• I was thrown from my seat, the blue drink splashing into the air. This didn’t faze me, however. I landed gracefully in a crouching position on the ground while the boy who ran into me landed flat on his face. The drink, instead of showering onto me, landed right on the boy’s back. He had been wearing an open, white, button up shirt but it wasn’t white anymore. As an alternative, a blue splatter that resembled blood was imprinted on the back.

    Flyers that he had been carrying were flung about and fluttered around the area. I snatched one from the air as I stood and looked at it. It was an advertisement for some sort of beach party. Probably one that was doing something illegal, that much was obvious. I grinned, folded up the flyer, and placed it in my back pocket as the boy looked up at me.

    His hair was the color of bittersweet dark chocolate, almost black. And his eyes were an eerie green that stared up at me. His skin was pale compared to that of the others around. It only held a light dusting of brown, just past the peach color of normal skin. He probably wasn’t one who spent time at the beach during the day. A true nightwalker among the humans. There were tons out there, but I honestly hadn’t thought he would be one of them.

    There was a reddened discoloration in his cheeks. And he smelled strongly of embarrassment. Poor boy… I felt sorry for him. Everyone was staring, and I suppose I was too, but I had reason to, didn’t I? I mean he had knocked me down after all. Nevertheless I wasn’t really sure what to do at this point. I really hoped he wasn’t going to cry. But of course he wouldn’t, males in all realms found crying to be a weakness.

    I bit my lower lip and shifted my weight uneasily from one foot to the other. The boy pushed up onto his knees and began gathering the flyers, averting his gaze from me. He was quiet, as was everyone else around us. Only the music broke the awkward silence that hung around us. And even that didn’t do a very good job at easing the humiliation of the situation. I knelt down to help collect the flyers.

    Holding the stack out to him I smiled to hide my own discomfort. “Here ya go. Sorry about your shirt…”

    He cringed at the mention of his now blue and white shirt and took the flyers. He seemed to be contemplating whether or not he should say something. Finally he made his decision and spoke. “Nah…” He shrugged. “Wasn’t your fault. Sorry ‘bout knocking you down and spilling your drink. I’ll buy you a new one.”

    I let out a small sigh of relief and stood up with him. “No it’s alright. I’m not really thirsty anymore.” At least I wouldn’t have to conflict with a human. Should that have happened I was pretty sure that the other demons about would have jumped the boy in a heartbeat. “Thanks for you offer, though.”

    He nodded. “Sure.” That awkward silence was trying to settle in again so the boy smiled, “Thanks for helping pick these up. Later,” and walked on down the path.

    I highly doubted I would see him “later”, but it was only a phrase. Of course—I took the flyer out of my back pocket and examined it again—there was always the possibility. I bet I’d seem him if I went to the party he was handing flyers out for. He didn’t seem like the type who would throw parties either. So it was probably a party hosted by a friend of his and he got roped into advertising. Should I go?