A simple action can change the fate of the world.

A simple secret can unleash terror,

causing the reactions after it to set off an

unknowable chain of events. 

—Eira Silverite

Laughter bubbled and popped through the air as Coco Teal chased her ten-year-old brother, Raysen, down the stairs. 

It was a clear, Sunday morning in Summerville as the Teal siblings were getting ready for their outing to the supermarket. Only, Raysen was being a little difficult in putting on his shoes. 

The house they lived in was located in a safe, quiet neighborhood. Nothing exciting ever happened on these streets and Coco was often grateful for that. After their parents’ deaths, her and Ray traveled through many foster homes until Coco finally turned eighteen, got a job, and slowly situated them into this lovely neighborhood. 

She was about to turn nineteen and was thankful she managed to accomplish so much in such a short amount of time.

Their house was two stories tall and a bit cramped. The two bedrooms on the second floor used to be one until Coco figured out how to section off the rooms and add a small hallway. A tiny bathroom was tucked into a tiny nook by the stairs. Occupying the first floor was a living room and kitchen. Hidden in a small closet under the stairs was the washer and dryer.

It wasn’t the most ideal home Coco wanted to create for her younger brother, but at least it was stable and safe. The orphanage would have to go to great lengths to find out their home address since she used a P.O. box at the local post office. 

They were adamant about keeping in contact with her. After the constant back and forth with foster families, Coco held no love for the orphanage. She couldn’t even conjure up the ability to lie and say the people working there did their best. Because they didn’t.

Coco couldn’t remember how many times she would fall asleep, terrified Ray would be taken from her. It nearly happened when she was sixteen. Adoption rates were low and the number of children kept increasing. The head organizer of the orphanage thought it might save money by tearing siblings apart.

It was a time she didn’t want to remember. She went to great lengths to escape the moment she turned eighteen. Nineteen was so close on the horizon. She refused to let her past ruin her and Ray’s future.

Coco attended college part-time and worked the rest of the time she had off at a cute little bakery in town. Sundays were typically saved to spend her leisure time with Ray. 

It was a happy life she and Raysen had been deprived of for too many years. She wasn’t about to change that. 

 “Raysen!” Coco shouted as she tackled him onto the couch, a small shoe in each hand. “You have to put your shoes on, silly!” 

She playfully tickled him as he shrieked with laughter. “Coco, stop!” Ray gasped between laughs. “I’ll put my shoes on, I swear!” 

Coco rose to her feet, grinning, “Good.” She glanced at the clock. “Pulser should be here any minute and you promised him you’d be ready to go when he got here.” 

Ray smiled and shoved his feet into his shoes.

Coco and Ray had always been odd in their physical features. Coco’s hair was like the color of a pink rose. She was born with it and never had what was considered a natural hair color other than her rose colored one. Her eyes, so similar to her hair, were the color of a dew-kissed rose petal surrounded by a light pink ring.

Ray had deep, vivid black eyes bordered by dark green circles. His hair was just as inky black as his eyes. Like his sister, he was born this way. Unlike his sister, he thought it was cool to have eyes like theirs. Coco thought it was highly unnatural and strange since they hadn’t encountered anyone with similar features…

Well, almost no one. 

Pulser was the exception.  

He had black hair, which was normal enough, but, when looked at in direct sunlight, there seemed to be a hint of green reflecting off it. And his eyes, so similar to Coco and her brother, were emerald green with rings of brilliant yellow.

It made Coco wonder from time to time if her and Pulser were actually related. Their eyes were too vivid to be considered natural and the colorful rings around their irises stood out too much when compared to others. She didn’t like to dwell on that possibility because it opened up too many doors to what if.

She grew up with Pulser and, despite the fact that she moved from foster home to foster home, they became friends. 

The doorbell rang. Coco hurried from the kitchen and opened the front door. There, she found Pulser grinning down at her. “You arrived just in time.” 

He peeked around her shoulder to see Ray struggling into a jacket. He let out an amused laugh. “I can see that.” 

“Shall we?” Coco asked as Ray raced outside into the frigid air.

“Looks like someone’s in a rush,” Pulser teased.

“He’s been looking forward to this all weekend. You know how much he loves you.”

Pulser met Coco’s gaze and smiled.

