Clean Mountain Air

Lily idly scrolled her phone, ticking down the hours of the mind numbingly slow shift at Java Pete’s. It was a pretty average coffee shop in a pretty average town. She’d moved to the little Vermont town a few months back, to be close to the only family she had left. Her parents had died when she was young, raised by doting but elderly grandparents who had passed earlier this year. After finishing her community college program in communication, Lily had chosen to move to the same area as her cousin Cassie.

Lily wasn’t very tall, maybe 5”3, with shoulder length auburn hair. She had small but perky breasts, and a lithe body kept fit with a combination of rock climbing and yoga. She didn’t have any tattoos, not because she didn’t want them, but she couldn’t justify the expense, so she settled for a silver nose ring. She’d always been a bit shy and bookish, and when she’d moved to this sleepy town, she’d become more introverted than ever.

Being new to a small town (it called itself a city but didn’t really meet the definition) wasn’t easy. Even though she spent plenty of time with her cousin Cassie, Lily hadn’t had much luck making friends or branching out. She spent a lot of her free time binging tv or exercising or just reading in her little one-bedroom apartment with its peeling paint and general state of disrepair. Her bedroom door was so warped it couldn’t close.

Life was pretty bleak. She had a fair bit of money she’d inherited from her grandparents and had mostly taken the job to keep busy and get out of the house. She was adrift in a world that wouldn’t wait for her. She wanted companionship, to feel desired or needed or something. Something other than wondering if getting a cat was the answer to her loneliness…

Lily was snapped from her reverie as Teddy, a fellow barista, returned from smoking a joint in the back. She wasn’t averse to weed per se but was always a little hesitant to try it. “Blah” Teddy groaned “fucking borrrrrrrrrrrrred”. He popped up to sit on the counter, the mid November doldrums meant there was hardly anyone other than locals around. Plenty of tourists came through in summer and fall and late winter for skiing but in between city folks coming to see the foliage and the winter sports enthusiasts there was a few week period where the whole town was eerily empty.

Teddy dangled his feet petulantly, a slim shorter man with bleach blond hair, Teddy was always falling in love with every boy he saw only to lose interest and move on within weeks. Peering at Lily he arched an eyebrow “Lil, why the fuck do we live in this boring ass town? Since Tyler dipped, I haven’t had any human contact in a MONTH!” For Teddy this may as well have been an apocalypse level event, craving stimulation and attention as he did. Lily silently shrugged, continuing her doomscrolling through social media. Teddy popped down to get right into her space “Girl, when’s the last time you had someone in your bed? Guy, girl, enby, don’t care- but you’ve been here for months, and I’m damn sure you haven’t gotten any.”

Placing her phone down, Lily scowled at the man “I haven’t really been interested, I tried a dating app, but all the guys were grody.” Teddy took this as a challenge, his eyes lighting up with interest as he petulantly demanded Lily let him help find her a date for the night. Acquiescing to shut Teddy up, Lily handed him her phone.

Well, I haven’t had any luck on my own so no harm in it. Plus, going on a date might be fun, otherwise I’ll just end up at home binge watching Netflix again…

Teddy’s thumbs were a blaze, muttering curses and half-finished thoughts to himself before shouting “voila! Kyle- he’s good looking, no pictures with fish, and he already swiped right on you! You are welcome!” Passing the phone back to Lily she was amazed to see a relatively attractive man’s profile, and in the initial flurry of messages Teddy had sent the match hadn’t made a single innuendo or slur- a real win for the dating pool here.

Sighing heavily yet secretly pleased, Lily exchanged a couple messages with the man and settled on getting a drink at the local pub called the Stag.