Jerry sipped on his chocolate milk and watched the object of his desire. He pulled out his phone and texted his best friend, Gerald. “Attempt 27: Fail. Got a weird milk drink too.”

He scanned the room for familiar faces and realized that he didn’t recognize anyone. Work had been keeping him both isolated and jangled. This morning ritual calmed him and connected him in some way to his surroundings., but still, was there no one in the coffee shop that he knew?

He took another sip and tasted something odd. A hint of cardamom or almonds or something. A tall, scruffed dude wordlessly asked if he could sit at Jerry’s two top and Jerry wordlessly assented. He sat carefully and heavily. The dude stared at the wall and sipped his beverage, leaving a light brown rim on his untrimmed mustache.

“You got the milk thing, too?” Jerry asked, nervously. “What do you think?” The dude turned to him, but stared past him, at something next to his left ear.

“Seemed like something popular. I ordered a power coffee.” The dude had grey, almost transparent eyes. They looked like a cat’s. The pupils dilated.

Jerry asked, “What is it?” The scruffy dude began to speak, but no words came out. Jerry began to turn to see the whatever it was, but his phone jangled. It was Gerald. The text read “Bro, you suk! Man Up! you got to get that!”

Somebody screamed.