“Carlton, if I didn’t know better I’d think you were afraid of me,” Charlie said in a low voice, stepping so close there was almost no space between them, pinning him to the wall. She reached out toward his face, and he set his jaw, trying not to flinch. She ran her fingers down his cheek, then traced the line of his jaw. He didn’t move, his breathing shallow. Charlie brushed his hair out of his face and pressed closer to him, trailing her hand to the back of his neck. Her face was inches from his.

“Um, Charlie, you’re not really my type, you know?” he managed to say.

She smiled. “You haven’t even given me a chance. Are you sure?” she whispered.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I mean don’t get me wrong, you’re okay-looking, but let’s be honest, you’re nothing to write home about,” he quipped, maintaining eye contact. “I mean, those boots with that skirt?”

Charlie’s grin started to wane.

“Sorry, that was rude. I’m sure you’ll find a guy someday who appreciates you for who you are.” He tried to inch his way toward the door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m late for quartet practice, so let me just get by you and I’ll be on my way.”

Carlton squirmed but Charlie didn’t budge. “I promise I won’t tell anyone that I rejected you. Just hit that gym and we can try again in a few years.”

“Carlton, you’re obviously flustered. There’s only one way to really be sure how you feel,” Charlie said softly. She leaned closer, and Carlton screwed his eyes shut. The earpiece. It was in his right pocket.

“Charlie, you’re right, but maybe we should just talk for a while, you know. I rushed into my last relationship and I almost ended up dead in a moldy fur suit.” Just distract her until … his fingers closed on the earpiece, and he pulled it from his pocket, opening his eyes at the same time.

Carlton screamed.

Charlie’s face was splitting apart. Her skin had taken on a plastic cast, it was cracked at the middle, splintering into triangular sections. As he watched, her hand tightening around his neck, the triangles lifted up and pulled back like razor-edged flower petals, revealing an entirely different face, sleek and feminine, but definitely not human. The petals of what had been Charlie’s face began to move along the round perimeter of the new face, beginning to look more like a saw blade than a flower. The animatronic girl pursed her metal lips, leaning in for a kiss as the blades spun closer and closer to Carlton’s face. In a final burst of self-preservation, he yanked the earpiece out of his pocket and jammed it into his ear, flipping the switch.