Chapter Text
I walked into my new apartment. I had just bought it after finishing college. At first, I wanted to live with a friend because I didn’t like living alone. Being alone made it easier for my mental illnesses to take control of my life. But I had no choice because the person I wanted to live with had made other plans. I was fine with it since it was their decision but it still hurt.
I started to unpack my things but, after a while, I got hungry and left to find something. After some looking online, I found a cafe that looked interesting. So, I left to check it out.
I went inside when I saw it. It looked interesting and I decided to get something.
“Hey, welcome to CaFae Latte. What are you getting?” A woman asked. She looked like a creature from mythology. Fae, maybe? She seemed interesting.
“Hi, I’m new to town. I would like a mocha and…” I looked at the desserts. “Oh, there’s blueberry muffins. I’ll take one of those.”
“On it.” The woman called to the back, “JC! We need more blueberry muffins!’
“Alright, Bob.” Another voice said. I assumed that was JC.
“Your name’s Bob?” I asked.
As I paid for the food and drink, the Fae woman said, “It’s more of a nickname. Faeries don’t normally give out our real names in fear of people using our names to curse us. JC gave me the nickname Bob and my ward the nickname Cyrus.”
“Cool.” I said. A thought struck me. “Are you guys hiring?”
“Perhaps.” Bob said. “Do you need a job?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I just graduated from college not too long ago. I just got an apartment and need a job. Could I work here? It seems interesting.”
“Sure.” Bob said. “When are you free next so we could set up an interview?”
“Does tomorrow work?” I asked.
“Sure.” Bob smiled. “Come back whenever you can.”
A person in a jean jacket with a nonbinary pin and a white dress entered with a bag with what I assumed was my muffin. I guessed this was JC. They said, “Here's your muffin and coffee. Have a nice day.”
“Thank you.” I took a sip of the coffee. “Wow. That’s awesome. Even if I don’t get a job here, I am coming back. This is good.”
“Thank you.” Bob said. “Have a good day.”
I left and went back to my apartment. The muffin and coffee were amazing. After that, I tried to write one of my stories but got stuck at one part. Then, when I got tired, I went to bed and fell asleep.
I went back to the CaFae in the morning. Bob was in the front and we went to a table to start the interview. It went well. I got the job. Then I went behind the counter and started training. I met someone named Rethu who helped me learn what to do.
“Hey,” Rethu said. “My name is Rethu. She/her pronouns today, but that might change.”
“I’m Caitlyn.” I said. “She/they pronouns. But I am questioning that. But use them until I figure it out.”
“Nice.” Rethu then showed me how to make the coffees. JC, after telling me their pronouns, showed me the items they were making. After that, I started working at the front and began working as a cashier.
“Hey, welcome to CaFae Latte. What are you getting?” I asked. “Just so you know, I am new so it might take a minute.”
“Oh, that’s fine.” The man said. “I wouldn’t mind looking at you longer.”
“If you are going to ask me out, I am a lesbian. I am not into guys. Girls are hotter.” I said. “Now stop being creepy and tell me what you want.”
“Hey, I’m not being creepy.” The guy protested. “It was a compliment.”
Bob appeared behind me and said, “She was right. You are being a creep. Now cut it out or be cursed to not get laid for a year.”
“You can curse people?” I asked her.
“Yes,” Bob said, “I am a Fae sorceress. And a pretty powerful one, too.”
“Oh, cool.” I said. “So magic is real?”
“Yes,” Bob said.
“Interesting.” I said thoughtfully.
“Hello?” The man said, annoyed. “You can’t curse me. That’s not legal.”
“It’s technically not illegal. It's actually been helping the community deal with assholes like you.” Bob said. She looked at the guy, “You are now cursed to not get laid or get a girlfriend until you are a decent person to women and respect their authority. Now leave.”
As he left, he flipped her off but Bob did not care. She looked at me and asked, “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I said. “Men like that are really annoying. But I’m used to it. Most guys in my high school were shitty like that, but I ignored them. The only good ones were my friends. Though half are trans and almost all of them are gay. And all of us are theater kids.”
“Nice.” Bob said. “Did you do theater?”
“Yeah,” I said. “All of us were in the drama club in high school. I also joined it in college. But I had to leave when I graduated. I haven’t found anything like it in this town yet.”
“There’s a theater down the street.” A black woman in a flannel shirt with pins said. “It’s near my school where I work. I could show you somewhere.”
“Really?” I was shocked. I started shaking my arms, excited. “Thank you!” I stopped shaking my arms, embarrassed. “Sorry.”
“Are you autistic?” The black woman asked.
“I don’t know.” I said. “I have suspected that I am for a while. But I haven’t got diagnosed yet. But I have a lot of signs that say I am. Like sensory issues and hyper fixations.”
“What are your current fixations?” The black woman asked.
“Currently, it’s writing. I love writing stories and making characters. But it doesn’t help with a mental illness I have, but I’m working on dealing with that and continuing my love of writing.” I explained.
“What mental illness?” A fae man asked.
“Cyrus, they don’t need to tell us if they aren’t comfortable.” Bob said.
“No, it’s fine.” I said. “It’s called Maladaptive Daydreaming. Basically, it means that I daydream more than a normal person. It began after my stepmom gave me some trauma and has gotten worse as more and more bad and traumatic things happened in my life. But, with the help of some therapy, it’s gotten better. But I have some slip ups when I’m stressed, overwhelmed, or not mentally okay. I am currently doing okay and have been able to control it recently.”
“That’s good.” JC said. “I’ve dealt with some mental health shit and it sucks. Especially when you’re doing it alone.”
“Yeah.” I said. “It’s even worse when your mom thinks you’re fine and, when you try to tell her that you need to go to therapy, she just says you’re fine and starts to compare you to other people.”
After a moment of silence, JC said, “Damn. Your mom sucks.”
“Yeah,” I said. “It's worse when her kids are LGBTQ+ and she doesn’t support us. And yet she is a social worker at a school and supports the kids there. She also helps the kids with mental health shit but not us. It sucks but we can’t do much about it. When we went to college, we cut contact with her. I would have done it immediately, but I went to community college for the first year of college and had to stay with her. I did it when I moved to college and haven’t heard from her since.”
“Damn!” JC exclaimed. “Bob, want to curse that bitch?”
“That depends.” Bob said. “Do you want me to do that, Caitlyn?”
I thought for a moment. “No. Not yet, at least. Unless she comes here and tries something, don’t.”
“Alright.” Bob said. “That’s fair.”
After work that day, I went home and did some research. I had talked to Bob and Cyrus that day and learned that there were more supernatural creatures in that town and in the world. Being a nerd and a writer, I wanted to learn as much as I could about them. Once I finished, I fell asleep.