I opened my door and shuffled back to let him in, not looking at him.  He seemed startled that I’d opened the door, hesitated for a moment, then came in.  He didn’t say anything as I shut and locked the door behind him.

     Now the problem was I wasn’t sure what to do from here.  I’d just let him into my tiny, shabby apartment and I wasn’t even sure why.

     “You know Honey, right?”  He asked.  When I nodded after a long pause, I could hear his quick intake of breath.  “Thank the sun, you can hear me.  And of course you know Honey, I mean you work with her so that makes sense.  What was I thinking?  Do you have her number?  Oh it doesn’t matter, I do, I can just give it to you.  Can you call her?  Get her to come here and explain what’s going on.”

     And there it was, the first problem with why I thought I would actually be able to help.  “I don’t have a phone,” I admitted quietly.

     That surprised him.  “Wait, seriously?  Who doesn’t have a phone these days?”

     Me.  I don’t.  I wasn’t sure if that was true of anyone else, but I didn’t.  It wasn’t like I ever had to call someone, I didn’t have friends or anyone to contact.  Phones were just a lot of money that I couldn’t afford.  Molly knew I didn’t have one and was fine with it.  I rarely took time off unexpectedly, even when injured, because I couldn’t afford to or I might not be able to make rent or save for my next class.  Phones were just extra.

     “There’s a pay phone three blocks from here,” I informed him, still keeping my eyes on the floor.  “I use that when I need to call anyone.”

     “Oh.  Okay.”  He seemed puzzled but then shrugged.  “Can we call her from there?  She can call Sorrel, they should be able to fix this.”

     I dug into my wallet, hoping I had enough spare change for a phone call.  One quarter, two…I needed another.  Without looking at my guest, who seemed confused, I went over to a box sitting next to my ragged couch and started digging through it.  I saved loose change I found on the street, that was what I considered my “splurge” money that I would spend on something unnecessary once I got enough.  Usually only once or maybe twice a year, something small.  I could get a quarter out of this, though, if it was needed.

     Once I got the required coin, I stuck it in my wallet and headed to the door.

     It took him a second to realize we were going and he quickly trotted after me.  “You don’t talk much, do you?”

     I shook my head as I locked the door behind us and started back down the hall towards the stairs.

     “I’m Ren, by the way.  I suppose I should introduce myself.  Honey’s my older sister.  I ended up invisible thanks to a witch’s curse – it’s a long story – and I know she and Sorrel – that’s my older brother – and our parents are freaked out that I’m missing but I haven’t been able to let them know what’s going on.”

     He kept talking as we went down the stairs, explaining how he’d seen witches near his house and was afraid to go near the house in case they could do something to him, so he’d tried to track down his siblings.  Apparently his attempts with his brother had been unsuccessful so he’d hunted down Honey’s workplace instead, which was where he’d found me by accident.

     He also told me about different things he’d tried to get Sorrel’s and Honey’s attention as we walked.  I was starting to wonder if he ever stopped talking or this was just because he was relieved to finally find someone who could hear him when he suddenly paused.

     “You, uh, could see and hear all that in the café earlier, couldn’t you?”  He sounded embarrassed.

     I shrugged slightly.  We were almost at the pay phone, so it was time to round up my quarters.

     “I felt like an idiot, yelling in the middle of a café like that, but I had to do something to try to get her attention.  Sorry you could hear all that, I guess that wouldn’t be exactly fun to listen in on.”

     Sorry?  He was apologizing?  I…I wasn’t sure how to take that.  He wasn’t treating me like they usually did, he was just treating me like a normal person.  Right, I reminded myself, it was probably just because he was so relieved to get help, and once that relief wore off he’d remember.  Don’t forget, no matter how nice they seem, it’s not the case.  Don’t make the mistake of trusting him.

     I slipped the quarters into the machine and then looked in the direction of his feet.  “Number?”

     “Oh, right.”  He had to tell me the number twice since I couldn’t remember it all at one go, and then I heard the phone ringing.

     My hands instinctively gripped the phone tighter.  What was I doing?  I was willingly throwing myself into what was going to be a nightmare.  Honey – a coworker – would know I was a freak.  She would know.

     I was going to have to quit my job.  Probably move.  Definitely move, at least he – Ren – knew where I lived.  Even if I survived the night, my life was going to be totally disrupted.  I’d probably have to drop out of my class, losing the fees on that.

     I could feel tears prickling my eyes at the thought.  I was trying so hard to get my degree, and throwing away the money I scrounged and saved to take the class was heartbreaking.

     But I still didn’t hang up the phone.  Even if it was going to utterly upend my life, even if I knew it was a trap, I was still going to try to help.

     I was stupid.

     And then someone answered the phone and I heard Honey’s voice come through the line.  “Hello?”