The Clover Chonicles of Zoey Lawrence

She waited on a side road where the street was made of brick and the buildings surrounding towered high to envelope her into a sort of alley. The air fell thin and frigid, and danced around her as if it were afraid to get too close. She flipped up the collar on the worn leather jacket she was wearing, and rubbed her hands together briskly while tossing her golden locks over her shoulder to keep them from her face.

The sound of traffic could be heard from the main road. It beckoned to her; invited her to the speed and chaos and mayhem that the big city offered. Thinking for a moment on how he should have been here by now, she pulled a bronzed timepiece from her jean pocket to check the time, spending just a little too long watching the second hand toy around with her.

She began to tap one foot absent mindedly, while slipping the piece back into her pocket. She made a rhythm, clicking the heel of her knee high boot against one brick and then another. Wrapping her jacket just a little tighter around her frame, she wondered if he was going to show up at all. And if he didn't, she wondered what she was going to do to him when he did show up.

He walked quickly past suit wearing businessmen and women with long coats wrapped around them. The wind bit into his jacket as it blew between towering skyscrapers, funneling down the long avenues. He was already late, but he hoped she would wait just a little longer. He just had to make it down a few more streets and he would be there.

The sounds of the city filled the crisp air, creating a melody of honking cars, heavy machinery, and human voices. He had long since grown accustomed to this cacophony of endless sound, and had accepted it as much as the concrete beneath his feet or the sky above his head. He rounded a corner and saw the sign for the street he needed, his breath blowing out in a momentary vapor as he picked up his pace to a slow jog.

He dodged past the people in front of him, the street sign beckoning him to hurry. He finally reached it and made right turn, looking down a less crowded street. Just a few yards away he saw her and walked hastily over to her, mist puffing out with each breath. "Hey, sorry I'm late." He said as he stopped in front of her. "I didn't keep you waiting to long did I?"

A furrowed brow responded before she got the chance to speak. "I had thought we agreed upon an earlier time, though I suppose it's not to late to make an acceptable evening of it all." Her hands found their way triumphantly onto her hips, just enough to dig his punctuality.

Her voice was smooth like water and her eyes were as bright as a cats. A green so light, it was almost yellow--the stare gazed on towards him. It had been too long since their last visit, and it had seemed as if they were practically strangers now.

"What do you say we run into the diner down the block there for some coffee to catch up?" she asked, motioning towards a small cafe called Nestors that was within her line of sight. "It's much too cold out to stay out here."

He smiled sheepishly as she gave him that look that said she was a little miffed but not enough to get worked up about it. "I know, I'm really sorry." he gave an apologetic smile as she put her hands on her hips just like she always used to do when he made a little mistake like this.

He met her green eyes with his own deep brown, flecked with a bit of gold. He remembered those light colored eyes all to well as he looked into them again after so long. His wavy reddish locks dangling down just above his thin eyebrows. His voice was low and mello, as if even when speaking he tried not to be in a hurry.

He nodded in agreement, more than eager to escape the chill wind. "Sounds good." He headed towards the small cafe with her, looking forward to the warmth that awaited them inside the cozy little establishment. He pulled the glass-paned door open, letting her inside first before following after her.

Looking around, she spotted an empty table. Most of them had been empty really, so she was just looking for one that appealed to her. Motioning towards a tiny booth against the wall she began un buttoning her jacket, revealing a deep red scoopneck vest over a tight long sleeve black turtleneck.

She sat, trying to formulate the pattern of words needed for this conversation. The situation was more awkward than she imagined; giving him another chance after everything that happened? Things were different now and she wasn't the doormat she used to be.

She twisted a decorative gold band around her middle finger, something that calmed her every so often. "You know, things aren't going to be as easy this time around," she paused waiting for some tell-all expression to give away his position. "Something odd has been happening to me."

She continued to look into his eyes with a certain seriousness and need for consolement.

He followed her over to the secluded little booth, pulling off his jacket to reveal a gray flannel shirt with a thin turtleneck underneath. He had been right when he thought it would be warm. The little cafe slowly managed to force some of the chill from his bones, making him shiver ever so slightly.

For a moment there was silence. He knew that this would have to come, after what had happened between them, there was no way it wouldn't happen. He tried to think of the words necessary for this. He had changed quite a bit in the time they were apart. He had finally grown up and matured, no longer foolish boy he had once been.

He noticed her playing with a ring on her middle finger before looking back at her when she spoke. "I know, it would be crazy to expect anything different." Her next statement made him pause, unsure what she meant by it. "Odd? Like what?" He wanted to know what she could be referring to, hoping he hadn't missed some kind of cue.

She watchd his features, knowing that he wasn't quite sure what she was talking about--and wondering how he'd react to what she wanted so badly to explain. It was like they hardly knew each other, yet in her heart she felt he was the only one who might be able to grant her the tiniest strand of normalcy she could get. Was it her fault? Could her meddling have affected more than she'd known?

She fished out her pocketwatch and smoothed her fingers over the brass casing. There were turquoise adornments on the front resembling that of a flower, and the fob was dusted in crystal. Shifting her sight from it to him, she popped open the cover.

"I feel, timeless," she started, toying still with the little clock. "Sometimes, without thinking about it.....Time is starting to jump on me." She hoped that he would understand what she meant, and would know what to do. She hadn't asked for this to happen, it just came with the frost.

"It started with my eyes playing tricks on me, I'd look at a clock and watch the hands spin too quick, and watch hours jump before me--and I thought it was illusion or a faulty clock... I thought maybe I was going crazy--but I'm not!" There was noticable distress in her eyes, and her head tipped to one side like it did when she became upset.