I say.
         He smiles. “That one actually wasn’t poisoned.”
         I blink. “Poisoned?”
         He nods. “They’re all poisoned.” He lifts the box and sniffs them. “Okay, actually none of them are poisoned.”
         I quirk an eyebrow. Is he here to eat my mysterious girl scout cookies?
         He smiles his perfect, pointy teeth. “Raven usually poisons the cookies she gives to her potential victims.”
         “Victims?” I speak through a tight throat.
         He nods. “She likes to prey on the weak.”
         “I’m weak?”
         He nods again. “You’re human.”
         “And you’re not?”
         He frowns. “Really? Amanda, you didn’t notice?”
         He knows my name. And it sounds heavenly when he says it. “Maybe.” I reply.
         He places the box of cookies back on the table. “These are safe. You can eat them, but when Raven comes by with more, refuse them.”
         “Who are you?” I ask incredulously.
         He grins, showing pointy teeth. “Your guardian.”
         “My guardian? Like an angel?”
         He shrugs. “More or less.”
         “Well, you either are or aren’t an angel.”
         “Fine.” He says. “I’m Trevor, your demon.”
         I have a demon? “And why would I have or even need a demon?”
         He smiles. “To protect you.”
         “From?”
         “Everything.”
         “I thought that was the job of a guardian angel.”
         He smiles. “They don’t protect you from everything.”
         “Oh,” I say, “Of course not.”
         He smiles and leans against my kitchen counter.
         “Whoa! Time out!” I exclaim.
         He frowns. “What?”
         “What is going on!? I have a guardian demon now! And I’m being hunted by this Raven?! And you know my name and can get in my house!? I’m so confused!”
         He grins his razor teeth. “Relax. This is normal.”
         “Normal? Oh, yeah, Trevor, my friends and I talk about personal demons all the time.”
         He chuckles. “So dramatic…”
         I narrow my eyes. “Tell me what’s going on, guardian demon.”
         He takes in a deep breath. “I’m your assigned demon. I usually stay clear of you and your human world, but during the month of October, I have to be here around the clock. Evil spirits are the most prevalent during the Halloween month. Something about all  the praise of darkness…I don’t know. But when October ends, I’ll go back to the Cold Place, and you shouldn’t see me for another year. If you’re lucky, you won’t ever have to see me again.”
         I nod. “Okay…Trevor?”
         “Hhhm?”
         “I thought demons were bad…”
         He smiles. “We just use dark magic.”
         I bite my lip. “Huh?”
         “We…are kinda like the Sith.”
         “The Sith?”
         “Yeah, you know, Star Wars?”
         “No, no, I know what you’re talking about. Just the Sith use the dark side of the Force for their own personal gain and not for the goodness of others. I’m confused.”
         Trevor shrugs. “We do that, too.”
         I raise my eyebrows. “What?”
         “We use our dark magic for personal gain and for the goodness of others.”
         I nod. “Why?”
         “Why what?”
         “Why are you my guardian? Why are you a demon? Why is this whole thing happening?”
         He smiles. “Are you so quick to trust?”
         I frown. “Huh?”
         “So many questions…like you think I’m telling the truth… or are you just that eager to find an explanation for the things that don’t make sense?”
         “Aren’t you telling the truth?”
         He nods. “As an immortal being, I cannot lie.” He smiles. “Just kidding.” He shakes his head. “Seriously, I cannot lie.”
         “But you’re a demon…dark magic…bad…lying is right up your alley.”
         He cringes. “That’s just what the books and movies say, Amanda.”
         I blink. “I see.”
         He hoists himself up onto the counter. “You might want to get comfortable.”
         “Why?”
         “My story is long and I have a feeling I’ll have to explain way too much.”

