Aubrie was late. Not by any fault of her own. One of her less likeable customers, the so-called “bandana customer”, had decided to wander into the Paracosmic just two minutes before closing time. Again. He had then proceeded to take up so much time with his order that she had ended up closing the café late.

Of course this all had to happen the day night classes began.

She was already going to be late regardless, but if she missed this bus, she might as well not bother showing up to class.

But that wasn’t an option either. She could already see her siblings’ disappointed faces when she told them she’d missed that vital first meeting.

As she rounded the corner, she saw the bus already at the stop. The doors were closing.

“Please, hold the door!” Aubrie cried out, trying to run faster. She thought she’d miss the bus, hands hopelessly reaching out for closed doors. Then the doors slammed open. Rather than pause for surprise, she quickly hopped on.

“Thank you!” she called to the bus driver. Then she beamed at the person that had been frantically pressing the button on her behalf.

“Thank you so much… Oh.” She recognized him. She smiled warmly. “Hello, iced green tea latte and avocado smash.”

“Always a pleasure, Miss Sanders,” Green Tea greeted. “So, just come off work?” he suavely asked, like he had not just been panicking a few seconds ago.

“Yes. You have no idea how much I could not afford to miss this bus,” she told him.

“Didn’t even have time to change out of uniform, I take it?” he asked.

Aubrie looked down and realized she was wearing her Paracosmic uniform, black waistcoat, nametag and all. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten to change.

“I was in a rush,” she told him, a little flustered, taking off the nametag.

“Must have been,” he concurred. “Anywhere special?”

“Night classes,” she told him. When he looked at her confused, she explained, “It’s an experiment to get working teenagers high school degrees.”

“How novel. I hope it works,” he said. “Who knows, maybe if it does work, we can go to university together.”

“Ha, you just want me to hand-deliver you coffee,” Aubrie argued.

“You wound me, Miss Sanders,” Green Tea complained. “But you’re not wrong.”

Green Tea was one of Aubrie’s first regulars. It had only taken a few weeks for the two to start bantering as if they were friends.

“By the way,” Green Tea continued, “my name is not iced green tea latte and avocado smash.” He leaned forward and she suddenly realized she was standing rather close to him. She didn’t mind and he didn’t seem to either. “I’m Alarie,” he told her.

She smiled.

“I’m Aubrie.”

His smile brightened. “Pleasure to meet you, Aubrie.”

“Pleasure’s all mine,” she replied. “So, you go to high school?”

“Yes. I started my final year today,” Alarie answered. Aubrie’s nose scrunched up.

“Hey, that makes you older than me! Why would we ever study at university together, if you’re older than me?”

“I might take a break for two years, you don’t know me,” Alarie argued, defensively. “You don’t know me yet,” he corrected himself. Then paused. “Please tell me you’re not fifteen.”

“Sixteen, actually. Back in May.”

“Ah. I’m seventeen. Eighteen in February,”

“Did you skip a year?”

“Yes, actually,” Alarie replied.

“Oh, well that's impressive!”

“Thanks,” he answered, looking a little flustered. He cleared his throat. “So,” he continued, “have you settled into Orthank?” When she looked at him shocked, he asked, “Are you not new?”

“Yeah, but how did you know?”

“You turned sixteen in May, which means the Paracosmic is likely your first job. You have complained to me about rent, but rarely mention your parents, so you probably live alone. Most teenagers with that kind of lifestyle are originally from the countryside, so I guessed that you’re new to the city.”

“Are you some kind of detective?” she asked, astounded.

“Actually, yes,” Alarie answered proudly. “Well, kind of… I work as an assistant to a private investigator. And often put my nose where it doesn’t belong.”

She laughed. “Are teen detectives common?”

“Hardly. But I do know a thing or two about Orthank, thanks to being a streetwise detective,” he boldly claimed. He tilted his head a little. “If I had your phone number, I could show you around…?” he half-asked. When she looked at him surprised, he ended up smiling sheepishly.

She smiled sweetly back.

“Sounds practical,” she told him, whipping out her phone. They exchanged numbers and Aubrie saved him as Green Tea.

