___

  I really wish your familiar hadn’t gotten in the way tonight. But that’s okay, it means I’ll have to see you again. I had a good time tonight, sleep well. I replied before putting my phone on my end table again.

  I had a great time as well, I’ll text you tomorrow. Have a good night.

  I smiled as I got ready for bed.

  ___

  The next morning, as I left the apartment, something greeted me at the front door. Descending the stairs of the apartment, I could make out the fox on the other side of the glass doors where he was last night.

  As I approached slowly, he stood up, backing a way a little again. It sat a few steps away as the apartment door closed behind me.

  “Good morning,” I told it. “Are you here to walk me to school?” The fox blinked slowly, like a cat and then — it nodded. Clearly. The action couldn’t have been anything else. The fox had responded to my question. Or I was going crazy. Honestly, I was starting to think the latter was more likely at this point.

  I walked on, down the street towards the university, and when I glanced behind me, there it was, trotting along. After a few minutes, it sped up slightly and walked beside me instead. I almost wished it hadn’t. This had to look weird if anyone saw me with a fox that acted like a pet.

  For a moment, I wondered if it was legal to have a pet fox in the city. Even if it was, I doubted I could come up with a way to explain why the fox was following me to class.

  Clearing my throat and assuring myself that I must really be going insane, I decided to try something. Stopping on the sidewalk, the fox halted too, looking up at me expectantly.

  “Would you mind walking a bit behind me, or even on the other side of the street, if possible?” I hesitated for a moment and thought back to what Ryan had said about it possibly being a famliar, and continued. “I don’t mean to be rude, but it does look a bit odd for me to be walking down the street with a fox.”

  Again, the fox gave a curt nod before moving away from me, and even glancing around for cars before crossing the road. It sat on the sidewalk opposite of me now, waiting.

  I didn’t know what to think, so I kept on going, and sure enough, the fox kept up with me. I had to talk to Ryan about this, it was just too weird.

  Finally, I was approaching the school, and I knew there was no way it could come inside with me. So I cautiously ducked into an alley and motioned for the fox to join me. Again, I watched as it checked both ways before crossing the street. Fighting back the urge to laugh, I watched until it arrived at my feet, sat, and looked up at me.

  “So, um,” How does one talk to a fox? Or, I guess, a familiar? “I’m going to class now, and you can’t come in.” The fox flattened its ears and raised its lips in a snarl, obviously not happy with the situation. “It’s the rules,” I tried to reason. “You can’t, but look, it’s only a couple of hours and I’ll be back out, alright?” It lowered it’s lips, but it still looked upset somehow.

  It the nodded once quickly and I turned around and headed towards the school again. Looking behind me, I met the foxes eyes as it watched. I found myself worried for it, but what other choice did I have? Making it into class, thankfully with no animals following me, I decided to text Ryan. Maybe he would have some answers.

  The fox followed me to school this morning, and I swear it can understand me. I had to tell it to stay outside, or it would have followed me to class. This is so weird.

  A few minutes after class started, I felt my cell phone buzz. The teacher didn’t care about electronics in class, and we were covering something pretty easy today anyway, so I pulled out my phone and read his reply.

  Protective, like I said last night. At this rate, I won’t be able to kiss you after any date… Speaking of which, could we meet up again?

  I couldn’t help the grin that spread across my face. Ryan really did seem like a nice guy. But I also reminded myself that I had to be careful. Plus, I thought back to the other night, he had seemed arrogant the first night we met.

  Only if you answer a question first. I typed back. Quickly, my phone buzzed again, and I set it on silent now, in case it bothered the students next to me.

  Alright, I’m nervous now. Lol. What’s your question? I thought about whether asking him this over text was a good idea, but I had already started messaging him.

  Why did you act so different that first night? With the group? That self-assured cocky guy is not that same one I hung out with last night. I read it over a few times, trying to make it as clear as possible. Then hit send.

  It took him a few minutes to respond this time, and I wondered what he was doing. He had said he had to be up early. Maybe he was working?

  Well, that’s a bit hard to explain through text, but, the short version is, that’s not me. It’s a personality I put on when I’m out with the group. It’s how they know me, but they don’t know me.

  I immediately got another message.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  That made no sense, but I promise I can explain better in person. But only if you’re up for it, no pressure.

  Given the speed with which he had followed up the second message, I wondered if he was nervous about me too. So I guess I was going on a second date, I thought to myself. Tanya would love this.

  Okay, when and where? I knew I was taking a risk. That letting someone in to this part of my life wasn’t safe. But a small voice in the back of my head reminded me that he had done this spell too. That maybe he could help.

  Tired of the Buzz? How about I take you to a different restaurant, one that’s not half cafe? And what about this weekend, Saturday?

  A surprise restaurant? I texted back. Now I’m the one who’s nervous. Saturday’s fine, I work though, so I won’t be free until around 7pm… And would you be okay driving again?

  I tried to pay attention to class again as I waited for his reply that came a few minutes later.

  Perfect, I’ll be at your front door at 7pm. Don’t be nervous.

  Exiting the school after class, I didn’t have to look around much before spotting the orange fox across the street, waiting for me.

  As I approached I realized it didn’t look as dirty as the first time I had seen it. There were no mud or leaves caked to its fur now. I moved onto a side street so I could talk to it, hopefully without being seen. Just like before, it followed, sitting neatly at my feet.