``````“I was born a demon. Now, before you ask, yes, demons are actually born, just like you humans. I went to school to learn dark magic. Now, I’m in the master stage of dark magic. That’s kinda like going to college, I think. Once I master dark magic, I can become anything- a teacher, a full-time guardian, or go into politics. Yes, in the Cold Place, we have politics, too. And with regards to the Cold Place, it’s not what you think. The Cold Place is actually a world sandwiched between the immortal world and mortal world. Now, wait a minute, you say: I’m an immortal. True, but demons are most closely related to ghosts, so we live with them. What’s the difference, Trevor? Well, ghosts are more like angels; demons are more like humans. In both cases, we have human characteristics and use magic. In fact, when you speak of a ‘guardian angel,’ you’re referring to your guardian ghost. And we demons are not to be confused with the Demons- you know, Satan’s Demons. We are completely different, Amanda. Because we are different than the Demons, we have different values. We do not seek to destroy humans but protect them. We were created to glorify God, just like you humans. We are really the same as humans but immortal and have magical powers. Because we have magical powers and are actually descendants of ghosts and humans, we are the natural protectors of humans. Why do I protect you specifically? Well, I didn’t choose you. You just happened to be the first human I smelled. Huh? Well, demons and ghosts are assigned their humans according to the ‘interview,’ we call it in the Cold Place. Basically, when ghosts and demons come to Earth for the first time, we are experiencing new smells, sights, and sounds. Whichever sense is the strongest, is the sense by which we encounter our human. I happened to smell you first. And oh boy, do you smell so sweet! At first, I didn’t want to return home because I loved just smelling you. I know that sounds creepy, but you have no idea what it is like to never smell a human then smell you. It’s a doozy. I’m surprised no one else had claimed you yet, but you still had your parents protecting you. Nothing can harm you as long as you are under your parents’ protection. Funny how that works. But now, you’re not under your parents’ protection and you are open to evil. That’s why Raven was able to get so close to you. She almost resisted hunting you, but seeing as how she is a Demon and lives to tempt and lure humans and feed upon them…it was really only a matter of time before she decided to prey upon you. And now that she knows you’re guarded, she’ll have more trouble. Hopefully, she’ll lose interest.”

```````I blink. Wow.
         “Well?” Trevor asks.
         “Wow.”
         He smiles.
         “And to think…most people don’t even know demons and ghosts exist.”
         He shrugs. “It’s the mortal world. If immortality really did exist, well, if people knew it existed, avarice would become the leading cause of death.”
         I frown. “Huh?”
         “You achieve immortality when you die.”
         I nod. “Of course.”
         He grins. “Don’t die on me though.”
         I look up at him, confused. “Why would I kill myself just to become immortal?”
         He shrugs. “I don’t know.”
         I raise an eyebrow. “I thought you said you couldn’t lie.”
         He grins. “I don’t know yet.”
         “You can know my thoughts?”
         He shakes his head. “No.”
         “Then why would you think  that?”
         “I can…know you.”
         I frown. I don’t like the sound of that. “Huh?”
         Trevor studies his feet. “I can…I can do this…this thing. It’s a nifty trick ghosts have perfected to an instinct. For me, it’s still dark magic.”
         “What?”
         “I can…go inside a human and see what they are thinking and what their life is like. I can know you. Literally, everything about you is open to me when I do it.”
         I cringe. “Personal boundaries, buddy.”
         He smiles. “That’s why I’ve never gone inside you.”
         I shudder and stifle a giggle. “Does this magic trick have another name?”
         He cocks his head. “Yeah. It’s called self-mindsertion. It means to insert yourself into another’s mind. Why?”
         “Cuz ‘going inside you’ just sounds funny.”
         He rolls his eyes. “Lame human.”
         I laugh. “Don’t tell me that that doesn’t amuse you.”
         He shrugs. “Not really.”
         “Weirdo.” I say.
         “Me?” He asks. “You’re the mortal here!”
         I grin. “You make it sound like being mortal is a bad thing.”
         “It is! You mortals need so much tending to and protection. You are so weak in comparison to all the other creatures out there.”
         I shake my head. “Whatever.”
         “You don’t believe me?”
         I look at him. “Trevor, I just found out that I have a guardian demon. I might as well be hallucinating.”
         He cocks his head. “You’re not hallucinating.”
         I sigh. “I know. That’s what scares me.”
         He smiles and hops off the counter. He takes me in an embrace. “It’s okay, Amanda. I’ll protect you.”
