Chapter Text
You could say it all started when Mike asked you to hand out flyers for his show in Ocean Town. You weren’t sure if anyone in Beach City would be willing to drive that far for a garage show, but the balding man at the car wash took two, one for him, and one for his friend Amethyst. You thought about asking what kind of name Amethyst is, but you kept your mouth shut. It’s strange, though, how he stared at you when you first walked in. Like he’d seen a ghost.
“You all right?” You asked him, and he snapped out of it.
“I’m sorry, yeah, you look just like someone I used to know.” He smiled and took a flyer, leading to the aforementioned conversation.
Maybe Beach City wasn’t far enough. Maybe you should have moved across the country instead.
To be perfectly honest, it all started when you moved to this strange city in the first place.
Everyone told you it was irresponsible to leave home without finding a job first, but you didn’t feel like you had a choice. Everything reminded you of her. Everything brought back memories, the gas station, post office, even the bank. You needed a complete change of scenery. So you decided to move to the beach. It was only a few hours away, close enough that your parents could still visit if they absolutely wanted to, but far enough away to leave the memories behind. At least that’s what you told yourself.
You found it alarming, though, when you handed your resume to an overly enthusiastic, but also intimidating, man. “You’re human, right?” He asked.
When you gave him a puzzled look, he only chuckled and said, “The hair, I was just making sure.” When that didn’t wipe the look off your face, he added; “You’ll figure it out, living here.”
That wasn’t ominous or anything.
He gave you an offer on the spot. You didn’t even wait to hear back from the two restaurants you applied to because there was no job more glamorous than sweeping floors and cleaning bathrooms at a boardwalk arcade. Combined with the money you made trading your car in for a motorcycle, the pay would cover the cost of rent for your new apartment on the beach.
Maybe, between the new place, the new hair, and the new piercings, you might even convince yourself that you’ve changed.
~*~*~*~*~*~
You didn’t expect to work so hard. Your third week on the job, Mr. Smiley asked you to come in at 4 in the morning to do maintenance on all of the games before opening. You shouldn’t have mentioned your aptitude for technology in the interview. Apparently, that was grounds to make you work a technician’s job with minimum wage pay.
You almost forgot about Mike’s gig when you were heading out. You debated not going at all; you’d seen him play before, but not since you’d moved away, and he didn’t come all the way to the coast very often. Maybe it would force you to meet people.
You begrudgingly headed to the Big Donut for coffee. Fortunately, you tutored Lars in math for free, so you didn’t have to pay. Sadie wouldn’t have been happy about that, but she let Lars get away with whatever he wanted. You noticed three people standing by the drink coolers, one looking decidedly un-human, with literally purple skin, but you made a conscious effort not to stare.
While you were mixing sugar with your coffee, one of them approached you. “Approached” might be a strong word. The woman walked up to you and knocked over some cups. You hurried out of there as quickly as possible. You didn’t want to get involved.
But you remembered her cheeks turning bright blue, almost like she was blushing, and you wondered if her face felt warm too.
You choked back the mediocre coffee and took off.
The sun must have set while you were lost in your head. You thought about the people in the Big Donut for a while, the pale, taller girl in particular. She certainly didn’t look typical, or human at all really, but you couldn’t quite talk yourself out of finding her attractive. Maybe it had been rude to take off without saying anything.
Maybe you’d never see her again, and it wouldn’t matter anyway, so you just needed to stop thinking about it.
Then she looked at you on the highway. You smiled and left her behind at the light.
She blew by you, followed by the police, and you still spoke to her when she showed up at the show. She was dressed differently, no longer in an oversized jacket and jeans, but instead a turtleneck tunic and leggings. It was weird, but you were weirdly into it. She started the conversation by holding out her hand.
Why not? You went for it.
“How did you get your hair that color?” She asked, and you took note of her voice. She sounded a little bit nervous, but it was rich and pleasant.
“I just re-dyed it yesterday. It’s not usually this vibrant.” You smiled. “How do you color yours?”
She laughed. “My appearance is just a conscious manifestation of light.”
Clever. “I know how that is.”
She gave you a puzzled look. “By the way, I saved your planet and your species, and you’re welcome.”
You were pretty sure she wasn’t kidding, but you laughed all the same. You reached into your pocket and pulled out a receipt, writing your number on the back of it.
Maybe you should’ve changed your phone number since you’d moved? Now it was too late, and you were giving it out to people.
When she shuffled back to the rest of her group awkwardly, you wondered if you misread the situation. But the next time you glanced at her you caught her smiling.