The supermarket trip was overly uneventful, much to Ray’s disappointment. When they arrived back home, he slouched away to finish his homework for school while Coco and Pulser went to put away the groceries. 

“How’re things at the bakery? I remember you said someone quit recently.”

Coco rolled her eyes. “Cassie’s cousin, Eve. She complained that there weren’t enough men working in the back. Apparently, Cassie told Eve that she could find a boyfriend if she worked with us. Eve thought she meant Zach and Cassie thought Eve understood she was talking about the customers. I mean, who wants to date the owner?”

“Should I tell him you said that?”

“No.”

Laughing, Pulser finished putting away a bag of groceries and started on the next one. “How long are you planning to work there?”

“The bakery? I don’t know.” Coco hid her face inside a cabinet while she put away canned fruit. “If nothing pans out after graduation, I guess I’ll stay.”

“You’re too hard on yourself. You’ll find a job in no time.”

“You think?”

“I know. You’re smart, creative, and one of the best digital artists in your class.”

Shaking her head, Coco shoved her empty bag inside the one Pulser discarded. “What do you want to do after school?”

“Me? I’m not sure. I haven’t given it much thought. I might move on to grad.”

“I see.”

Silence enveloped the kitchen.

Coco fidgeted with a bag of chips in her hand, waiting for her friend to finally get whatever he had off his chest. He wasn’t usually this talkative after a round of grocery shopping.

“Your birthday is coming up soon.” Pulser noncommittally voiced as he put away a loaf of bread. 

Coco shrugged, putting the bag of chips in the pantry. “It’s not something I like to think too much about considering my parents died on my birthday. You should know this by now.” There was a bitter edge to her voice. He knew she hated talking about this.

Pulser frowned. “I know. But I want to do something special for your birthday this year.” 

“I’m going to spend it with Ray, like I always do.” Coco spoke slowly, doing her best not to get angry. She and Pulser already had this argument countless times before. She didn’t enjoy her birthday and she never would. She wished he would respect that.

Pulser let out a long sigh, closing the refrigerator with a snap. “Will you at least take a walk with me after my classes end?” 

“You know you’re always welcome to visit. You’re invited to my little birthday get-together.” 

Pulser met her sharp gaze and forced a smile. “Humor me, then?” 