         I nestle into his hoodie. It smells dusty. I’m so confused. My head hurts. I still have one million things to do, and I’m standing here hugging a demon. Life is weird sometimes.

```````“Trevor, I really need to start my chores. I have this list and I haven’t done anything yet…”
         Trevor lets me go and asks, “Do you need any help?”
         I smile. “Know how to clean a bathroom?”

``````Trevor grunts in frustration. “How do you humans do this?”
         “What?” I ask, walking into the bathroom. I have made my bed and straightened up my bedroom, thrown a load of laundry in the washing machine, and got dressed. Trevor is still struggling with cleaning the bathroom.
         Trevor is bent over the bathtub, scrubbing at the stains. He leans away from his work and grunts again. “Can I just magically clean it?”
         I blink. “You can do that?”
         He shrugs. “Sure. Why not?”
         I take him by the shoulders. “You didn’t bother mentioning that earlier?! We’ve had to do all these things by hand when you could do it in a breath?”
         He cocks his head. “Well, I don’t actually need air…the Cold Place doesn’t have an atmosphere; we don’t breath air.”
         I stare at him. “Technicalities, Trevor…The point was I don’t have to do this work?!”
         He smiles. “No, not really.”
         “Why didn’t you tell me?”
         “Well, I’m not supposed to use magic on Earth unless protecting you.”
         I cross my arms. “If anybody asks, the tub was trying to eat me. Raven bewitched it or something.”
         He chuckles. “Okay.” He takes the sponge and cleaner and sticks them back underneath my sink.

```````Trevor takes a step back from the bathtub and rubs his temples. I watch in fascination. Was he using magic telepathically? Trevor’s lips began to move so quickly that they became a blur, murmuring silent words. The tub glowed bright white then dimmed to a clean sparkle. I studied the tub. It looked as clean as a new tub. “Nifty.” I say.
         Trevor grins. “Yeah, I guess.”
         “It’s everyday stuff for you, huh?”
         He shrugs. “I’m used to magic if that’s what you mean.”
         I look up at him. “What were you saying? An incantation? A spell?”
         Trevor laughs. “No, our magic spells don’t need words. I was praying that it would work.”
         I laugh. “So how did you do it then?”
         He shrugs and points to his temple. “It’s all in my head.”
         I look at him. Was this all in my head, too?

````````I stroll into the kitchen. It was twelve and I hadn’t eaten any breakfast.
         “Hungry?” I ask Trevor.
         Trevor gives me a secret smile. “Amanda…”
         “Lemme guess, you don’t need food either.”
         His smile widens. “No, we need food, just not what you eat.”
         “What do you eat?”
         He turns away.
         “What?” I ask. Is it that weird? Is it worse than weird? Is it horrifying? “Come on,” I say, “You can tell me…it can’t be worse than blood.” He doesn’t turn back around. “Is it?”
         He eyes me. “Worse than blood?”
         I nod.
         He shrugs. “Guess not.”
         “Then what do you eat?!” I ask exasperated.
         “Each other.”
         So nonchalant. Like it’s normal. “WHAT?!”
         He grins. That was the reaction he was expecting. “When I say ‘each other,’ I mean Demons…not like Cold Place demons…the real Demons.”
         I stare at him.
         He shrugs. “They’re our natural enemies…They’re not more powerful than we are, and we’re pretty much equals except for the whole work for Satan thing.” He leans against the doorframe leading to the bedroom. “We hunt each other.”
         I blink. “Demon eat demon?”
         He smiles. “Pretty much.”
         I think about this. “What do ghosts eat? Or Angels?”
         “Ghosts,” He replies, “don’t need food, and Angels feast on whatever He has for them…Although, they may not need to eat either….You know, I don’t really know.”
         “But they don’t eat each other?”
         He shakes his head. “No, that’s a demon thing.”
         “Good to know…Wait.” I say, “I just had a brain blast. What about Raven? You said she preys off humans. She eats humans?”
         He turns away again.
         “Raven, a Demon, eats humans. Is that normal?”
