Androphobia

i. kitty cat

Ruffles ^^^
The Night We Met - Lord Huron

If you haven't read the prologue, I'd suggest you go back and read it because it gives an insight into Thea's past and the origin of her phobia!

THEA'S POV:

Androphobia: so that's what it was called.

I leaned back in my chair and brought the phone close to my face.

Why hadn't I thought of looking this up sooner?

Slowly, I scrolled down the page and tried to process the information before me. My stomach felt as if it had deflated, only a sinkhole remaining of my breakfast.

The question had been on my mind for an eternity but I could never put it into words, never muster the courage to type out the little letters into my keyboard and have enlightenment befall me. Now, as I scanned the screen of my phone, I felt even more lost.

The words scrambled together like a sea of jigsaw pieces. I could only slot some of it together.

"It's fine, Thea," I muttered. "Just don't think about it."

Sighing, I put my phone down. The bookshelf beside me beckoned me back. I slotted some stray novels back into their given places on my tiptoes and gave the shelves a quick run down with the old duster under the counter. I was trying not to let the thought niggle at the back of my head by busying myself with the task of straightening hangers and pieces of porcelain, but it proved more difficult than I anticipated.

The charity shop was quiet now, only the muted sound of the eighties playing softly in the background, and I found myself running my fingers along the broken spines of the books on display and fingering the buttons on clothes instead. There wasn't much to do at all.

It was Papa's suggestion to start volunteering at the charity shop. He said it would be a great way to develop my confidence and was the reasonable option since we only lived a ten-minute's walk away, but so did half the people I knew.

Mospe was a small town, rich with rolling fields interspersed with small shops, small streets, and a handful of inhabitants. There was one cinema, one gymnasium, one supermarket owned by the Chughtais, and the Jubilee centre (although it didn't have many branded stores and was only one storey tall).

Despite the remoteness and scarcity, the town was the epitome of wealth. Every house seemed like it had been plucked straight out of a housing magazine and the streets were even better, meticulously trimmed trees and hedges lining the roads and rows of daffodils tinkling every springtime. Even crime rates were at a bare minimum, at least from my own understanding, but I didn't really know since I didn't often set foot outside on my own.

It seemed like despite the money at people's hands, they valued peace and solitude away from the city. Although it wasn't small enough for everyone to know everyone, there was a certain intimacy to our hometown. I quite liked it that way.

Humming tunelessly to the music, I pirouetted over to the stuffed toys and picked up a few strays trying to escape the basket.

"Excuse me, mister," I scolded one of the rabbits playfully, "In you go." I picked up another grey rabbit that had fallen. "And your sister too." They both looked much happier in their new positions.

While I was admiring my handiwork, I almost didn't hear the tinkle of the doorbell.

I looked over my shoulder to see who it was, only for a familiar tension to sink back into my bones.

"Hello," I greeted with a tight smile.

I strode back to the counter and took a seat, balling my hands tightly into small fists whilst staring concentratedly at the monitor.