She quite liked this unexpected development. She’d always been curious about Alarie. Amidst all her regulars, he had always stood out and not just because they bantered with each other so easily. There was something about him that intrigued her. She sensed he was curious about her too. Why, she wouldn’t be able to say, since her life was apparently an open book.

“Well, this is my stop. I look forward to seeing you soon,” Alarie said as he got off the bus.

“The latest will be tomorrow morning,” Aubrie reminded him. His lips quirked upwards.

“Perhaps, but not as Aubrie and Alarie,” he argued. “Goodbye, Aubrie.”

“Goodbye, Alarie,” she said, as the doors shut.

— 📀 —

Nocoeur High was a typical inner-city school, in that it was impossible to tell apart from its neighbouring buildings. Rather office-like in design, Aubrie was feeling tired from just looking at it. She rubbed her eyes, feeling dread. The desire to go home was growing.

“It’s not a pretty sight, is it?”

“Hm?”

Aubrie looked over her shoulder. A girl about her age was smiling at her. A black hairband separated the girl’s blonde fringe and bob. She had an easy-going air about her, wearing a sport’s jacket over an off-shoulder top.

“Nocoeur High. It’s not pretty, is it?” the girl repeated.

“No, it’s not,” Aubrie agreed. “Just looking at it makes me feel tired.”

“That’s the effect of forced learning,” the girl clucked, shaking her head. “If I could be anywhere but here, I would be. Same as you, right?”

“I… I can’t say I agree. I’ve never been here before,” Aubrie quietly said.

“You don’t go to school here?” the girl asked, surprised. “Then why are you here?”

“I’m late for night classes,” Aubrie answered honestly. It felt like the girl stared at her for just one moment too long.

“I thought the night classes were only for kids with bad performances,” the girl muttered into the palm of her hand, almost guiltily. “I’m Rella Poole. Student by daytime, recently student by nighttime. Also: running late for class.”

She held her hand out to Aubrie. Aubrie didn’t hesitate to clasp it, smiling.

“Aubrie Sanders. Barista by daytime, student by nighttime. Also: running very late for class.”

Rella grinned.

“Wanna enter in style, then?” she asked. “Someone in this li’l old town’s gotta be fashionably late, after all.”

Aubrie smiled, amused, despite the discomfort from being late. “I’ll follow your lead.”

— 📀 —

Ms Ridgeway had looked displeased when the two had turned up late. Nevertheless, they both were allowed to participate, as they were not so late as to have missed anything but introductions. As the last two seats in the room were far apart, Aubrie was sadly separated from Rella, her first new friend (Alarie did not count, as their relationship was still undefined, despite exchanging contact details).

Aubrie found herself sat next to a boy about her age, who looked… kinda dangerous. His hair was practically shaved on the sides with a large, curly mop of hair sitting on top. A city hairstyle for sure.

He was also wearing nothing more than a white vest and jeans, with his black leather jacket hanging off the chair. He’d be intimidating, if it weren’t for his youthful face.

His name was, according to Ms Ridgeway, Eugene Keyes. He preferred Geno, as his attempts to correct Ms Ridgeway had demonstrated. If this Geno was dangerous, he wasn’t an immediate danger. He had barely acknowledged her when she sat down beside him and throughout the entire maths lessons, he had remained mostly silent, doing the bare minimum work, then snoozing when he thought Ms Ridgeway was not looking. The sleeping sloth clashed with his rebellious appearance, or at least it did in Aubrie’s eyes, so she was determined to get to know him and assess what kind of person her Monday desk-mate was.

She turned to him as soon as their break started.

“Have a long day?” she asked conversationally. She was expecting hostility, or for him to simply ignore her. Instead he stretched his back until it popped, then looked at her.

“You could tell?” he asked with a surprisingly friendly tone.

“You haven’t talked much and have been resting… So, I thought you were tired,” Aubrie answered with a shrug.

“Yeah, I’m pretty tired,” Geno admitted. Then he frowned. “It just sucks so much, you know? I already spend all day at school, and then I have to do more school at night! I mean, who cares if I suck at maths! It’s not like I wanna be a mathematician or something.”

