Someone covered me with a blanket during the night, as I stayed on the couch until morning, with tiny feet propped on my ribs. When I opened my eyes, I found Jaxson kneeling in front of me.

      "Morning." He greeted me with a smirk.

     I groaned. It was too early for his shenanigans. "Of course, they'd assign me to the ghost that's full of life."

     My lack of enthusiasm didn't faze Jaxson, he nodded resolutely. At least he was self-aware. "They sent the golden retriever because they knew you'd be too much of a sucker to deny me."

     My jaw cracked open. I knew I was a push over, but I had never had anyone blatantly tell me so. Surely, an angel wasn't supposed to use my weaknesses against me. "I want to switch guardian angels. I think Leonard would be a better match."

     "No can do." He grinned confidently. "You need my charms specifically."

     "Am I really going to need that much convincing to follow your biding."

     He pretended not to hear me, staring out the window as if something caught his attention. After a few moments he turned back my way. "Are you ready for a tour of Stafil?" he asked, uncaring of his subject change.

     "Now?"

     "Do you have anything better to do?"

     "Other than sleep, I don't even know what there is to do." I haven't even toured the house yet.

     "Then there's your answer."

     "I mean... I like to sleep."

     "Sleeping's not going to help Amelia." Despite my protests, he pulled me to my feet. "Shower. Breakfast. And then we go for a walk." He left no room for argument, guiding me towards what I assumed would be my room.

     The room was small with a double-sized bed. A few feet from the bed was a gorgeous, white vanity, followed by a walk-in closet. Topped off with white bedding and antique furniture, it was something that I'd have designed myself.

     Using my private bathroom to shower, I pulled the first outfit in reach from the closet. I saw no need to dress to impress. I threw on a pair of black sweatpants and plain t-shirt. Jaxson had already seen me at my worst. Though caught off guard by the fact that the closet was full of clothes that fit me perfectly, I didn't question Jaxson on it. I had too much on my mind to be preoccupied by little things.

      I made way to meet Jaxson in the kitchen, but I barely placed foot on the marble floor before he was yanking me in the other direction.

     "What happened to breakfast?" I objected.

     "I just remembered this popular café in town," he said. "We'll have breakfast there. It'll be the start of our tour."

      Popular made it sound like it would be crowded, it didn't sound like my type of place, but I trusted Jaxson. As he reached for the door, I paused, patting my pockets out of habit. Money wasn't something that ever overflowed my wallet, I was always scrounging up dollars. I didn't even have to ask, Jaxson understood.

      "I'll cover breakfast," he said. "But whenever I'm not around, you'll have enough money in here."

      I took the grey backpack purse from his outstretched hand with a gratitude, wondering when he'd picked it up.

     Though the sun was bright, I was surprised to see people walking around: walking their dogs, out for jogs or walking towards their mailboxes. I thought the safe house would be more secluded. But we were situated on a corner street in what I assumed was Stafil. I followed Jaxson's lead down the sidewalk, making note to memorize the route for the future. Recalling Aria's description of her hometown, I glanced back at the house with creased brows. Surely, we wouldn't all be tasked to help people in the same town.

     "When Aria and Leonard come out later, are they going to walk out on a different street?"

     Jaxson nodded simply.

     "So weird," I marvelled. My intuition told me that weird would be a fitting description for this whole situation.

     For a tour guide, Jaxson knew very little of the town, purposely heading straight for the café. It must have been the only place he knew. Maybe he hadn't done as much research as he let on; maybe he was a busy ghost/guardian angel.

     The café wasn't as crowded as I expected, only half the tables occupied. Usually, my gaze would follow every person in the room, pinpointing those ready to judge, but today I spotted the glistening chocolate croissant and forgot about everything else. The croissant alone was sufficient explication for the restaurant's popularity.

      I ordered two croissants and a purple drink that piked my curiosity. With his ordered chocolate muffin, Jaxson led me to a corner booth. Figuring he was picky on his seating arrangement; I didn't question him as we passed the 2-person table. Mindlessly, I followed him to the 6-person booth. I should have questioned him...

      Jaxson had barely come to a full sitting position, and he was standing already, muffin untouched.

     "I need to pee," he told me.

     "Already?" We left the house twenty minutes ago.

     "Yep." He popped his p, voice uncharacteristically dull. "I had two coffees before leaving."

     "You like coffee that much?"

     "I actually hate it." With no further explanation, he saluted and left.