         He sighs. “Demons’ usual prey is humans. They do eat humans, and seeing how we are meant to protect you earthlings, and also if we ate the same thing, competition would drive us to killing each other anyway, demons don’t eat humans.” He turns to me. “But if we’re desperate, we can eat humans.” He grins. “But not our own humans. That would defeat our purpose.”
         “What would happen if I died? Would you get a new human?”
         Trevor comes to my side. “You’re not going to die.”
         I look at him. “You don’t know that.”
         His jaw tightens. “Fine. You really wanna know? Well, when a demon or ghost loses his or her human, that demon or ghost is vaporized. It’s sort of like a package deal.”
         “Vaporized? That’s kinda like you get killed, too?”
         He nods. “Vaporization is how you kill a demon or ghost, so yeah, Amanda.”
         I clutch at my chest. Whoa. If I die, he dies. But what if… “What if you get…vaporized?”
         Trevor peers up at me through brown bangs. “You better hope you obtain a new guardian quickly. You’ll be an easy target and a sitting duck if a Demon comes around.”
         I shudder. Nice to know. I look up at him. “Well, then…let’s hope that this October won’t be our last.”
         He mimes picking up a glass. “Cheers.”

```````I make tacos. Tacos are delicious. Trevor wrinkles his nose at them. “What?” I ask, “Don’t like the smell of simmering taco meat?”
         Trevor shakes his head. “They smell like death.”
         I look at him. “Really? Like death?”
         He grins. “You know what I mean.”
         I raise an eyebrow. “I do?”
         He takes the spoon I’m using to stir the meat out of my hand and spoons a little of the taco meat into his mouth. I gasp. He shudders and spits out the taco meat into the trash can. “Nasty!” He exclaims.
         I shake my head. “You’re so wrong, and I thought you couldn’t eat human food.”
         He smiles. “I said we didn’t, not that we couldn’t. We could if we were that desperate. Honestly, I’d rather eat a human than human food if I wasn’t able to get my hands on a filthy Demon.”
         “Nice to know I don’t have to share.” I say, rolling my eyes. I continue making my tacos and get out a plate. Trevor watches me fill two taco shells with the meat and then sit down at the table that still has the box of girl scout cookies on it. He joins me at the table and sits across from me, determined to watch me eat.
         “So,” I say between mouthfuls of taco, “Tell me about the Cold Place. What’s it like?”

```````Trevor clears his throat. “Well, it’s a very flat stretch of land, literally placed in the space between Heaven and Hell and Earth. It has no sun or moon or stars; that makes it very cold- hence why it is called the Cold Place. We do have light- we use magic to light fires and candles and stuff- very Dark Ages, literally.” He chuckles at his silly pun and I smile. He continues, “The city- it’s a city, you know- is divided into three sections. The downtown, the midtown, and the outskirts. In the downtown are your usual municipal buildings as well as the residential area for masters of dark magic. In the midtown is where the majority of the immortals live. In the outskirts, we go to school and practice our magic and learn how to hunt.”
         I swallow my last bite of taco. “Where do you hunt?”
         He shrugs. “Wherever we can find Demons…or humans if there are no Demons in the neighborhood, but a demon hasn’t eaten a human in years.”
         “Cool…Think I could ever visit the Cold Place?”
         He leans across the table and looks me in the eye. “Amanda, you better never leave Earth unless you’re dead.”
         I jump back in surprise. “Why can’t I go?”
         “You’re human!”
         “So?!”
         “You would die! We don’t have human food or air or anything that humans need to live! Humans are meant to live and stay and die on Earth. Mortals wouldn’t last one minute in the Immortal Zone.”
         “Immortal Zone?”
         “Yeah- Heaven, Hell, and the In-Between Place.”
         “In-Between Place?”
         He sighs. “It’s the same thing as the Cold Place.”
         I nod. “I see.”
         He takes my hand. “Amanda, it’s nothing disrespectful toward humans, but honestly, if you were meant to live in an environment like the In-Between Place, you would. But you don’t and are not meant to.”
