The pale, dark-haired girl fidgeted with the fuzzy black arm warmers adorning her arms as she shifted against the mirrored wall of the booth. She chewed her lip mercilessly before abandoning her torment of the arm warmers in favor of delving into her purse for the umpteenth time. Still, the item she quested for failed to appear. What did appear, though, was shiny black hair in her peripheral vision as the boy next to her leaned in.

�What�s the matter, Indira?� the boy asked as he slid his arm around the back of her seat.

�I�m out of cloves. I dunno, I guess it just feels weird sitting here with nothing to do while everyone�s smoking,� she grumbled. Her fingers stretched and contracted in anticipation of the slender black sticks of death. They had only been sitting in the booth with Bill and Travis for a few minutes now, waiting for the first band to finish setting up on stage. It was only Indira�s second time at Sadie�s which led to a certain level of discomfort due to unfamiliar surroundings. That combined with the thick clouds of smoke wafting across the table from Bill and Travis, not to mention practically everyone else in the bar, was slowly driving her mad with need.

The black haired boy, Patrick, surprised her by standing up and reaching out for his jean jacket. �C�mon, let�s go.�

�Huh?� she looked confused for a moment before hesitantly sliding on her black bomber jacket. �Where are we going?�

Bright green eyes stared at her as if she should know the answer to this already. �We�re going to find you some cloves,� Patrick asserted before waving bye to his friends and ushering her out the door. All worries about re-entry and the fact that there was absolutely nowhere that sold cloves at this time of night fell on deaf ears.

That was the thing about Patrick. He was always so forceful and in control. It was probably that most girls found that sort of thing appealing, but not Indira. She was more like Patrick than should be rationally possible and thus there was often a battle of two very extreme personalities. Yet despite their tendency to clash, it seemed like they were slowly being drawn toward each other by some outside force� kinda like gravity. It was as though the two of them had been thrown together and suddenly fate was making all their decisions for them, two of the most head-strong people that ever existed, and now things were for once not in either of their control. Even the circumstances of their first meeting, Indira recalled, were anything but normal.

Indira had come home from class rather pissed. Apparently one of the Bible Study groups were referring to her and her friends as �the witches on the second floor� and were �praying for them� because they couldn�t believe that such a thing could be happening right here on �their campus.� She dropped her backpack onto the floor with extra force before Stela came storming into the room with the latest school newspaper.

�You are not going to believe this crap, Indie,� Stela fumed in her heavily accented voice. She shoved the paper at the startled girl, �Here. Read this.�

Indira took the paper, making continuous comments as to the intolerance and stupidity of their school, as Stella took a seat on the floor and brought out her deck of playing cards. She had been promising Indira a tarot reading for some time now and today seemed to be the day. Indira sat down across from her and threw the paper aside. �What a creep! I can�t believe you can say stuff like that in a school paper!� She tamped down on her anger and refocused her attention on the cards being displayed in between them. �So what�s the deal?�

She listened patiently as Stella described the events that had been or would be going on in her life. It was the prospect of new love, though, that truly interested her.

�He�s going to have green eyes. And� hmm, that�s odd. It says you might date him or you might not. It�s going to be your choice,� Stela picked up the card and puzzled over it.

�My choice? Why wouldn�t it just tell me if I�m going to end up with this kid or not? I mean is there something wrong with him that would cause me to say no?�

Stella gave a brief but evil chuckle. �Maybe it will be the boy who wrote the article in the newspaper. Your love will help him see the error of his ways,� she barely got the words out before erupting into further laughter. Indira rolled her eyes. �God, I hope not.�

It turned out that Stela was thankfully wrong about the last part. The green-eyed boy lived in the next city over and he too had had a friend give him a tarot reading about their future meeting. From the very first night Patrick and Indira had hung out there had been this insanely weird connection between them. It was like they had known each other for years. In fact, they were completely calm around each other. Which is odd, since that�s not how first meetings usually go. There should have been anxiety and underlying sexual tension and nervous slips of the tongue, but there wasn�t. Everything went smoothly as Patrick bade her to look at the odd pattern of his irises, allowing Indira to notice their intense green hue. Of course this was all after they had gotten past first impressions.

Indira�s first impression of Patrick had been one of fear. Oddly enough, Patrick had felt the same about Indira. She had seen him sitting at the meeting she was chairing, legs sprawled insolently, giving off such negative vibes that it was as if the Devil himself had been present. He had watched her take charge and lead conversations in what he later described as an intimidating manner. Her body language exuded a masculinity and dominance that matched his own. Yet both had given the other a chance for a second impression, which was very uncharacteristic, at least on Patrick�s part.

�Hey, we�re here.�

�Hmm?� Indira blinked a few times as she took in their surroundings. Apparently they had made it across town while she spaced out and were now parked outside a Sunoco. She sleepily got out of the black Toyota Camry and shook her head. �They�re never going to have them, Patrick. You have to go to like a specialty store for cloves. Or maybe like a Wal-mart or Super K might have them.�

�You never know! They might just surprise you,� he said cheerily as he held the store�s door open for her before she could get it herself.

�Riiiiiiiight,� she smirked knowingly before entering the store. Her mind wandered back to the other night, when she had been hanging out with another fellow clove addict.

