The back of Jade's neck tingled as she made her way down the cracked sidewalk.

I knew this was a bad idea, she thought to herself. I knew that I'd be pressing my luck by coming here again. But I did it anyway. Why?

She knew the answer to that question, however. After coming down to this part of town, she realized that exposing herself to a part of the city that she'd never seen before was just the thing to give her writing the realism that it had been lacking. As much as she hated to admit it, Katie was right. But Jade knew that the last time she was here she nearly walked into a drug deal in progress, and she swore that she'd be more careful today. But she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being followed.

Jade tossed a quick glance over her shoulder, and among the homeless and otherwise down-on-their luck who lived in the area, she was almost positive that she spotted a man walking behind her at a brisk pace. But she couldn't be certain.

Better be on the safe side, she thought. I bet I can lose him if I pick up the pace.

Jade made a right turn, her heart beating fast by the minute. She hurried down this block of rundown apartments and made another right at the end. She weaved through the smatterings of pedestrians on the sidewalks, doing her best to evade the man behind her, if indeed he was following her.

After a handful of blocks, Jade looked around, realizing that she had no idea where she was.

Fuck! she thought.

She reached for her phone, but realized that pulling out the latest model of iPhone that she owned –given to her as a birthday present by her father- was likely an easy way to be robbed in a part of town like this.

OK, she thought, looking around, how hard can this be? I can make my own way without needing Google Maps for everything.

But as soon as she began to take stock of her surroundings, Jade spotted the figure of the man who'd been following her. He emerged from around the corner that she'd just turned. Wearing a jet-black pea coat, a pair of dark jeans, and stylish brown boots, he struck Jade as just about as out of place as she was. Jade looked around once again and realized that there was no one on this block, no one besides her and the man who was closing in on her with each passing moment.

Jade realized that she wasn't imagining things- this man was indeed following her. Her heart thumped in her chest and the adrenaline began to rush through her body. Turning back towards the direction she'd been facing, Jade realized the time for playing it cool was over. She started into a full sprint, running as fast as her slender legs could carry her. Looking over her shoulders as she ran, she saw that the man had broken into a run of his own.

Fuck, fuck, thought Jade, her legs pumping underneath her.

Fearful tears formed in her eyes; her mind raced as she wondered just what this man would do if he caught up to her. Remembering she'd brought Katie's mace, Jade fumbled in her jacket pockets as she ran and pulled it out. Looking over her should once again, she saw that the man was outrunning her, and would be on top of her within seconds. To her horror, she realized that the mace was the only chance she had once the man managed to cut the distance.

Whipping around, she aimed the mace with a shaking hand at the man in pursuit. But just as she squeezed the trigger to fire it, the man's hand shot out with incredible speed. He grabbed her wrist and turned it in a way that didn't cause her pain, but made her grip awkward enough to no longer be able to hold onto the mace. The spray dropped out of Jade's hand and hit the ground with a clatter. Jade was desperate. Grabbing her little purse, she swung it like a club, but just like with the mace, the man deftly avoided her attack.

"Christ, calm down!" said the man. "I'm not gonna hurt you!"

Jade, now totally spent, placed her hands on her knees and took in deep breath after deep breath. Her eyes fixed on the sidewalk at her feet, she slowly lifted her gaze. The man's face was shrouded in the hood of a gray sweatshirt worn under his black pea coat, and Jade couldn't make out his features. Her heart continued to pound; sure, he's said that he wasn't going hurt her, but how did she know that?

"Now," said the man, his voice deep and stern. "Tell me who the hell you are and why a college girl like you is wandering around this part of town."

"How…" started Jade, still trying to catch her breath. "…how did you know that I was a college girl?"

The man hesitated a moment before speaking. "Because I can spot a naïve kid who's in the wrong part of town from a mile away."

Jade got the sense he was lying, but her senses were in such a state of overdrive that she couldn't be certain. And as she continued to catch her breath, her eyes fell on the mace. It had landed only a foot or so from her, and she knew that if she were quick, she might be able to grab it.