         I nod. “I understand. Just…I wanna know what it’s like, being immortal, the Cold Place, eating Demons, not having to breath air…It’s all so weird and unfamiliar to me, Trevor, and I’m a very curious person.”
         Trevor smiles. “That’s why you need extra protection now that you’re not under your parents’ guidance.”
         I grin. “The only downside and perk to graduating from high school and going to college: ditching your parents.”
         Trevor leans back in the wooden chair. “Pretty much.”

```````“When did you meet me?” I ask Trevor.
         He cocks his head. “What do you mean?”
         “When did you meet me…er, choose me to protect?” I shrug. “When did you first smell me?”
         He smiles. “A couple of years ago, when you were about eighteen.”
         I count back. That was four years ago. I shudder. It’s like having a stalker. Creepy. I study Trevor. “How old are you?”
         He smiles. “I knew you’d ask me eventually. I’m technically twenty-six.”
         “Un-technically?”
         “Twenty-two.”
         I frown. “How does that work?”
         He grins. “It’s actually kind of cool. We have this magic spell where we “shed” our exterior skin to produce our forever age. Every birthday, we go through this shedding to remake our exterior.”
         I look at him. “Do ghosts age?”
         He shakes his head. “Ghosts age until they master dark magic. Once they master it, they perform the most difficult spell: the Transformation Spell. They transform their quazi-solid beings to all non-solids. They become the type of ghosts that are shown in the movies, misty, vapor-like hazy clouds. You know what I’m talking about.”
         I blink. “Yeah, I know.” I’ve seen movies with ghosts in them. Who hasn’t?

```````I stand up and take my dishes to the sink. I gaze out the little window. My apartment is on the tenth floor. I see the parking lot ten stories below.
         “What are you looking for?” Trevor asks, coming to my side, eager to find whatever I was searching for.
         I turn back to the table. “Nothing. Just the parking lot.”
         He nods. “Anything fascinating?”
         I shake my head, studying the table. “Nope.”
         I focus on the girl scout cookies. I frown. “Trevor?”
         “Hm?” He responds.
         “Why did you eat that cookie? The thin mint?” I turn to him. “You said human food is nasty.”
         He closes his eyes, a small smile playing on his curved lips. “Ah.” He says, eyes still closed. “So observant, you are.”
         I lean inquisitively toward him.
         He takes in a deep breath. “Cookies…so sweet, so delicious, so hard to resist.”
         I fight back a giggle.
         He opens his eyes and looks at me. “Amanda, what do you know about cookies?”
         Puzzled, I respond, “Well, I believe they’re actually German…some baker made these little ‘cookies’ to test the heat of the ovens…er, something like that, right?”
         He smiles. “Human compensation amuses me.”
         “Why?”
         His smile widens. “Cookies are Demon ways of tempting humans and demons, to lure them into submission then attack. They are darkly magical.”
         I stare into his deep brown eyes as he says this. Man, this demon is cute. His brown eyes light up as he speaks and are framed by beautiful lashes. Darkly magical…
         “So cookies affect demons and humans?”
         He nods. “Demons like to eat them, too…sort of as…a formality. The whole ‘monkey see, monkey do’ theory applies here. If someone sees someone else take part in something and enjoy it, then they want to enjoy it as well…They are basically playing off their greed, and it works like a charm. Plus, humans find them delightful.”
         “Who makes them?”
         “The Demons do.” He says, “And the cookies they make are so heavenly…I’m serious.”
         “Better than human cookies?”
         His eyes widen. “Oh, yeah!”
         Clearly, he is in love with these cookies.
         He smiles. “Humans make pretty good renditions…especially their white chocolate macadamia nut cookies…They are pretty good imitations of Demon cookies.”
         “I never would have guessed that cookies are a Demon invention.”
         He shrugs. “Demons specialize in temptation…Would you expect any less?”
         I smile at him. “No, I guess not.” I keep smiling at him. Is having a demon guardian lucky?

``````Trevor zaps the dishes clean with his mental dark magic powers. “What else do you need to do before work?”
         I look at him. “I go to work at eleven, Trevor.”