Coco rolled her eyes in response. 

~~~

The week flew by like it always did. Coco found herself immersed in work and school, not paying much attention to the days as they passed. The only reason she acknowledged it was her birthday was because of Pulser’s constant talk about it. She didn’t celebrate. He knew that. Yet he was still insisting they do something despite her many attempts to explain that she was spending it with Ray, end of story.

If he only brought it up once or twice, she wouldn’t think anything of it. But it kept happening. In the mornings when they left for school, during break, lunchtime, study sessions; basically, any time they spent together, he would bring it up.

He kept mentioning it around Ray, which led to her brother feeling like he needed to do something for her birthday when in the past he never did. She was so close to losing her cool with Pulser.

“Something bothering you?”

Startled from her thoughts, Coco looked up at Charlotte, one of her coworkers at Sweet Bakery. She was a kind woman with beautiful bronze skin. Her dark, curly hair was pulled up in a bun and out of the way. She had become a very close friend to Coco over the course of their time together.

“I’m just thinking.”

Charlotte grinned. “The front has been empty pretty much all afternoon. I’m your friend. You can talk to me if you need a listening ear.”

Coco sighed. As much as she wanted to keep her frustrations to herself, she knew it wasn’t good to bottle things up. And Charlotte was right. They hadn’t had a customer in over an hour. It was bound to be a slow day.

“It’s Pulser.”

“Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’s fine,” Coco cast her gaze to the window. “My birthday…Pulser knows I don’t celebrate but he keeps bringing it up every time we talk. It’s annoying.”

 “Sounds annoying. Need me to knock some sense into him?”

Coco laughed. “No, it should be fine. I think he’s starting to get the hint.”

“Is that the only thing bothering you?”

Coco looked up and met Charlotte’s inquiring gaze. “Not the only thing…I don’t know. It’s just. Do you ever feel like there’s something missing in your life? Like, you’re so close to figuring it out, finding that missing piece, only to be disappointed when you don’t.”

“I’m a thirty-year-old woman, Coco. I can assure you everyone feels that way. It’s completely normal at your age, or really any age, to feel like something is missing. We have endless opportunity with little direction on which course to take. Not knowing is half the battle. Take things as they come. Try not to worry about making mistakes. It’s going to happen regardless of all the planning you do, trust me.”

At Charlotte’s pained expression, Coco gave a smile. “Thanks for that. If it was just me, I don’t think I’d worry so much.”

“You’re doing a fine job raising your brother.” Charlotte pulled her in for a hug. Her brown eyes were warm. “Everyone here can see that.”

“Thank you. Not just for this. But for hiring me the moment I walked through the door.”

“Don’t sweat it. You fit right in. Zach is looking for lifetime employees. He’s hoping you stay for a long while.”

Coco rested her head against Charlotte’s shoulder. “I sometimes feel like Summerville isn’t the place I’m meant to be.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. It feels like I’m supposed to be somewhere else, doing something else. Having Pulser go on and on about the one thing I don’t like isn’t helping…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

 “You have nothing to apologize for. I’ll always be here for you.”

“Thanks, Char.” Coco gave her one final squeeze before moving to take out the empty display racks for cake. She loved talking to Charlotte and really valued her input and advice.

The front door chimed open.

Charlotte snorted. “Speak of the devil and he shall appear.”

Coco elbowed her as she set the racks down.

“Hey, Charlotte. Nice to see you again.”

“You, too, Pulser.”

Coco bit back a sigh. While she viewed Pulser as family, most of her friends outside of college were slow to warm up to him. She could see why with the way he held himself as if he were royalty, and the constant smirk on his face was off-putting in most situations.

Having grown up with him, she knew he wasn’t conceited. He had a lot of respect for those around him and was one of the kindest people she knew. It was just unfortunate he didn’t communicate that well with his body language.

“What’re you doing here?” Coco asked, stepping around the front counter to greet him.

“What, I’m not allowed to visit you when I’m free?”

“I didn’t say that. You don’t normally visit on Fridays. Just wanted to make sure everything’s okay.”

“Everything’s fine, don’t worry.” Pulser ran a hand through his hair.

The baker in the back poked his head out. He was in his mid-thirties and in charge of most of the baking. He was also the owner.

“Thought I heard your voice, Pulser.” His smile was bright and matched his calm blue eyes.

“Good to see you, Zach.”

“Man, you two are quite the sight. I don’t know how you manage to keep the dye from fading after two weeks. The contacts are still badass. You both look like superheroes about to avenge the world.”

Coco forced a laugh and hid her discomfort at his words. Most people thought she was lying when she said she was born this way. Eventually, she accepted people’s assumptions that she specifically dyed her hair and wore colored contacts. It was much easier than arguing with them and being called a liar.

“Very rarely does it feel that way,” Pulser joked.

Zach grinned, leaning his muscular arms against the countertop. “True. What brings you here today? You usually stop by on Saturdays.”

Coco and Charlotte shared a look.

“I’m here to take Coco out for her birthday.”

“It’s your birth—”

“I said no, Pulser. Don’t make me repeat myself.” Coco threw Zach an apologetic grimace.

“At least take a walk with me?”

“I have to pick up Ray in an hour. Maybe next time.”

Pulser gestured broadly to the window. “Let’s walk there together. It’s a beautiful day and the weather is perfect.”

Coco yanked off her apron, glaring at him. “If it gets you to shut up, fine.” She’d rather leave thirty minutes early than stay and argue with Pulser in the bakery.

“Why are you angry?”

“Why am I angry? Do you really have to ask? I’ve been telling you for days now that I didn’t want to do anything for my birthday yet you keep ignoring me. I already said no. I don’t know why you’re being like this.”

“Coco—”

“Forget it. Wait for me outside.”

She ignored Zach’s stare and headed towards the employee changing room. Unsurprisingly, Charlotte followed after.

“Are you sure you should be going with him right now?”

Coco appreciated the worry clouding her voice. “It’s fine. I know he wouldn’t be like this if he didn’t have something on his mind. I want to know why he’s been so insistent on bringing up my birthday.”

Charlotte reached out and drew her into a hug. “I’m just a phone call away. If you need anything, I’m here.”

“Thank you.”