Fervent

Chapter 12 { oak bed }

Chapter 12 { oak bed }

My brother offered to drop me off at the coffee shop at 8pm, to which I declined, but he persisted until I had to give up. So that's how I ended up in my brothers banged up car.

"Ben, there's rubbish everywhere." I pulled my feet closer to me because there wasn't anywhere physically safe to put them on top of the take away packets. "There's even crap in the cup holder!"

"Oh, my gosh! Not the cup holder! God forbid!" He mocked me, putting on the most girlish accent he could do, to which I took great offence.

"I'm serious, there must be rats in here somewhere!" I leaned over to see the back of his car that was full of boxes and although somewhat messy- nowhere near looking like the bombsite of the front.

"No, they left months ago. No food in here, Ebb. Just rubbish." He turned the corner too sharply and I had to grab the side of the car for support. He laughed as I regained myself. "You used to do that when you were 6, too. When I first learnt to drive."

"And you haven't improved in ten years?" I asked, worried for my safety, and everyone else's in this town.

"I think I've gotten worse." He joked as he pulled up outside the coffee shop. When I undid my seat belt, so did he.

"Woah, what do you think you're doing?" I asked as he opened his door slightly.  He grinned mischievously and climbed out.

I jumped out the car frantically. "You can't park here! It's double yellow lines!" I waved my hands to the floor but he waved me off.

"Only for a few seconds, I wanna know who you're meeting." Oh, god. Please let Jamie not be here yet. Please let him be late. Please, by some twist of fate, let him be in the wrong café.

As I followed my brother into the coffee shop looking embarrassed, my pleas were denied. He was sitting near the door with his coat on and sipping a steaming drink. I tried to look away before my brother realised that was the guy I was meeting.

"Hey!" He put his hand out for Jamie to take. I hid my face in my hands.

"You can leave now." I muttered. Jamie looked extremely confused.

"Hey..." He shook my brother's hand and stood up, picking his drink up with his other hand. His hands were red and he was shaking, even though the coffee shop was so much warmer than outside.

"Right, I'm off. Call me when you're done here. And you," He tipped his head to Jamie, "Jamie Gint64, try anything and I have some friends who know where to hide bodies."

"How did you know his name?" I turned to my brother as he walked off.

"e.larson, you really should find a new password." And then he walked out the door.

"Oh my f-"

"He knows your chatspace password?" Jamie asked as we waited for my brother's car to leave so we could make out way to the Bed and Breakfast.

"I hope not." Jamie was probably thinking about the messages we'd swapped, but I was more worried about the whole Buzz situation.

Just as my brother pulled away the grey clouds that had been hovering all day started to leak. "We better get going then." Jamie opened the door and held it for me.

I followed him round the corners, hoping he knew where he was going. We kept our heads down and out hoods up.

When we got to the B&B Jamie stopped outside to take a breath. We'd practically been speed walking. It was situated on the corner of a junction, where there was a turret on the turn, and the hotel branched off from that. It wasn't small, like they usually were, but more like a successful family hotel then a bed and breakfast. The stonework looked old, and the windows were crumbling out from their pockets.