  “You’re cleaner now, did you find some water or something?” It just stared up at me, blinking. Maybe I had imagined its responses this morning. “Okay, um—“ What was I going to say? “I’m headed to my work now, but, again, you won’t be able to come inside. Alright?” It looked at me but didn’t move or react in anyway. I had to be going crazy.

  Turning the corner, heading down the street again, I didn’t stop this time to see if it was following me. I just kept walking until I was a block away from the bakery. And as I crossed the street, I caught sight of orange to my right. My companion was sitting, tucked next to a car, watching me cross the road and enter the cafe.

  My shift went by quickly, and for the first time in a while I let myself be absorbed by the tasks. That, and the fact that I was worried my store manager was going to start thinking I wasn’t doing my job well enough. And there was no way I could afford to lose this job. There was a lull in customers, and Emma told me to take a quick break while she covered the front.

  Glad for the rest, I made myself a vanilla latte and went to the back. As I did, I glanced in the small mirror we keep over the back handwash sink. My hair was tied back still, but I looked — different. My cheeks were slightly red, which wasn’t unusual given the heat from the ovens, but I thought my eyes looked brighter. My hand rubbed over the grey on my wrist. I couldn’t believe it still hurt after all this time, especially to touch it.

  As I went to sit down I realized I would have to do the spell again tonight. I hadn’t done it last night after getting home from seeing Ryan.

  I chewed my bottom lip, worried now. Would it change anything? Did you have to be consistent? The one blog said to do it every couple days, so surely one night off wouldn’t do anything, right? Steadying my breaths, I sat back down to enjoy to latte, promising myself that I would do the spell tonight.

  The rest of my shift was pretty easy and I wasn’t on closing shift, so I got to skip doing the final cash out — which I was grateful for. For some reason, something always went wrong with the final total.

  But I grabbed my jacket as Alyx walked in for their shift. They were a little taller than myself, and had short blond hair with a streak of color that they changed often. I waved goodbye to both Emma and Alyx and opened the door to the cafe, smiling at the tinkling bells that rang out as I did.

  Letting my mind wander as I headed back to the apartment, I suppose I hadn’t been paying attention to where I was going. Stepping off a curb, I felt my ankle twist and I fell onto the street, and suddenly it wasn’t only my ankle that was in pain. My side and wrist burned immensely, and I gasped out loud.

  And I could see - something. Like trees, but it was too dark, and everything seemed blurry. The scene only lasted for a second before I could see the street in front of me again, and remembered where I was. My ankle throbbed, and the two grey marks I had ached, but they weren’t as bad as they had been initially.

  It took another few moments for me to register that a hand was being held out to me. Gingerly, I looked up into the eyes on an old man and accepted his wrinkled hand with gratitude. My face flushed with embarrassment as he helped me to my feet.

  “Took quiet the spill young lady, you alright there?” His voice was quiet and worn, but he seemed kind and genuinely concerned.

  “Uh, yeah, I think so.” I said quietly, brushing myself off. Trying to put some weight on my ankle, I determined it was alright, just a bit sore. “Thank you.”

  Continuing to walk home, I berated myself for not paying more attention. But I wondered if that’s all it was. The unease was back, settling in my chest. Had I really seen the trees earlier? Or maybe I had hit my head when I fell?

  Just as I reached the intersection opposite the apartment, a bolt of orange shot out in front of me, followed by a guy in a long sleeve shirt, who stopped running and grabbed my arm.

  “Are you okay?” The guy said, panting heavily between breaths. Wait—

  “Ryan?” I couldn’t believe it. What was he even doing here? I let him catch his breath for a moment, as he collapsed on a nearby stretch of grass, laying back. Grinning down at him, he gave an annoyed look. It was funny seeing him like this. He was still out of breath, breathing fast, and his face was red and sweaty. He’d obviously been running for a while. I couldn’t help it, I laughed at him.

  “It’s not funny, your damn animal almost killed me. And,” He took a deep breath again. “For the record, humans cannot run faster than magical spirit foxes.” I looked down then, and saw the fox approach me, sniffing my ankle cautiously. Without thinking, I crouched down and petted him.

  “I’m alright, I just fell.” I assured the fox, who then blinked up at me. I got the feeling he was still worried. Standing up again, I turned to Ryan, who was now sitting up and breathing a little bit earlier. “So why are you here?”

  He sighed and looked up at me, looking younger and more himself than he had that first night with the group. It was good to see he wasn’t as invincible as he had pretended to be. For some reason, seeing him like this — normal, made me like him more.

  “That — thing — of yours.” Ryan gestured towards the fox that stood in front of my legs now, between us. The fox moved from his relaxed sitting position and stood, lowering his legs to a crouch and growled directly at Ryan.

  “Hmm,” I said, pretending to be thinking, putting a hand to my chin. “I don’t think it likes you calling it ‘thing’”. I smirked at Ryan, who looked at me exasperated.

  “Well what am I supposed to call it? Fox? If it could tell me its name, that would be great.” Ryan laid back down on the grass, making an obvious giving up gesture with his arms as he did.

  “Actually,” Ryan darted up and I stared down at my feet. The voice hadn’t come from either of us. The fox’s mouth stayed closed, but a voice resonated in my head. “My name is Dane.”