Sincerely, Vintage (Part 16)

Tracey

It’s a favorite sweatshirt day.

Tracey scooched out of her sleeping bag and bounced to her closet, enjoying the feeling of her bare feet on the cold floor. A few moments later, she stood in front of her mirror, the one Hrida had found for her at some thrift shop.

For Tracey, “favorite sweatshirt” meant the paint-splattered white one, with sleeves that fell over her hands like gloves. Before she left, she happened to glance down. A faded Sharpie heart decorated one of the cuffs. After all this time, she still hadn’t gotten around to washing it out.

She barreled down the stairs and out into the street, leaping onto the top of the first wall she saw. She skimmed along it and then flipped down, smiling at the feeling of her feet slamming into the ground. As the sun climbed into the sky, she made her way through the streets, pushing her body to its limits until she finally started to feel like herself. Ever since she and Vince had met with Kol, something had been itching at the back of her mind, making it difficult for her to sit still. She felt like she would explode if she ever stopped moving for too long.

She slowed to a walk once she reached the market, catching her breath. Her eyes wandered to the heart on her sleeve again, but it vanished when she clenched her hands into fists.

When she walked up to their table, Hrida and Derrick were sitting closer than usual. They looked like they were in the middle of a conversation, but Tracey decided to roll right past that.

“Morning! Have you gotten your coffee, Hrida?”

Hrida looked up, smiling at the sight of her friend.

“No, I’ll come with you.”

Tracey soaked up the smell of coffee while they ordered their drinks and sat to wait at the counter. Hrida kept looking down at her hands, twirling one of her rings around and around on her finger. A sudden thought occurred to Tracey, and a sly grin crossed her face.

“Did I just see you and Derrick holding hands under the table?”

The startled look on Hrida’s face confirmed her suspicions.

“I mean, um, you see, the thing is-”

“It was just a thought. Please correct me if I’m wrong.”

Hrida shot a glare at Tracey, but it quickly dissolved into a smile. Tracey smiled back at her and leaned over to hug her.

“I’m happy for you.”

The sounds of quiet conversation and clinking dishes floated over them. If Tracey closed her eyes, she could pretend that the rest of the world didn’t exist. No Kol, no monsters roaming the streets, no problems.

She came back to earth when her coffee appeared in front of her. Hrida took a sip of her drink, then turned to Tracey.

“How are you feeling?”

“About what?”

“Tomorrow.”

A drop of ice slid down Tracey’s spine and into the pit of her stomach.

“I honestly don’t know. A little nervous, but I’ll be fine.”

Hrida went silent for a moment. When she spoke, Tracey could tell she was trying to place her words carefully.

“What was it like, being in that room with Kol?”

One blink and Tracey was back in that small dim room, Kol’s eyes glowing like blue ice against his tattoos. Those eyes looked like they could pin her to a wall, picking her apart until all her secrets were out in the open.

“Like being in a cage with a tiger.” Tracey took a sip of her drink to avoid saying anything else. Kol scared her more than she liked to admit. She stared down at the foam on the top of her coffee, watching as the tiny bubbles drifted on the surface, then popped.

So fragile.

“Vince is here,” Hrida commented. She hadn’t even looked at the door, but somehow she knew. Tracey turned around before she could stop herself. Vince slid into the booth and struck up a conversation with Derrick. Both of them looked worried.

“C’mon.” Tracey stood up on impulse, picking up her drink and crossing the room without checking if Hrida was even behind her. The guys shifted to make room for the two of them. Tracey stalled for an instant, then took the seat next to Vince. She made sure to keep distance between them, but Vince didn’t notice. He’d already taken a jumble of tech out of his pockets and started working.

As Tracey wrapped her hands around her mug, the noises surrounding her faded away. The cozy warmth of her coffee was the only thing keeping her grounded, stopping her from running to the edge of the city and then into whatever lay outside of it. She had to do something.

“So, who's our champion?”

Everyone looked up. Vince even came out of his tinkering. For a moment, Tracey felt like everyone else in the cafe had stopped to listen, too.

“Me.”

Vince looked at each of them, his eyes methodically shifting from Hrida to Derrick. When he turned to look at Tracey, she noticed something different about his expression, something she hadn’t seen in a while.

He had that look on his face, the stubborn determination of the moment when someone tried to tell him to get sleep while he had a project to finish. She almost smiled but stopped herself.

“Well, that settles it.” She could feel the caffeine seeping into her system, setting her knee to bouncing under the table. “Y’know what this calls for?”

“What now?” Derrick rolled his eyes. He never seemed to enjoy the products of Tracey’s random ideas.

“Party. At my place, on the roof. And before you start complaining,” she shot a pointed glare at Vince, “I’m handling everything.”

“But,” Vince began. Tracey held up her hand, refusing to look at him.

“Don’t even. You have all day to do whatever you need to do. Everyone else onboard?” She stared at Hrida and Derrick until they both nodded, then sat back in her seat and took a smug sip of coffee.

This is going to be fun.

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