“I see,” Aubrie said tightly. So Geno was in the same boat as Rella – forced to take extra classes to make up for failing daytime ones. Neither of them had a full-time job like her. “If you don’t want to come, why do you?”

“My brother’s making me,” Geno replied. “Says I need at least a high school degree if I want to continue living with him peacefully. And to get that degree, I need to pass maths.” He sighed, leaning back. Then he irritably rubbed his eyes. “Gah, I’m so tired!”

“Ooh!” called Rella, approaching their shared desk. “At risk of falling asleep at work?” she teased. It seemed Rella and Geno knew each other.

“This ain’t no place of work,” Geno griped.

“For us, maybe. But Ms Ridgeway? Absolutely.”

“Feh. I’ll be fine.”

“What’s the problem with falling asleep at work?” Aubrie asked. The two looked at her.

“White Noise?” Rella answered, like it was obvious. When Aubrie continued to look at her blankly, Rella asked, “Hey… You been living under a rock or something? How haven’t you heard of White Noise?”

“I, uh, I only moved to Orthank last month… And I never went to school here…” Aubrie explained.

“Wait, really?” Rella asked. “That’s great! I’ve always wanted to be the Orthank City Expert! Listen up Aubrie-kins, I know all the best places to wine and dine! On a budget too! I know every hidden gem this city provides, and I can get you all sorts of discounts!”

“Oh,” was all Aubrie could say in the face of such enthusiasm.

“Rella, you’re too energetic for this time of day,” Geno bemoaned.

“Well, maybe if you went to bed at a sensible time, you wouldn’t be such a wreck, loser,” Rella retorted, tapping her foot against his shin. He ignored her, burying his face in his arms to go back to sleep.

“You two know each other?” Aubrie asked.

“Classmates, unfortunately,” Rella replied. “Ever since we were kids. Fate always seems to intertwine us, even when I move away from this lazy sack of bones.”

“Hey, I’m all muscle, you’re the sack of bones,” Geno muttered, face still buried in his desk. Rella shook her head.

“Know-it-all,” she grumbled. “Don’t worry about him. He may look tough, but he’s actually just ok,” Rella told her. Aubrie had gathered that much. Well, she was willing to believe that Geno was more than just an ok guy. “But back to important matters,” Rella continued, pulling up a chair, sitting down on it backwards. “You’ve never heard about the terrible creature that is White Noise?”

“It’s an urban myth?” Aubrie asked.

“Ha! Only fools believe that!” Rella dramatically claimed, without any seriousness at all. “White Noise is a misshapen monster; a body dripping with black ink and a TV for a head. The TV blares out white noise, hence the name, but it’s kind of mesmerizing and if you stare and listen for too long, you forget to run and then it eats you. But. It only comes out after working hours, so as long as you don’t fall asleep at your workplace and wake up after everyone else has gone home, you’ll be fine. And, of course, it’s only a real danger to teens holding down part-time jobs. So, our Eugene is unaffected.”

“Geno,” Geno protested, head still buried in his arms.

“In short, White Noise is an urban myth,” Aubrie said with a smirk. Rella grinned.

“It’s fun though, right? What’s not fun is that I’m pretty sure someone invented it to explain why so many teenagers have gone missing. Oh, and adults, I guess.” When Rella noticed Aubrie blanching, she quickly reassured, “Don’t worry. In a city of millions, it’s normal for a handful of people to disappear now and then. They’re usually found later, unharmed.”

“Oh, I see…” Aubrie replied, even though she could tell Rella was lying. She looked down at her black waistcoat. She still needed to return to the Paracosmic after school, to at least fetch her normal clothes. “I guess I’ll be careful not to let White Noise catch me,” she joked.

“That’s… That’s not how you talk about White Noise…” Rella stuttered. “Ah, you know what? You’re cool. I’ll teach you how to talk cool later,” she solemnly promised.

Aubrie smiled and decided to humour her. If she wanted to believe Aubrie was just some naïve country girl, then she could. Rella would find out the truth later. And wouldn't that be fun?