         He blinks. “It’s one o’clock. You have ten hours. What could possibly fill up all that time?”
         “Don’t you know? For being my guardian, you should know what I’m doing at all times, right?”
         He shakes his head. “Bordering on stalkerish, Amanda.”
         I stop moving around the kitchen, tidying up little things here and there. “You’re so odd, Trevor. You are so…You don’t fit in with this world, but at the same time, you could be human.”
         He grins. “That’s pretty much the definition of ‘demon.’”
         “Guardian demon,” I correct him, “So why don’t you know what I do?”
         He smiles. “I do watch you, but from the corner of my eye. If anything blips on my radar, seems out of place, I pay more attention. I respect personal space, Amanda.”
         I nod. How polite. “Well, I usually have to do all this housework by hand, but with you zapping things clean and whatnot I will probably have some extra time. If you help me finish my chores, I’ll show you a little more of Earth.” I grin, “I’ll humanize you.”
         He raises an eyebrow. “Deal.”
         “Let’s tackle the laundry first.” I say and head off to my washing machine and dryer. “Why wash and dry separately, when you can do it all at once?”
         Trevor grins. “Indeed, how do you humans survive?”

````````I pick up a basket of my laundry and place it on my washing machine. “Okay, these clothes are dirty; the ones in the washing machine are wet; and the ones in the dryer need to be hung up. I can hang up the dry clothes while you clean the dirty ones…and just put the wet ones in the dryer. Trevor looks at the mess around me. I bend over to retrieve the wet clothes. When I open the door, it is empty. “What…?”
         I stand back up and look at Trevor. He is leaning against the wall, nonchalantly studying me. “Did you just magically clean, dry, and hang up all those clothes?”
         He grins. “Yeah.”
         I roll my eyes. “Show off.”
         He shrugs. “I’m still a guy.” He puts his hands in his jeans pockets. “What else do I need to magically do?”
         I bite my lip. Indeed: what else could keep him busy? “Well, I think that’s it. I guess we can explore Earth.”
         “Really?” He asks. “Sheesh, you humans don’t do much.”
         I look at him. “Usually we have to do everything without magic. Ever tried living without magic, Trevor?”
         He frowns, pretending to remember the nonexistent memories. “Nope.” He replies.
         I laugh and roll my eyes. Trevor heads to the door. “Hold on.” I say.
         He turns back around. “What?”
         “Hoodie and jeans and tennis shoes?” I ask, motioning to his attire. “If you’re gonna see Earth, you’re gonna need better clothes. We’re not in downtown New York City.”
         His eyes brighten. “Can we go there? I’ve heard it’s a great city.”
         “Well, I’ve never been…I wanna go someday.”
         “Oh…” He says.
         “Anyway, back to the topic of your wardrobe. What else do you have?”
         Trevor frowns. “This is all we wear: hoodie, jeans, and tennis shoes.”
         “All of you? All the time?”
         He nods. “Yeah, actually.”
         “Can’t you just magically make yourself new clothes?”
         He frowns. “I don’t know any clothes-making spells.”
         “Don’t they exist?”
         He looks at me. “When we only need one outfit, why bother with a clothes-making spell?”
         “Well, where’d you get the clothes from?”
         He smiles sheepishly. “Earth.”
         I blink. “No way.” I say. I begin laughing. How ironic.
         He nods. “Can’t lie.”
         “Well, then, we are going shopping for a new wardrobe.”
         He wrinkles his nose in disgust. “Shopping is for females.”
         I shake my head. “Who tells you all these things about Earth?”
         “Well, these are things I’ve heard from friends or mentors.”
         I nod. “I see. But how many of them had me as their human? I only go shopping if new clothes are absolutely needed.” I look him up and down, “And in your case, they are much needed.”
         “Hey!” He exclaims. “I have no problem with my attire.”
         I purse my lips. “Trevor, I have a feeling you’re going to be hanging around Earth for a while, and if you’re going to do that, you are going to need other clothes. When people wear the same clothes again and again around here, people get suspicious. And you really don’t want humans sniffing around, do you?”
         He chuckles. “Amanda, you act like I don’t know these things.”