      With a feeling that my time with Jaxson was going to keep me on my toes, I paid his swift departure no mind. I usually hated to sit in public alone, especially without a phone, but the croissants really were making me salivate and Jaxson would be back in a few minutes...He was supposed to be back in a few minutes. How long did it take to pee? Ten minutes passed and I had long finished both my croissants. I was growing impatient and most of all uneasy. I didn't have anything to busy my hands with. Surely, he wouldn't have left me alone in a foreign town. No longer able to resist the urge, my gaze roamed over the small restaurant. Most of the tables had filled since our arrival, volume considerably louder. I searched for Jaxson, first looking at the sign that pointed towards the bathroom. When that failed, my eyes swept across the many tables, thinking my chatty angel might have stricken a conversation with strangers. My gaze flickered to every table and booth, until it landed on the small table next to me. I found five teenagers that appeared my age, and who were already looking at me.

      "Are you looking for the guy you came in with?" the boy closest to me, with bronze skin and dark features, asked. A contrast to his dark skin, he wore a canary yellow matching set of shorts and a t-shirt.

      Cheeks rosy from the new attention, I nodded cautiously. By the way the group grimaced, I knew that I wouldn't like what I'd hear.

     "If he was a date, you can do a lot better." The boy smiled sympathetically.

     He did not leave me here. He wouldn't dare leave me stranded in a foreign town...He totally did just that.

     "God, no!" The words to his question finally spilled, with an unexpected outburst. Objectively speaking, Jaxson was good looking, but in the few hours I had known him, I already came to see him as a brotherly figure. Just like the times Colby would walk into my room to throw something at my head or fart, I wanted to kick Jaxson's ass. Forget guardian angel. He was a demon sent to earth to punish me. "I'm crashing at his place for the summer." The lie came easy, almost too easy. Almost like they were already planted in my thoughts. "He's a family friend. He was supposed to be my tour guide." There was no missing the bite behind the words supposed to.

     "He's a pretty dreadful tour guide, then. He left ten minutes ago."

      I huffed in disbelief.

      "It's always the pretty ones who are the douches," the boy with Asian features sat at the furthest end of the table added.

      I laughed at the statement, but despite his actions, something told me that Jaxson was far from a douche. I was sure he had good reasons to do as he did. Though it was difficult to think of any in my state.

      "Mind if we join?" The first boy asked, nudging his head towards my relatively empty booth. "We could tell you a bit about Stafil."

      As nervous as it made me, I wasn't about to say no. I nodded, and he didn't hesitate to squeeze himself beside me. I scooted to the end of the booth to let another person join our side.

      "Avi," my bench buddy introduced. "S-town's most flamboyant Indian soccer player. Also, the pastor's son. Adopted and raised here in Stafil."

       Odd introduction, but I smiled and shook his hand, nonetheless. Releasing my hand, he nudged his head towards the second guy that had voiced his appreciation of Jaxson's face. Sat in front of me, I gave him my attention.

      He took Avi's hint and said, "I'm Naoko."

      Avi wasn't satisfied. "That's it?"

      "Oh, I'm sorry," Naoko answered sarcastically, straightening in his seat as if to correct himself. "Because Vi seems to think it matters: I'm Japanese-Canadian. I am not flamboyant unless Avi's dragging me along to a drag show. And I am the son of an elementary school teacher and Janitor."

       Unsure how to respond to that, I laughed nervously. "Nice to meet you, Naoko."

     Naoko returned my sincere smile, but Avi sighed exasperatedly. "I'm trying to make us look cool in front of the new girl," he whined.

      Naoko cocked a brow. "And your flamboyance and pastor of a father are your coolest features?"

     "What's cooler than an out and proud gay man with religious parents—"

     "Anthony literally signed your adoption papers as you stood there in a rainbow pride shirt and pink eyeliner."

     "I've got the coolest dad." Avi grinned at me. "And thus, I'm cool by extension. You'll all thank me next year after he revises the sex-ed class... Anyway, your turn Léa."

      "Hello," the blonde greeted on cue, poking her head in front of Avi. She was sat on the furthest end of my bench. "Léa Bourbonnais. I'm the exchange student from France, currently living with the Farrows, Avi's family. And no. I don't like baguettes."

     "Uh...noted." No baguettes for Léa.

      "I'm Maria." I shot my gaze forward, towards the girl sat next to Naoko. "I run the weekly poetry slam at the park. I'll probably have a new poem about the new girl with auburn hair done by tomorrow."

      "Oh, uh... that's nice." A poem about me? My life was certainly a tragedy to be written about. Not that I thought anyone would want to read or hear about it.

