After
his mother went to bed with the bottle of red, Cyrus woke up suddenly
by a dull buzz.
The
cell phone on his nightstand was vibrating and he woke covered in a
light sheen of sweat and breathing heavy. Rolling onto his side he
flipped his Motorola over and checked the number. It was a text
message from Justin, his best friend and partner in crime, well his
crimes.
All
it said was “You’re late.”
He
lay back down to catch his breath, not sure why he was breathing
heavy in the first place except for intense dream that was quickly
fading and he knew he wouldn't remember. He knew something was going
on with him inside of his head and with his mother and his sister but
no one would talk about it or talk to him. His mom was acting weird,
Kyra was weirder than usual, only Savannah seemed normal and he
welcomed that every morning when she came in to wake him up. Her
world was so simple and easy, pancakes or no pancakes. He wished with
all his heart that he could have that for himself instead of the
constant feeling like he should be doing something to help but not
knowing what.
Quietly
he got out of bed not knowing how long Skye had been in bed for and
prayed his mattress would be a good for him, keeping the squeaks at
bay. When he felt sure enough that he had edged off the bed to the
point where there was going to be no noise, he reached down and
picked up his jeans and t-shirt off the floor. He found them right
where he dropped them, shook them out carefully, and proceeded to put
them back on with no real effort.
Justin
wanted him to come out into the city with him so he could meet some
girl that he had just met, of at the places at the Supermarket. At
first Cyrus asked Justin why he wanted a third wheel there, but it
was then that Justin told him that there was going to be another girl
there and he needed Cyrus to keep her occupied in case she turned out
to be some kind of drama queen that wouldn't let him get near her
friend. Justin’s frequent flavour of the week girlfriends made
Cyrus dizzy. Most of the time the girls would just fawn over Justin
with his short blonde hair, typical dreamy blue eyes and his
prominent nose that he would nuzzle against them. At first Cyrus told
him that he didn’t want to have anything to do with it… Justin
did not except that. He was tough to argue with when he wanted
something so Cyrus didn’t bother.
He
texted Justin back ‘On
my way.’
Putting
his phone in his back pocket and with a quick check of himself in the
mirror, picked up his jacket off the back of a chair and strode to
his bedroom window. Cyrus wasn’t a bad looking guy for his age and
he looked a lot like his father. He was tall and lean but solid, by
no means a push over. His shaggy dark hair needed a trim but over the
past 6 months he didn't care too much about how long his hair would
get. His Aunt Leigh always said it was a shame because his hair hid
the Sapphire blue of his eyes.
He
couldn’t go through the house because then Angel would get excited
and probably knock over a chair thus waking someone up and getting
him caught and grounded. There was a trellis outside of his bedroom
that he knew would hold his weight since he had
snuck out and used it before but as he grew and put on weight he
could hear the creaking begin on a few of the rungs. He had to stick
with his buddy though and had never gone to the city at night which
made this outing especially nerve racking for him. He just hoped it
was over soon and his mother didn't find out he was gone.
Cyrus
poked his head out after he opened the window. He reached out, shook
the trellis gently to reassure himself that it would stay attached to
the wall and at the same time he listened to the sounds of the house
to make sure no one had heard him. He heard nothing but the gentle
creaks of the house settling. As quietly as he could, he got up on
the window still and took hold of the trellis. For a split second as
he stood on the first rung he thought it might not work that he had
weakened it and would fall from the second story breaking something
in a semi dramatic fashion but as he put his weight on it the trellis
held so he carefully descended.
When
he reached the ground the
dewy grass made no noise; he
scanned around the backyard and his eyes reached the sliding glass
door that led to the kitchen, all he could see was a white mass with
big green eyes, slightly
shaking
in its position staring back at him.
He
smiled.
Angel
knew it was him and although she looked curious that he didn’t come
to the door and let her out to play, she sat silently and watched him
go with her ears up and her head tilted wagging her tail the whole
time. He sprinted across the lawn to the fence that blocked off the
alley behind the house and hopped it
with ease. He’d always been good at running and jumping so he spent
a lot of time in Track and Field at school. He could pace himself
easily and could
swear
he was flying during Long or High jump. His dad had
always
said that
he was a natural. Track was the only thing he still had and once the
season started again he would do it all for his dad.
As
soon as he landed in a crouch in that alley it was instantly lit up
by Justin’s headlights a few lengths up.
Justin
raised a hand and motioned
for Cy to hurry up and get in the car. Cyrus stood up and shook his
head in slight frustration, screw the slight frustration thing it was
more than that, way more than that. Not looking forward to what was
ahead of him; he got in the car, shut the door and rested his elbow
in the door frame, his fingers touching the roof. His
tone low,
he turned his head towards Justin as he spoke.
“I’m
not going to like this, am I?” more of a statement than as a
question.
Justin
chuckled and replied devilishly
as he accelerated towards the main street, “Do you ever?”
Taping
his fingers on the roof Cyrus shook his head slowly, “No I never
do.”
Justin
laughed at that and swerved a little bit before he entered the main
street and took a sharp right through the small town of Lamport on
route to the Highway from
there it was a straight shot to
the city.
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