8. I knew you couldn't bear to live without me.

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"You are here, " said the old man with kind blue eyes.

We looked at Alan Hatter, the owner of Mad Batter. You couldn't miss the fact that he got the inspiration for the cafe's name from his own.

"And so we are", I smiled. I quite liked the old man. I had known him since before the fiasco last week. He would always make sure I had an extra muffin.

"I'm very happy that you kids came back. I was afraid I lost my favorite customers, " Mr Hatter smiled warmly at the both of us. "Though, why are only the two of you here? Where are the others?"

"We're here now, Mr Hatter. I knew you couldn't bear to live without me." Ethan had finally decided to show up.

With the others trailing behind him,  Ethan walked towards Mr Hatter, his arms spread wide as if he was gonna ambush the old man in a hug. And ambush the old man in a hug, he did.

Mr Hatter gave a jolly laugh and returned Ethan's embrace. "Yes, yes, boy, I missed you. It has been a rough couple of days. The police said they would inform me about any developments in the matter. Though, I might have a slight idea of who might be behind the attempted robbery." He muttered the last part under his breath as a sad look overtook his face. It lasted for such a small period of time, that I thought I had almost imagined it. He sighed and just like that the smile returned on his face. "It's all fine now that you kids are here."

And for once, not one person from a group of teenagers made so much as a sound of disapproval at being called a kid. All of us were smiling giddily at the man in front of us as if he were our very own Santa Claus. Well, in a way, he was. He was gifting us with free food today. Call me selfish, but the prospect of free food wasn't about to leave my mind anytime soon.

"What did I miss?" Almost everyone apart from me and Torryn jumped a little out of surprise. Mae had a habit of sneaking up on people.

Apparently, it came naturally to her. Also, she said she loved to blend in with the shadows. But, after knowing her for my entire life, I could sense her presence without having to look around for her. It was amazing how no one but I could win at hide and seek if Mae was hiding. No one else could ever find her.

But, what surprised me was that Torryn had noticed her join us. Huh. Torryn really was very observant.

"Where did you come from? You weren't here just a moment ago!" Ethan walked towards Mae with eyes narrowed in suspicion though everyone could tell he was just kidding around. "Reveal your secrets, vampire. "

Mae crossed her arms across her torso and looked at him with leveled eyes. "Careful mortal, the police might find your body, drained of its blood, in a ditch tomorrow. "

Ethan's eyes went widened he placed his right hand on his heart dramatically. "How could you say that? I thought we were best friends. "

At this, everyone snorted, while Mae looked at him with a weirded out expression. "We're not even friends, weirdo."

There was a chorus of 'ouches' while Ethan, once again, placed his hand on his chest and looked violently wounded. He was about to say something when a hearty laugh made us turn our heads towards Mr Hatter.

"Good lord, you kids know just how to make an old man's day. Okay, enough goofing around y'all, now sit down. Also, your meal is on the house, so don't hesitate to order and enjoy." With that, he went back to the kitchens. Though, something from our conversation was stuck in my mind. If he knew who was behind the fiasco last week, then why did he seem so sad about it? Shouldn't he be happier?

"So what did you guys do before we arrived? " Matt asked, sitting down with the others.

Before I could answer him, Mae, who had sat down beside me, piped out nonchalantly. "Nothing. These two idiots", she gestured towards Torryn and me," had a date."

I almost sputtered out the water I was drinking. This, of course, gave the others to open their mouths without me interrupting them. I'm pretty sure I heard Ethan mumble something that sounded suspiciously like," Dammit! I should've arrived later".

Mason raised his eyebrows. "Interesting "

Owen and Matt both had wicked smirks on their faces and when they turned in Torryn's direction to obviously tease him, Torryn sent them a 'you don't wanna piss me off ' look. And just like that, he had gone back to being a silent, broody teenager who didn't need words to shut people up.

I looked at Mae, the culprit, to see that she was browsing through the menu as if she didn't just do what she did. Everyone had stopped teasing for now but I had a strong feeling that they would not remain quiet for a long time.

Mason started talking about a different topic and distracted everyone. I almost sent him a grateful smile before I saw the mischievous glint in his eye.

This was gonna be a long night, wasn't it?

Lord, beer me strength.

×××××××××××××××××××××××××××××

Hello people!

This was kind of a short chapter. Oh, well.

I'm proud to announce that I'm not late with my update this time. Woohoo!

What was the major highlight of your week?

Mine was freaking out over my age!

Anyways, let me know what you think about this chapter. Also, forgive the typos.

Well, goodbye bye for now.

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Mae: Vote if you like to scare the shit out of people by sneaking up on them!

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