Iron & Wine

Chapter Twenty Two - Answers

Chapter Twenty Two-Answers

The next day at school was tough to sit through. I was hung over from sunshine, summer wine and too much dancing. I sat at my work station and stared out the French doors next to me, barely able to hold back my yawns.

"Avery!" hissed Max angrily with a kick at my stool.

My eyes snapped open and I nearly fell backwards off of my seat. "What? Max, geez..." I complained through another yawn.

"You were snoring and everyone was looking at us. It's embarrassing!" she exclaimed.

"Why are you embarrassed? You're not the one who's snoring," I muttered crankily. Normally I would be mortified that I'd fallen asleep in class and begun to snore, but the fact that it was bugging Max was worth it.

"It's embarrassing because I'm the one who is stuck sitting next to you and, since you're asleep, I'm getting all the looks and stares," she claimed with a huff and sigh. Then she turned and faced the front of class with her arms crossed tight across her chest and her nose in the air. I rolled my eyes and went back to staring out the window.

After school that day, I headed home to take a much needed nap in my big, comfy bed. It was all I could think about the whole way there. Julie was at the library again and Will was working a shift at the coffee shop, so I had the apartment all to myself, except for Lattie. As soon as I opened the door she flew right over to me, bursting with excitement.

"Avery! You are home! I waited all day long for you to come home. Can we go somewhere? I'm very bored." She fluttered around my head, making me dizzy. I was so sleepy. I could practically hear my duvet beckoning me to curl up with it. The last thing I wanted to do was trudge back down those stairs again and go for a walk.

"Um, Lattie, I really need to take a nap. We didn't get home until like three in the morning. Can we go for a walk later?" I begged as I threw my bag and shoes in the corner.

"Oh...okay...I guess I could just watch a movie or something," she replied sadly. I looked at my tiny friend and saw how disappointed she was. I couldn't bear to see that expression on her face.

"Alright, I'll tell you what. Let me make something to eat and then we'll go for a walk. I can always sleep when we get back."

She brightened up instantly. "Thank you Avery!" And she flew over to the kitchen to sit on a tin of flour. "Can we have pancakes?"

We decided to take a walk through the park. We spent a lot of time here, but it was so enormous and beautiful that I never grew tired of being here. The sun was setting behind the trees and cast a hazy blue and orange hue through the autumn leaves. Plus, there was a hotdog stand down by the pond that had the best hotdogs ever.

Lattie flew next to my head, disguised as a small bird, as we strolled down the gravel path. I was finishing off my hotdog when I had a strange feeling come over me, a feeling almost like fear, but not quite. It was more like...like something else, but I couldn't figure it out. It did, however, feel very familiar.