It was a terrible movie, with all the underwhelming drama of a decidedly burned-out sequel to a movie that Aria had never seen. But she didn’t care. She watched the changing light from the scenes displayed on the screen, turning Omkar’s face dark, then illuminating it again. Aria had found some dandelions to eat off of someone’s lawn, but she hadn’t planned her day well enough to find anything else to eat. As a result, when Omkar bought her a bag of popcorn, she had gorged herself on it until her stomach hurt too much to eat anymore.

At first, Omkar was shy and formal about the date. Aria had to graze the outside of his arm with her pinky finger to encourage him to lift up the armrest between them and take her hand. When he did, the dew of sweat started to accent the heat between their hands. Omkar was nervous and elated. But he felt frustrated with himself that no matter how many times he saw her, he couldn’t force himself to act cool. Instead, he felt like an immature schoolboy, devoured by the anxious limerence of puppy love. He found his own reaction all the more frustrating because he knew it wasn’t puppy love. What he felt for Aria was something much deeper. It was something that he could not name.

Aside from the movie date, they managed to see each other for an hour or two in between Omkar’s classes and work shifts. For the most part, sustained by the little items that Omkar would bring her, Aria spent her time at the car lot, counting down the minutes between their time together. But today, knowing that they would not meet up until after sundown, Aria had decided to follow a tip that the St Francis Center offered a warm breakfast to those who needed a meal.

Aria looked down to watch the blur of her high-top sneakers carrying her across the pavement. The walk, which she had started while it was still dark, had already been longer than she had anticipated. It had taken her through shopping centers, past highways and into industrial parts of town. She was beginning to wonder if she had taken a wrong turn somewhere. Wandering into unfamiliar territory was always a risk for anyone on the street. It was a risk that made her regret coming alone. But with Taylor gone an hour before her to the acting studio and both Luke and Wolf gone the night before to an art walk event, she hadn’t had a choice.