a/n: cover art by BTSkookie27ARMY. such a cool picture; thank you again!

  Whenever she had a second to spare, her eyes seemed to instinctively travel to him.

  At first glance, he looked like a normal person. But she had stared at him long enough now to know that he acted like he was two different people.

  He could be emotionless and forbidding one second, then friendly and incredibly pleasant the next. She couldn't process how that could be.

  Brady, sucking a green lollipop today, followed her gaze and immediately leapt out of his station. He sprinted over to her side, his lollipop falling to the ground, startling her. "Ali, girl, please stop thinking whatever you're thinking."

  "What?" she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as he placed his hands on her shoulders, his eyes wide with worry. "What's going on, are you okay?"

  "Brady! Stop tormenting poor Ali!" Marina shouted, waving her work tablet, when she saw the two of them from across the store. She rushed over to them, giving him a stern look, but he quickly explained himself.

  "Marina, I just saw her looking at Sawyer. I'm trying to warn her."

  "Sawyer?" she repeated loudly, then slapped a hand over her mouth, checking to see if he heard. She lowered her voice, regarding her with the same worried look as Brady. "Ali, whatever you do, don't talk to that boy, okay?"

  Brady nodded vigorously. "Avoid all contact with him in general."

  "Uh, why? What's so bad about him?" Ali asked, shifting uncomfortably under their serious gaze.

  "Why?" Brady shuddered. "Because that boy is a literal sociopath."

  Ali blinked. "What, like Ted Bundy?"

  "No, no! Nothing like that," Marina answered hastily, shaking her head. "He's not a killer or anything. He's harmless in that aspect."

  "But psychologically, he's messed up. He has no type of emotion and treats people like toys. But the scariest part is that he's an exceptional liar. I bet he could manipulate people in his sleep," Brady told her quietly, his eyes trailing over to him before he quickly looked away.

She quirked an eyebrow at them. "Then why does he work in customer support? Or at a department store in general, where he has to constantly deal with people?"

"Because his lying skills are what make him perfect for the job!" Marina stated, gesturing towards a satisfied customer who had just met with him. "For the five years I've worked here, we've had the least amount of complaints when he came along because he talks them out of anything they have to say. It's like his creepy superpower."

"Right, but the only reason he got this job at all is because his dad owns the store, and he wants his son to seem as normal as possible," Brady mentioned while she took in all of the new information. She sneaked another glance at him before they could stop her.

"He doesn't look so scary though," Ali remarked; Brady and Marina laughed.

"Of course not. He's the hottest guy in town," Marina said, and Brady nodded in agreement.

"With that face and height, he could easily pass as a model," Brady sighed, a hint of envy laced in his tone. "But as tempting as he may be, stay away from Sawyer Price!"

Ali tucked a strand of hair behind her ear awkwardly. "Okay, I will."

"Good. It's for your own well-being, Ali. If you knew him like we do, you'd understand that too. Trust me," Marina assured her before pulling Brady out of there.

  Yet even after hearing all of the negative things about him, she still found herself looking over at his alluring figure.