         I roll my eyes. “You act like you don’t.”
         He shrugs. “Relax, human. Everything is under control.”
         I look toward the kitchen for my keys. “Uh-huh,” I say. I approach the table and move over the box of cookies in search of my keys.
         “What are you looking for, Amanda?” Trevor asks me.
         “My keys.” I murmur. I look under a pile of junk mail. Where are they?
         Trevor jingles something in his hand. I look up. He is holding my keys.
         “Where did you find them?” I ask.
         He grins. “They were on the table.”
         I sigh and shake my head. “Alright, let’s go. Can you unlock the door?”
         He turns to the door. “It’s already unlocked.”
         I freeze. “What?”
         “I said the door is already unlocked.”
         I blink. The girl scout cookies. “Did Raven walk into my apartment and put those cookies on the table?”
         Trevor gives me a small sad smile. “Yeah…she nearly killed you.”
         “What?”
         “She was inches from you when I came and scared her off. You were asleep obviously. I guess she had already placed the cookies on the table. Otherwise, I would have eaten them- or gotten rid of them, depending on if they were poisoned or not. I was sticking around till you woke up just to make sure she didn’t come back.”
         I blink. “You didn’t mean to stay.” He grimaces. “You weren’t even going to tell me about Raven. You weren’t going to mention that the door was unlocked either. You were just going to pretend that you had already unlocked it yourself.” I shake my head.
         Trevor sighs. “I may not be able to lie, but I can hide things. And as long as you ask me questions and pursue this curiosity, I won’t be able to hide things either.”
         I close my eyes. But he did stay and now he needs new clothes and I am going to drive him around and show him Earth and learn more about him and teach him what life is like being a mortal. “Alright, Trevor,” I open my eyes. “Let’s go.”
         Trevor seems to let out a breath- as if he’d held it. “Amanda.”
         I look at him. He looks like he’s in pain. Did I hurt him?
         He studies the floor. “I’m sorry.” He meets my gaze. “I wasn’t planning on…hiding things from you…it just kinda happened. I didn’t want to scare you.”
         I smile despite my sadness. “Trevor…you’re my guardian demon…That doesn’t sound scary to you? And you’re from some, some unheard of place where ghosts and other demons live. And on top of that, you are human protectors, who eat Demons and are in love with cookies- you don’t think this madness is frightening? Do I seem frightened by it?”
         Trevor swallows. “I don’t want to overload your system. Too much information at one time will drive you insane.”
         “The truth? The truth, Trevor? That’s not too much information. Heck, it should come first.” I say, “Especially when you cannot lie.”
         Trevor chews his lip. “Maybe I should go then. I can come back…tonight and keep an eye out for Raven.”
         I take a split second to think: this is the deciding moment. Walk away with split ends? Or bond over sales racks and check-out counters?
         “Wait!” I say.
         Trevor looks at me. “What?”
         “What if we did something else? Something less…” I search for the right word, “Less menial.”
         Trevor turns to face me completely. He seems interested. “Like what?”
         I smile and shrug. “I don’t know…Go for a drive…a walk…spend the afternoon…” I shut my mouth.
         Trevor’s gaze is piercing and studying me like an x-ray machine. He blinks, and the stare dissolves. “Maybe we should go shopping.” He says.
         I pause. “Okay, but you better not complain about it since that’s what you chose.”
         Trevor nods. “Wouldn’t dream of complaining.” I roll my eyes. “Lead the way,” He says.

```````Shopping requires money. Sadly. I cringe when I have to flash my credit card. We went to Target- because everyone loves Target- but it was no good. Everyone else in the world has decided to dress their demons, too. We hit the Mall of Georgia. It’s huge and also people-packed.
         I’m in Buford. Why bother driving elsewhere?
         We go to JCPenny’s and Macy’s. I steer Trevor clear of Hollister and Aeropostale. I hate the smells and loud music. Thank goodness I’m no longer a teen.
         I really can’t afford to spend my money buying somebody else clothes. I have to save it up to pay for my student loans. I’m about to start my sophomore year. I started off-term. That’s why I’m working at the Quik Trip. To work up some more money. So much cash from the parents.