     "Don't worry about me coming on to you." She misread my uneasiness. "I'm one of the few straight people at this table."

      I was more concerned by her mention of auburn hair. My hair was strawberry blond. But I had a feeling there'd be no changing Maria's mind. Auburn hair was probably more poetic.

      "I'm not one of the straight ones," the last girl introduced. Objectively speaking, like I had with Jaxson, she was stunning. Not many people could rock the shaved look, but she did. The buzzcut accentuated her oval face. Eyeliner complimenting green eyes with flecks of brown, she wore a white crop top with forest green cargo pants. With her head rested on Maria's shoulder, she smiled dashingly before telling me her name. "Amelia Taylor..."

      Time stopped. Her pink lips kept moving but I heard nothing. This was the Amelia. Of course, it was. Of course, she had to be the coolest person I'd ever laid eyes on. How was I supposed to be friends with someone of that caliber? This was his reason. I had no doubt that Jaxson had done this on purpose. I should have put two and two together much sooner. Evil bastard.

      "I don't know." Avi's voice brought me back to present time. "I think she looks like an Amy."

      I shook out of my revery. "Who does?"

      There was a chorus of chuckles. "We were just wondering what your name was."

      "Oh! Sorry." My cheeks turned pink, again. "I get in my head sometimes. I tend to zone out a lot."

      Attention briefly returning to Amelia, I shifted my gaze nervously. "Nice to meet you, Amelia," I added once I remembered her recent introduction. Her name was heavy on my tongue.

      The group was momentarily silent, five pairs of eyes watching me as if they were waiting for something.

      "Oh." I finally clued in. "I'm Addilyn. Addilyn Byrne. You can call me Addie."

      There was a chorus of nice to meet you.

      "No cool traits to go with your name?" Avi tried.

       The only thing that came to mind was my recently instilled ghost status. Probably not something they'd consider cool.

      "Cool isn't in my vocabulary."

       "Nonsense." Avi waved his hand in dismissal. "You caught our attention."

      "Only because my tour guide ditched me. I drew your attention like a stray dog would."

      That earned me another couple of chuckles.

      "Ooh, cynical," Léa cooed in her heavy French accent. "You'll get along well with Maria."

      Raven bangs swaying as she leaned forward with enthusiasm, Maria fixed me with her blue eyes. "Have you ever tried writing poetry?"

     "Not outside of school assignments."

      Maria hummed with intrigue. "I could help you tap into it," she said. "Something in your eyes tells me you'd be good at it."

      Depression? Self-loathing? Crushing insecurities?

     "She should come tomorrow!" Naoko voiced elatedly. His keenness was returned by the group, while the smallest frown flickered across my face.

      "The poetry slam," Maria explained. Immediately picking up on the apprehension displayed by my tense muscles, she went on. "Just to watch. These four won't be participating tomorrow... unless you want to?"

      "I'll stick to just watching for now." Forever, preferably.

      "So, you'll come?" Avi beamed.

      I hesitated. I could easily make up an excuse, like having to finish unpacking to avoid the anxiety that tomorrow's socializing would surely ensue. But... I wasn't going to help Amelia by avoiding her. So, though it was out of my comfort zone, I forced myself to nod, praying their offer was genuine and not just curtesy.

       "Great. We can pick you up at four?" Maria offered. "It'll give us time to get food and have a little tour."

      "This place and the park are really the only places you need to know about S-town, anyway," Avi piped.

        Falling into conversation about the full details of their plans and some drama between two of tomorrow's poets, I couldn't keep up. I enjoyed their present nonetheless, trying all my might not to focus too intently on Amelia. She was quiet, even more quiet as Maria drove me home. There was nothing wrong with being a quiet person. I considered myself a quiet person, especially in the presence of new company. But something told me Amelia was usually different. There was a certain confidence in her stance. I witnessed brief moments during which her personality shone through, but then green eyes would flick my way, and she'd simmer down. She was holding back because of my presence. I was consumed with thoughts that I might have already messed this up, convinced that I had done or said something to create an awful first impression.

      When I returned to the safe home, I found Jaxson amongst other ghostly colleagues at the kitchen table.

      "You suck," I told him as form of greeting.

      With a mouthful, he couldn't respond, struggling to chew faster. With no context, Leonard burst into laughter, loud guffaw further startling Jaxson. Taking one of the many seats at the table, I let the corner of my lips turn upwards, a silent sign that I wasn't actually upset.