She had met Wil at Ceremony in Pittsburgh not too long ago. They had danced for a good hour together, sharing cigarettes and phone numbers by the end of the night. Her first impression of him had been that he was a real nice guy. Sure, he was a little older than she preferred, but his favorite band was The Cure just like her. He was absolutely gorgeous. Tall and thin with black hair and pale skin and jeans that hugged just right. A neat line of black eyeliner ringed his pale blue eyes. By all rights he should be perfect, but something was off. They lacked that deep connection that she had with Patrick which was proving to be more and more alluring every time she saw him. She was half-convinced that there was just no choice in the matter and that a relationship with Patrick was pre-destined, no matter how many pretty boys like Wil came along. She could even pinpoint the exact moment when her relationship with Patrick seemed ripped from her hands and shoved firmly in the control of fate in a way that was both claustrophobic and thrilling.

They had been at Perkins with some of her friends that night, bouncing between tables and bitching about the bad service. Indira had just finished driving Patrick around to all the local �haunted houses,� but their conversation was quickly moving from the supernatural to relationships.

�Ya know, you�re really lucky I kept in contact with you after that first meeting,� Patrick threw out at random as he toyed with a straw wrapper.

Indira�s eyes narrowed, not particularly pleased where the conversation was heading. �Why is that?�

Patrick�s green eyes met her brown ones over the table. �Well, you know how I told you that I usually decide when I first meet a person if I�m going to date them or just be friends with them. When I first saw you I figured you would be like all the rest and I definitely wanted to date you. But then when you said you wanted to just be friends and see what happens, I almost didn�t call you back. But luckily I ended up taking your advice, and I�m going to try not putting you in a category. I�m actually kind of enjoying this just going with the flow of things.�

Indira groaned under her breath and sprawled back against her seat. �Well, good. It�s what most people usually do. You really have this issue with control I think. I mean people don�t categorize other people. You have to take time to get to know the person before you can decide if you want to date them or just be friends. That�s not something you can just tell the moment you meet a person, especially if you�re claiming to be open minded about their looks. Hell, if I had gone off my first impression of you, I probably wouldn�t be speaking to you right now.�

Indira lifted a hand to rub the back of her neck in exasperation. They kept having this conversation over and over in some form or another. It usually began with Patrick making some offhand comment that undermined the stability of their friendship which drove Indira to either extreme frustration or tears because no matter how much either of them wanted a definite answer as to what direction their relationship was heading, Indira just couldn�t make up her mind if she wanted to be with Patrick or Wil or the next guy that walked in the door. And it was just this emotional rollercoaster that Patrick consistently put her on that was preventing her from pursuing him because if things were this fucked up while they were just friends, it could only get worse by dating.

�Normally I would have bailed in a situation like this,� Patrick remarked as he held the door open to the third store that night.

There he goes again, Indira sighed as her eyes checked the walls for the little black box she had given up all hope of finding. �Look, I�m sorry I ever brought anything up. I honestly have no problem with you putting an arm around me. I just can�t help but be paranoid. Last time I had a close friend do that, even though I made up an excuse for him to remove his arm, he still took it as if I was interested in him and hasn�t spoken to me since I turned him down. And incidentally, all these guys that I�ve had problems like this with all come from your hometown.�

�Well, technically I�m from a suburb.�

Indira hid her glare as she snatched a box of Black & Milds in substitute of cloves and got in the check-out line.

�Everything was going so perfectly. I was just going with the flow of things for once and actually enjoying it. But then you had to bring that up and make me re-evaluate the situation,� Patrick complained. �And that just got me thinking about what my cards said about you.� He ignored Indira�s rolling eyes and plunged ahead, �You have to understand, I view my tarot cards as part of my religion, and I have very strong faith in my religion. But what they say seems to contradict how you�re acting and what you�re saying. I don�t get that. I don�t think you�re lying to me, but that�s what it seems like.�

Indira slapped the packet of cigars and some money on the surprisingly clean counter of the Marathon�s convenience store. �Have you ever thought that possibly by the time you get done reading my emotions with your cards that perhaps I�ve changed my mind?! I told you I was confused and indecisive and I think this actually proves it. No offense to your religion, but maybe you should try asking me what I�m feeling and trusting me to give you the truth to the best of my knowledge. It�s the social, human thing to do!� Patrick made no comment.

The ride back to the bar was primarily silent aside from the strains of Chopin coming through the nearly blown speakers. It was just as well since Indira was rather focused on her thoughts and the advice she had just given Patrick. Maybe she should just take her own advice. She had been stressing for the past month because of some stupid tarot readings and this need for control, to know exactly where the situation with Patrick was heading. It was just ridiculous and it was tearing apart their friendship. Fuck the cards. Fuck decisions. If something didn�t feel right, then she just wouldn�t get into a relationship right now. There was nothing wrong with that.

Her eyes glanced to the left as they got out of the car and Patrick moved to her side. �Let�s just forget about this whole damn conversation,� he said. �Let�s just go back to being friends and wherever this goes, it goes.�

�And you�re not going to bail on me if your emotions get too strong and you�re tempted to categorize me?� she looked suspiciously at him, recalling all the times he mentioned how if he began falling for her he might have to �go away� until the feelings eased.

�I promise you, even if I start to feel really strongly for you, I will just deal with my emotions and not sacrifice the friendship as I normally would.�

She searched his eyes momentarily. �Alright then,� she said, apparently satisfied by what she�d found, �No more bullshit talks that keep us up till 5am. No more analyzing to death every action and word. Let�s just go wherever this takes us.� She passed him a cigar before sliding her arm around his waist.