Just following orders

//chapter 3//

"No Grace you are NOT about to write back."

"Aspen What are you so afraid of! This is how we figure out what is going on with you?"

"Grace this is why you always get into so much trouble. You make stupid decisions and depend on your emotions too much."

Any normal friend might have gotten angry at me for those words and kept their distance.
Grace was harder than that to get rid of.

"Fine let's just forget about it."

She said finally.

I turned on a tv show to get my mind off of it and she fell asleep on my shoulder five minutes in.

That was the last of it for a while. Five months to be exact. Grace asked me about it everyday but soon she forgot about it.

And I did too.

Until I started finding grocery lists on my palms and school notes on my wrists.

Sometimes there were even reminders, like

WASH THE DOG TONIGHT.

Oddly enough I decided to start getting whatever was on the grocery list at the store.

I don't even know why but it gave me a peek into a different way of living.

I was starting to get tired of green tea and corn Chex cereal after two weeks for breakfast but loved the salmon for dinner.

One day I woke up to this message

JITTERS COFFEE 6AM SATURDAY

This was a new kind of reminder I wasn't used to.

I googled Jitters Coffee and only came up with one result. One in Millersberg Ohio. That was an 8 hour drive from me. The hours were 7am- 4pm. So I guessed it was a work shift and whoever it was was opening since they were getting there an hour before it opened.

Saturday was two days away.

I slapped myself for even considering going there. But I also had a lot of curiosity for what I would find there. Would there be someone waiting for me? Or someone not even realizing I'm there. What if they get sick and it's all for nothing.

But I wanted to go so bad.

I didn't have anything going on and I could leave my house on Friday night.

I had an all new determination to find out who or what this was and I set my foot down that I was going to go. Leave on Friday night. Even if I didn't find who it was I might find something else.
_

I didn't tell Grace, or my mom for that matter. Nobody knew I was leaving and I didn't plan on telling them unless they asked.

It would only be until Monday morning. Then I would be right back home.

And so when Friday night finally came I packed up a duffel, and added a few extra clothes.

Just in case.

I shakily turned the key once I was in the car. I couldn't believe myself and what I was about to do... all for a couple markings on my wrist.

I pulled out of the driveway and instinctively turned up the radio.

After 5 hours I was tired of what the top 40 station had to offer and turned it off.

I didn't normally talk to myself in the car but tonight I was going crazy anyway... so why not?

"Aspen this is so ridiculous what if whoever this is turns out to be some murderer and some how knows exactly who I am and is just luring me to kill him?"

I was already working up a sweat and I had three hours left.

I saw the shop sign coming up and I pulled in and parked. I had five minutes until it opened and I just sat in the car.

Hours passed and the sun finally broke the horizon. I checked the gps and realized I would be arriving any minute. I started shaking and breathing harder when I saw movement inside.

7:00

7:05

7:20

What am I even waiting for?

With a burst of confidence I swung my car door open and walked firmly up to the door.

I was in my own moment until someone else burst through the door and half ran into me.

"Excuse me."

I smiled but she just walked past without acknowledging me.

When I got past the door I scanned the room. I'm eyes traveled left and right before they finally set on him.

He was leaning on the top of the counter doodling on his forearm. I had been feeling it and I looked down at mine and a butterfly was forming on it.

I immediately got chills and wanted to go back to my car.

As I watched him a little longer he looked depressed. It looked like he was drawing to get his mind off of something.

I finally walked up to the counter.

"Hello." I smiled.

A/N don't forget to vote and tell me what you thought, I'd love to know :)