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Midnight JasmineIt only took about fifteen minutes to reach the tiny cake shop that was located about a handful of blocks from the house, they sold everything anyone could ever desire; cupcakes, towers of cakes, sweets like swirly lollipops, chewing candies, donuts, and a separate department for coffee along with a lounge. It was my heaven of delight, being submerged in an aroma of coffee beans and cinnamon, I still recall Grandma treating me here when I received an A on many of my reports; the ones reaching lower grades never were heard or discussed about.
"Yes, one medium-sized cake please." I cheerfully pointed to the cake with fruits decorated around the border, it was always his favorite to be given; it seemed only just the sight of it made a cheeky smile emit from Grandpa's face.
"Here," The cashier glided the box that contained the sweet. "That will be eleven twenty four."
Sliding a ten and a five out, I managed to awkwardly hand her the wrinkled bills with a lopsided smile that clearly expressed my embarrassment and just grabbed the box along with the change before I could humiliate myself further, luckily the stones were leveled instead of the ones on my street.
The sky seemed to darken more, if that was even possible. Just as I thought about glancing at the stars, my phone vibrated in pulses. I remove it from my back-pocket with my available hand to view an all-too-familiar name flash before my eyes, it just shrieked of desperation, poor kid. I place the phone to my ear, beginning to roll a greeting off my tongue before I was abruptly cut off.
"Aya! I need your help!" Everything else of what he was saying, or attempting to say, was jumbled and incoherent to the point I couldn't make any words out. He was panicking for some reason, his breaths short and choppy, I could imagine him sprinting around his room with his arms flailing in the air.
"Wait, what happened?" I pulled the phone away from my ear to regain some hearing loss. "Slow down, speak clearly, deep breath."
A sigh sounded through the other line. "Aya, I think it's time. I feel like I'm ready to talk to her about how I feel."
"Talking about Kou, here, right?"
"Yes! I just have a gut feeling, you know?" I actually had no idea what this guy was trying to have me relate to. "I think, uh, that I should just ask her out."
"Whoa, whoa. You sure about this? When were you even planning for this to happen?"
"Okay," he breathed, it seemed like his first inhale in the past minutes. "So you know how Kou walks everywhere because her license isn't valid here?" He didn't even wait for my reply. "I was thinking of walking her home and there's a park a few blocks before so then we can sit and talk there."
"It sounds good, make sure you don't creep her out. She gets easily weirded out, of course you would know but just making sure. Good luck-"
My breath was cut off as hands clutched my mouth and waist, the figure grasping me simply pushed our bodies- as if I weighed nothing when it was definitely the latter- into an abandoned ally. That was when I began to thrash- dropping the cake at a safe distance so I wouldn't damage the masterpiece and my phone slipping from my other hand, smashing onto the dumpster lid- and scream with all my energy through the hand, jerking my limbs to at least to set one free to escape. My heart was pumping cold adrenaline and consternation through my veins, it was like a freight train was about to run me over. I couldn't end my life this easily, I possibly couldn't surrender silently while my pupils roll to the back of my head. My voice was raspy and cracked to the extent that it burned my throat to even breathe and tears brimmed my waterline; half because of the pain and half in trembling fear. I was pinned against the brick wall of an apartment building, the predator's body wedging me in between and also cupped my mouth. Nearby birds- by the sounds of it, crows- were screeching and storming off which could be a signal for a pedestrian passing by.
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