"Now," said the man, "answer the goddamn question."

"Sure," said Jade, "I-"

Before she said another word, she lunged forward and reached for the mace. But her hand closed around nothing but air. Looking around, she saw that the man had managed, with incredible speed, to kick the mace out of the way. Raising his foot, he brought down his heavy brown boot onto the mace and smashed it to pieces.

"Come on!" he said, raising his voice. "You're beaten. If I wanted to hurt you I would've done it already. Now, just answer the damn question."

Jade knew that he was right. That mace was the last chance that she had to defend herself; she was totally at this guy's mercy.

"Um," she said, looking up and trying to make out the man's face through the shadows of his hood. "I'm here…for school."

"What?" asked the man, his tone disbelieving. "What the hell are you doing in the skids for a school project? Is this some stupid urban studies class or something?"

Jade lifted herself out of her leaned-over position and stood up straight. Her heart continued to thump in her chest as she formulated a response.

"No," she said. "It's for a writing class. Creative non-fiction."

As soon as the words left her mouth she realized how ridiculous the whole thing sounded.

"You've come all the way to the worst hood in the entire city for a fucking writing assignment? Are you out of your mind?"

"No," stammered Jade. "I mean, I don't know, I mean, I just…"

The man held up a palm.

"Just stop there," he said, looking around. "Listen, there's a diner around here where we can grab a cup of coffee. I need to know just what kind of lunatic I'm dealing with."

"Why the hell would I want to come with you?" asked Jade, finding a little backbone. "How do I know you're not going to lead me to some gang hideout or something."

A scoff sounded from the shadows of the hood.

"You watch too much bad TV," he said. "No, I'm not going to lead you to a gang hideout. I'm going to lead you down to the end of the block where you and I are going to drink a couple of cups of especially shitty coffee, and you're going to tell me exactly what the fuck you're doing here. And when I'm happy with your answer, you can get the hell back to your student apartment or wherever the hell else you came from."

Jade realized that she didn't exactly have very many options here. If she wanted to make a break for it, the man would just catch up with her again. Sure, she could call his bluff that he wasn't going to hurt her, but Jade didn't want to take any chances.

"So, I have some coffee with you and tell you what I'm doing here, then you leave me alone?"

"Assuming you're not an undercover cop, something I'm believing less and less by the second, then yes. I'll even walk you to your car."

"Fine," said Jade, figuring this was as good of a deal as she was going to get. "I'm Jade."

She extended her towards the man, but he only looked down at it and shook his head.

"That's…not a good idea in this part of town," he said. "Don't just go offering up info about yourself like that; you never know who's gonna try to use that against you. You're not in the suburbs anymore- don't ever forget that."

Jade, now feeling awkward, withdrew her hand and clapped it to her side.

"Does that mean that you're not going to take that hood down?"

"Once we're at the coffee shop; then I'll think about it."

"Fine," said Jade. "Let's get this over with."

The man moved to her side and the two of them walked down the block. Jade remained on edge during the entire walk, only calming down when they reached the purple and yellow neon lights of the diner's sign. Jade looked through the large glass windows of the diner, seeing that the place was about as dingy and run-down as the rest of their surroundings. The buzzing of the sign above reading "Lenny's" cut through the still silence of the air.

"This is it?" asked Jade.

"Coffee joints in my part of town are a little different than the ones you're used to," said the man, pulling the door open and gesturing impatiently for Jade to enter.

Jade walked in through the open door, the astringent smell of cleaning supplies mixed with greasy food hitting her in the face like a hammer.

"Hey, kid," said the heavy-set man in a dirty white apron from behind the counter.

"Hey, Lenny," said the man as he slid into a booth near the front windows. "Just two coffees."

The man nodded and set to work making a pot.

"I don't really drink coffee," said Jade, her eyes moving over the grimy surface of the table. "I'm more of a tea person."

"You do tonight," said the man. "There's black coffee and coffee with shitty creamer- you aren't gonna find any rooibos or chamomile in this joint."

