After arriving at the mall, and disposing of his cup, Toby wasn’t quite sure of what to do next.  As he considered getting something to eat, he scanned the room for the attractive redhead that he’d had his eye on for the past few weeks: Artemis Reed.

He wondered if she’d mind some dude approaching her while shoveling food in his face the entire time…  [i]Well.  When you put it that way…[/i]  He could already feel the Hunger setting in, but he resisted.  [i]Maybe when she rejects me, I’ll just grab some avocados and a peanut butter sandwich to go.[/i]

There.  He finally saw her.  She was seated at a table across from some guy.  He couldn’t tell when they were saying, but [i]the guy[/i] certainly seemed happy.  Toby was crestfallen; he’d been hoping to catch her alone.  Then the sting of rejections wouldn’t be so bad…or public.

Suddenly, he heard violin music and he smiled.  It was that really sad song from the movie that his mom liked.  Listening to music always calmed him down, he supposed that it was one of those things that confirmed that he was indeed some sort of monster; music soothes the savage beast, right?

He exhaled.  It was now or never.  He stuck his hand in his pocket and strode over to the table where Artemis and the guy were sitting, and took a seat nearby.  “Mind if I sit here,” he half-mumbled.  This time, he got a good look at Artemis’ face, and she didn’t seem amused as she was glaring at the guy’s plate.

He lowered his hood and brushed some hair from his face, still unsure whether these two were dating or not.  In fact, maybe he was intruding.  He was beginning to have second thoughts, but he couldn’t just get up and leave.  He’d already committed to his idiocy.

Instead, he glanced around, pretending to look for someone.