The King Without a Queen

Crowded places have always been a challenge for me, so it wasn't a shock that I struggled to fit in during lunchtime. "It gets better," I whispered to myself, trying to find some comfort in the thought. The first three days at a new school were always the hardest. People stared, whispered, and spread rumors. The first hurdle was finding a friend so I wouldn't be alone during lunch.

It should have been easy to find a friend in my hometown, but most of the people I saw were new, and all my old friends had moved away. It was as if the entire town was occupied by strangers, and it was strange how many people I used to know were nowhere to be found. Something was definitely off about this town.

"Phoebe!" a loud voice called out, drawing unwanted attention to me. I cursed under my breath.

Beatrice greeted me with a huge smile, which I attempted to return. Knowing me, I probably looked constipated or something. "Sit with us," she said, gesturing to the two people sitting with her. I didn't recognize either of them.

Great, two more strangers. It was difficult for me to accept that I was meeting more unfamiliar faces than old friends from my childhood.

I walked over and sat with Beatrice, across from the two strangers. "Hi," the black-haired guy greeted me with a small smile.

"Hi. I'm Phoebe."

He nodded. "I'm Tyler, and this is Jenny."

The blonde girl gave me a warm smile, and I smiled back. "Hi. Nice to meet you guys. I hope I'm not intruding."

Beatrice playfully slapped my hand. "Nonsense, you're not. Now sit with us like a good girl and have your lunch."

I rolled my eyes at her but did as I was told. "Where did Alex, Monica, and Daniel go? Are they around here somewhere?"

How come eight out of ten people in this town are nowhere to be seen?

"Uhh...I think...they all got new jobs. Yeah. They did," Beatrice finally said. I gave her a skeptical look.

"All three of them together? And what about the others? I haven't seen anyone here. Why?" I didn't realize my voice had risen until some students turned to look at me.

Beatrice looked down, and I could sense her fidgeting. For a long moment, no one said anything. Then she finally spoke up. "I don't know. I honestly don't know. There's been a lot going on."

"Like what?" I wanted answers. I knew I probably looked paranoid, but something in my gut told me that something was wrong. If I had learned one thing from life, it was to trust my instincts.

She looked up at me, opened her mouth to speak, but Tyler interrupted her. "Beatrice." It was clearly a warning.

I gritted my teeth in annoyance. Now it was official: something was going on in this town, and everyone knew except me.

***

"Stupid town. Stupid people," I muttered to myself as a girl my age openly glared at me.

I get that I'm not welcome here, but can't these people be a little less obvious?

The entire day, no one came to talk to me. I felt like an outcast. Eventually, my frustration subsided. Maybe I was overreacting. Maybe I was just bitter that living here wasn't living up to my expectations.

But it was still strange how many people I knew weren't around anymore, and the town was filled with strangers. Of course, I didn't know every single person who lived here, but it was still odd.

In frustration, I kicked a nearby stone, immediately regretting it. The stone hit a car parked on the side of the road.

Okay, calm down. The stone was too small to damage the car. Just walk away calmly before you get into trouble.

No such luck. I crossed my fingers as I heard footsteps behind me. "Hey, you!" a voice called out. A shiver went down my spine. I spun around to face the person, ready to apologize, but what I saw nearly took my breath away.

God, he's so beautiful.

And also, maybe it had to do with the fact that the strange man I saw during my adventure in the ice cream shop stood near him. I was officially screwed.

But what happened next was even stranger. The beautiful man whispered, "Mine." He knelt down and bowed his head. "My queen." He looked like he was in a daze, and I decided he must be out of his mind.

I gave him a weird look and turned around.

And then I ran.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!

The words filled my mind like a mantra. I could feel the cold air slapping my face as I ran. My legs ached, but I didn't stop running.

Something was very, very wrong with the people here.