Blacken by Alandra Rankin (i love reading books txt) 📕

as have other materials expedited to her new town. The librarian helped out tremendously with a few of the necessities she needed to get by before she could start spending again.

Owen huffed, setting the container of books and papers he brought from the library down on the ashen kitchen counter; the only thing that separated it from the open living room.

“I gotta say, at least the kitchen and your bedroom look nice. Your sitting area looks like a hoarder’s den.”

“Half of the stuff here is the junk you bring from the library! I’ve got nowhere to keep all of it,” she laughed, starting to organize the boxes of various knick-knacks onto a bookshelf in the corner, “are you sure you don’t mind helping unpack this much?”

“Of course not! I wouldn’t leave you to do everything on your own, besides you were able to get everything in before any snow hit. If it was the middle of winter, you may have been on your own,” he sucked in a breathy laugh, joking around with his friend.

“Thank you for being such a gentleman,” her tone dripped with sarcasm as she wiped at a smudge on the floral wallpaper, “have you found any other leads for the Dewey Decimal team?”

Owen thumbed through a few containers of movies, reading each title before packing them in the T.V stand, “Just a few more natural occurrences we can look at. Extraterrestrial and U.F.O information is in short supply.”

“Damn, it figures. I wonder what happened the other night then? Do you think it will ever come back?”

“I guess it’s a wait and see. But if it does, call me. I can be over in minutes.”

Avie nodded, finishing placing items from the box and standing up to stretch out. A whine escaped, drawing his attention to her.

“We’ve been moving and unpacking for hours,” she glanced at her wristwatch, “it’s almost time for lunch, want to brave the rain and go over to J&K’s?”

He agreed with excitement.

Soft music played in the diner as they entered and were seated. The small mom and pop shop had an older 1950’s aesthetic, with black and white tiles, jukebox, neon signs and thunderbird car themed seats. J&K’s was easily the most fun diner in town and had amazing food, of course meaning it was always busy.

“Heya, Avie!” A woman with dark brown hair highlighted with silver came up with pen and paper.

“Hey, Sandra! It’s been a bit, how’ve you been?”

Sandra flashed her eyebrows, pulling a brief exasperated face, “Busy as usual, though it’s good to see ya again. And this must be your friend… Owen, was it? Can I get you two somethin’ to drink?”

“Just water for me, please.”

“Same.”

Sandra nodded, “I’ll come back for your order in a bit, sugar.” The older woman started off to other patrons in the restaurant on quick feet, leaving Avie and Owen to their own devices.

“She’s never remembered my name before. What have you been up to?” He leaned forward, voice a bit lower as if he were worried the waitress could hear him over the noise of the restaurant.

“I’m usually in when she works, she’s been on constant overtime because of scheduling mix-ups and call-ins, and we just get talking every time. Sometimes I’ve talked about you with her; all good things, don’t worry.”

“Sandra always acts like she’s got a bug up her ass. Maybe she can take a lesson from you, you’re always too nice to everyone, I don’t get it.”

The waitress in discussion walked up and set down their beverages, “Do y’all need a little more time?”

Owen looked down and away, readjusting uncomfortably and fiddling with the glossy menu; outwardly worried if she heard his comment.

“I’m good, Owen?” He nodded in response. “The usual for me, please,” Avie sang, handing the pamphlet back.

“Gimme the Big Breakfast.”

Sandra scribbled down the order on her small notepad and collected their menus, “Sounds good, we’ll bring that out as soon as we can.”

“I’ve never seen her on the right side of the bed. She’s really taken a shining to you!” Owen commented, bewildered at her change of character as she strolled away.

“Sandra’s got a lot of work to cover, and a lot of people who treat her like an expense. Everyone deserves kindness. A little of it can go a long way,” she smiled, sipping on the ice water.

“Yeah, I guess I haven’t really thought about it. You were the first person to be nice to me, too. But you can’t help everyone, some people are beyond that.”

The pair began to chat over what happened with Avie the other night, gathering any info they could about what may well have caused her to feel the vibrating pressure again. It was unheard of. If people did feel the sensation again, it was because they left Blacken. The Dewey Decimals had a whole new can of worms added to the mystery, one that caused another detour with the investigation.

“They examined me at the hospital when I first got here. An MRI and CT scan was done, and they didn’t find anything abnormal, they released me after they got the results. I’m absolutely certain it wasn’t anything else. You couldn’t forget it.”

“I’ve got to say, I am feeling a little left out. If I just knew what it was like, maybe I could help more, maybe we could narrow some choices down.”

“You’ve talked to a lot of people about it, right?”

The waitress returned to their table with food, Owen in the middle of confirming Avie’s question.

“So sorry for the wait! Anythin’ else I can get ’cha?” Sandra was slightly panting from running around the lunch rush.

“It looks amazing, we should be all good, thank you!”

“I second that, it’s perfect timing, thank you.”

Pleasant surprise wrote over Sandra’s features, “Enjoy, sugars!”

Avie turned her attention back to Owen once she left, “See? She’s already starting to treat you the same way. All because you were giving her a break and treating her like a person.”

The blond nodded again, mulling over the change in Sandra,