Skyrere- I haven't read anything by Paisley Rose in a very long time. I'll have to check it out!
J Luc Pitard- I think they've had far too much peace lately. Time to shake them up a bit. :)
VampireApple- Thanks! I hope it lives up to your expectations.
Goblin Tales
A Labyrinth 100 Theme Challenge
Mayzy Green
2. Complicated
"Ok, but did you see him? I mean, obviously you didn't actually look at him, or you wouldn't feel this way," Helen exclaimed, fluttering her left hand in a gesture that implied she might swoon. Sarah didn't notice. She was not paying her friend as much attention as she ought. She was more focused on their follower.
He had tailed them all through the Student Union, watching them as they shared lunch and spying on them as they browsed through the book store. Sarah hadn't yet gotten a good look at him, but every time they turned a corner or paused to examine something, she got a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye; peeking through the thick, green planters in the hallways or eyeing them from around a bookshelf.
Helen hadn't noticed him. In fact, no one seemed aware of the intruder amongst them. Surely another student would have spotted him in the cafe, where he hid behind a pillar that would have left him clearly visible to anyone paying for their meal. Sarah had the unsettling feeling that she was the only one who could see him and she wasn't sure if she wouldn't have preferred the bliss of ignorance.
"Sarah?" Helen said, waving her truncated right arm in front of Sarah's face. "Are you even listening to me?"
Due to a birth defect, Helen had been born with a complete and whole left arm, but a right arm that stopped abruptly just after her elbow. She had a prosthetic that she could wear, but she prefered to go without. She confided to Sarah that the prosthetic was uncomfortable, didn't work well enough to be worth it, and 'robo arm' drew more attention that a folded and pinned sleeve anyway.
"I'm sorry, Helen," she sighed, "I've had a lot on my mind… What were you saying?"
"Professor Alberich," her friend huffed. "Pay attention, Woman! I said he is gorgeous. I'm so glad you roped me into taking that mythology class with you."
Rolling her eyes, Sarah resumed walking. Their final class for the day was over and they were headed back to the dormitory. She and her friend didn't share a room, unfortunately, but they were in the same building, and Sarah considered herself lucky for that. "I know he's good looking-" She paused momentarily. Did someone just snicker? She shook her head, "I know that. But I just don't like him. It's… complicated."
"Do you know him? You have never mentioned him before."
Sarah hesitated. She liked Helen very much but didn't know her well enough to reveal something that most people would consider a sign of serious delusion. Still, she didn't want to tell her an outright lie. "It just… never came up. We've met briefly in the past and he didn't leave a good impression on me. Can we leave it at that?"
"Oooh, that sounds mysterious," the blonde chirped, leaning in closer. "Surely there's more to it than that?"
Her only response was a pleading look, but the message got through. "Ok, ok," Helen said, giving her friend an understanding smile. "When and if you're ready, you can dish. Until then, I can leave it at 'complicated'."
Sarah reached over and gave the other girl's hand a gentle squeeze of thanks. One of the things that drew her to Helen was her willingness to listen but not pry. As they parted at the stairs, Sarah's dorm being a flight higher than Helen's, there was the briefest glimpse of eyes from behind a trash bin.
When Sarah got to her room, she quickly dropped her bookbag on her bed and scrounged in her desk until she located a post-it note. With a little flourish she wrote a message in bold, black marker and stuck it on the door, deciding that she simply didn't care what her dormmate, or anyone else for that matter, thought.
If anyone questioned the, "NO GOBLINS ALLOWED" note stuck to the bottom half of the door, they were wise enough not to ask.