And as he settled into his seat, Leon finally threw back the hood of his sweatshirt.

Jade had to hold back a gasp when she looked at his face. Just as she'd thought from seeing him from a distance, the man was gorgeous. His face was stunning, his full, sensual lips, slim nose, and narrow blue eyes set among high cheekbones and a strong chin. His hair was a shock of brilliant blonde, a few strands hanging attractively over his forehead. His features were so radiant to Jade that he seemed like an out-of-place contrast to the gray of the urban wasteland that surrounded them, like an angel walking among a fallen earth.

"I'm Leon," he said, his voice brusque.

"And... how do I know that's your real name?" asked Jade.

"I guess you don't," said Leon, scoffing. "But I suppose it doesn't really make any difference, now does it?"

"I guess not," said Jade, looking down.

At that moment, the man approached from behind the counter and placed two mugs of steaming, black coffee in front of the two of them. Jade looked down into the thick, ink-black liquid; it seemed to her more like industrial sludge than any coffee she'd ever had. Steam coiled above it and disappeared into the air.

"So," said Leon, sitting back in the booth and draping one arm across the back of his seat. "You gonna tell me exactly what the hell you're doing here?"

Jade felt immediately very silly. She knew well and good that her reasons for being in this part of town were about as silly as they get, and after being chased down my Leon she was already scolding herself for placing her life in danger for something like a writing class assignment. But, it was the truth. And even if she were any good at lying, just looking into Leon's stunning blue eyes made her feel like he'd be able to detect any falsehood as soon as it came out of her mouth.

"Well?" asked Leon, his tone now more impatient. "Let's hear it. You said a writing assignment?"

"Um," started Jade as she wrung her hands, "it's really stupid."

"Cut the preamble," said Leon. "Just get to the point."

"It's…for school, like I said."

"Yeah, that much I know," said Leon. "I still can't believe you're coming to this part of town for a goddamn assignment. But tell me more."

"Well," said Jade, "I, um, have to do an assignment about an interesting place I know. And I started thinking about just where I'd been in my life, and the place where I grew up, and I realized that I hadn't really been anywhere interesting. I grew up in a nice house in a nice neighborhood, and I've never, you know, had to deal with anything more difficult than getting school assignments in on time. So, my roommate suggested that I come to the bad part of town and see what it was like here."

Leon looked at Jade with disbelief, his gorgeous mouth slacked open just a bit.

"That's gotta be about the stupidest goddamn thing I've ever heard," he said. "Your roommate told you to come here? Does your roommate live in this part of town? Does she know anything about this neighborhood other than it's the ‘bad part' of the city?"

Jade's stomach tightened. She didn't think it was possible for her to feel any stupider, but Leon had pulled it off.

"I don't think so," said Jade. "She's from the same neighborhood where I grew up."

"And what neighborhood is that?"

"Cherry Estates," Jade admitted.

"Cherry-fucking-Estates," said Leon, shaking his head in disbelief. "Of course you're from a place like that. Fancy fucking houses, immaculately-managed lawns, a pair of Mercedes in every driveway, and a big fence around the whole place to keep guys like me out. About as fucking far from my hood as you can get."

"Yeah," said Jade sheepishly. "I know."

"So," said Leon, taking a sip of his coffee. "This place ‘interesting' enough for you?"

"Well," said Jade, "when I came here, I didn't know what to expect. But as I looked around, I started to notice the way people live here, and it made me want to do something about it."

"'Do something about it'?" asked Leon, raising his eyebrows slightly. "What the hell is a girl like you going to do about all this?"

He made a sweeping motion towards the scene of urban decay just outside the diner window.

"I don't know," said Jade. "I want to be a writer someday; maybe I could write about everything I've seen here, maybe make people more aware of how, um, the other half lives."

Leon stared at Jade hard, and she felt his eyes cut into her, slicing her up into insignificant little pieces as she sat there. Finally, after a time, he leaned forward and spoke.

"You need to leave here, and never come back."