Reminder: If you haven't re-read the end of Chapter 2 please do so before reading this chapter. It contains an extra scene that holds relevance to this chapter. (Relevant to readers on 1/23/17 and earlier)
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Le Château Du Pain was a quaint little café tucked in a smallish corner of the Westwood Village and set on a strange triangular 'island' that seemed to stand stagnantly solid between the flow of its surrounding streets. Despite being open twenty-four hours, it wasn't the most well-known place in Los Angeles; most of its patrons came from the sleep deprived students at the university a few streets over.
Le Château didn't have much to boast for. The view wasn't spectacular, only concrete sidewalks with tall glass and cement structures reaching towards the sky like stubby metal fingers to see. The façade could use another coat of paint, but it smelled of freshly baked bread and the usually blaring sound of traffic was nothing more than a dull hum in the background. Tinny pop music whispered through tiny hand-sized speakers in the corners of the room, the warm pastel green colour of the walls just as soothing as the abstract art hanging from them. And, of course, the bread was to die for. Though Ozzie found he couldn't stomach much of anything.
There was a half-eaten croissant on the plate in front of him—cooling chocolate the same shade as his Aunt's skin oozing from its middle—and across from him Toni picked up her tea-cup, swirling the contents a moment before taking another small lukewarm sip. The bell of the door jingled behind her, but she ignored it in favor of reading the newspaper, a day-old addition of the LA Times, she'd brought over to the table after she'd placed their orders. Ozzie, toyed with the bread's flaky crust a moment longer before pushing it to the side and staring out the window.
It was a typical Saturday out there, albeit a wet one. Instead of short shorts and tank tops there were blue and gold umbrellas dotting the streets like little pockets of sky. A couple walked past hand in hand while a child skipped ahead of their parents, splashing gleefully in puddles. He turned away, taking a sip of his coffee. Toni, turned the page of her newspaper, and broke off a piece of her garlic baguette, popping it into her mouth.
"This is nice, isn't it?" She asked casually. "Getting out of the house."
Ozzie drummed his fingers against the edge of the table. "Sure Toni, s'nice, I guess." His phone pinged with an incoming message from SnapChat, "got free wi-fi at least. Den/Den, that."
"I never understood why you started saying that," Toni said, setting the newspaper down and settling her gaze on Ozzie as he tapped at his phone. The snap was from James: 'What did the fox say?' It read, a picture of him eating cereal, shirtless and sleep rumpled was attached. The focus of the snap though was James' slippers, which were shaped like sleeping foxes and resting in the foreground on a coffee table. "dehn-ah-dehn."
Ozzie snorted, placing his phone in his lap before sticking his tongue out at the camera and flipping it the bird. 'Give James his phone back Clint.' He hit send, not bothering with a filter. He placed the phone back on the table and cracked his neck, shrugging at Toni.
"It's like ten out of ten, but cooler: Den/Den." He said, pushing his clear-framed glasses up his nose and taking another swig from his coffee mug. It was a rich, relatively dark brew, spiced lightly with something sharp, cinnamon probably, and made smooth with a bit of cream and sugar.
Toni hummed noncommittally. "So," she began, "you'll be going out with James tonight? Have a 'bro night'?" She used finger quotes at the end of her sentence.
"I guess." Ozzie's phone pinged again and he opened the message. This one was of a disgruntled Clint, his hazel eyes narrowed to slits, a caramel hand stroking a small bundle of squirming fur. 'Fuck you birthday boy. How'd you know?' It read.

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Mumble
Mystery / ThrillerMeet Ozzie Blue, a nineteen year old with way too many problems for his age. Anxiety. Paranoia. Depression. Those just scratch the surface. But when Ozzie witnesses the murder of one Hayley Matts, Ozzie is swept into a chaotic landscape of misdirec...