         I’ve never shopped in the men’s department. It’s a strange land to me. I pretend I know what I’m doing for Trevor. I dig through the sales racks, trying to find his sizes. Since his clothes are tagless, I’m guessing. I pull a midnight blue collared shirt off the rack. It’s polo-style. I hold it up to him. It should work. I direct him back to the dressing room to try it on. He comes back with the shirt in his hands. It is too small. I sigh. I thought I had it.
         Trevor smiles and holds up a green-striped button-down shirt, seeking my approval. I shrug and tell him to go try it on. He comes back with the shirt half-done up, over a white t-shirt. Apparently, the t-shirt was underneath his hoodie. I nod at him. It fits.
         I tell him to keep looking for shirts and head off to shorts and jeans. I find khaki cargo shorts, jean shorts, black jeans, and blue jeans. I pull a couple of sizes for each. I go to the dressing room with ten pairs of shorts and pants in my arms. I pretend not to notice the sign that asked for customers to please limit our items to five. Screw it. Efficiency is important.
         “Trevor?” I ask hesitantly. All the dressing room doors were shut. I didn’t know if that meant that they were occupied or not. I didn’t want to peek under the doors either. How awkward to stumble across the wrong person.
         A door at the other end of the hall opened. Trevor emerged, new red polo shirt in hand. He waved at me. I hurried down the hall, struggling not to lose anything. I step into his room and drop the clothes on a chair. I give my mirror-appearance a once over, just to make sure I look half-human.
         “What did you get me?” Trevor asks.
         I turn to him.

```````The next thing I know is I’m lying on the floor. My head hurts. The bright lights dancing above my head are harsh. What happened?
         “Amanda?” Trevor asks me. He is leaning over me. His wavy bangs frame his face. “Are you okay?”
         I sit up. “What happened?” I ask him.
         Trevor laughs. “You fainted.”
         “I did what?” I look at him. Whoa. My head spins. “Never mind.” I add.
         Trevor grins. “Sorry,” he apologizes, “I probably should have warned you.”
         I smile and stand up. “It’s alright. I should have expected such a thing…I guess.”
         Trevor is about to tug the shirt in his hand over his head.
         “Wait.” I say.
         He looks at me. “What?”
         “May…May I…” I impishly grin out of embarrassment, “touch you?”
         He cocks his head. He blinks, as if he is mulling this over. He nods once. “Why not.”
         I step toward him and squint my eyes.

``````Seeing Trevor shirtless is stunning. He glows, for one.
         But his skin- flawless, the color of tanned, milky white chocolate, curved against the muscles underneath, taught, stretched across his frame, etched with pencil-thick lines like veins, tracing the muscles in his chest- I’ve never seen anything like it. His chest is not carved, like marble, but natural, moving with the character of his body, the character of an immortal. He is beyond model-gorgeous. He is simply heavenly. He doesn’t belong on Earth. These clothes are beneath him. Heck, the clothes that he wears don’t do him justice.
         I reach out my hand. I hesitate, as if he will burn me, or scar my mere human skin. I place my fingertips against his chest. It’s like dipping your fingers in water. My fingers melt into his skin, soft like velvet but abrasive like stone. My fingers are cooled by the touch. I press my palm down. My hand slides up over his chest. I can feel my stomach dropping and feet turning to jell-o. My knees wobble. My hand curves around his neck, and I am drawn toward him. It hurts to look at him, he is so bright now. My fingers feel the coolness of his wavy hair at the nape of his neck and my body touches his.

``````I am so wrapped up in him that I don’t realize he is calling my name.
         “Amanda…” He calls.
         I feel like I’m in a dream. How could he be real?
         “Amanda.”
         His face is right in front of mine. He has brown eyes, round like m&m’s, framed by long lashes. His lips are full and part at my name, sweetness pouring out of his mouth, his tongue sliding between his perfect teeth, telling me to stop. His cheekbones protrude enough to cast a slight shadow on his cheeks and chin. His warm brown cinnamon eyes close.