Try To Change Me

Chapter 29

Phitz closed his back door behind him, hefting his backpack further onto his shoulder. The screen clicked into place, and he locked it, shoving the key deep into his pocket. Turning away from his house, he felt a strange sense of peace settle on his shoulders, as if he were leaving behind more than a good night's sleep. 

He strode to the back fence, eyeing the wood planks curiously. As a kid, he had been able to scramble over them easily and sneak over to Austen's. His parents had never known, or at least they had never cared. Now though, he thought his bulk might bring the whole fence crashing to the ground if he simply ran at it and jumped like he used to. 

Dropping the bag to the ground, Phitz gripped a plank at the top, grunting as he pulled it towards him. After a groan of protest the wood splintered and broke off, sending him stumbling backwards. He stayed upright, just barely, and smirked in satisfaction as he assessed the fence again. He'd removed only half the plank, but it was enough to reveal the top and middle horizontal beams.

He placed a foot on the lower one, hoisting himself up before swinging his other leg over. A careful balancing act and display of strength enabled him to support himself with his hands, un-wedge the first foot from the gap in the fence and replace it with the other so that he could step down into freedom.

Phitz was quite pleased with himself. Until he saw his bag. On the other side of the fence. 

He repeated his acrobatics back onto his own property, tossed his bag over ahead of him, and then crossed the fence once more. Exhausted, he leaned against the disfigured wood for a moment to catch his breath, and then picked up his bag and took a step forward. 

He yelped when he came face to face with Ebony. 

She jumped forward, clamping a hand across his mouth and shushing him. Grabbing his wrist, she dragged him across the yard to duck behind the solitary tree. Phitz opened his mouth to ask her what the hell was going on, but she waved him down, cocking her head to the side. He back was pressed to the trunk, her eyes glazed and focussed forwards. He could tell that her focus was firmly on the other side of the jacaranda though. 

A light buzzed on, hiding both teenagers in shadow. Footsteps could be heard on the deck, and a dog began to bark ferociously. 

"Mum?" a boy asked, as a second set of footsteps joined the first.

Any reply was drowned out by another fit of ruckous from the dog. Eventually it quietened enough for the voices to be heard. 

"...just Rufus. Can you come and finish reading my essay now? It's cold out here."

There was a pause, but then the lights flickered out again. "Of course, Darling."

Ebony let out a puff of air, sinking back in relief. Phitz looked at her.

"Is this your house?"

She jerked upright, craning her neck around the trunk to check that nobody lingered somewhere with a veiw of the yard. She couldn't see anyone, and felt her gaze drifting from window to window, almost praying that someone might be giving a damn. Nobody appeared. 

"No, not really," Ebony murmured. She turned back and offered him a smile. "Were you heading to Maccas?"

He nodded, but froze after a second, hooking a thumb over his shoulder at the fence. "You didn't seem me climb over, did you?"

"Nope." she replied instanlty, walking away from him in an attempt to hide her smirk. 

Something moved in Phit'z gut, and he rolled his eyes. "Liar."

 Carissa was getting twitchy. 

She repeatedly rose and stalked over to her computer. Then, as she was about to sit, she'd turn and march back to her bed, flopping, face first, on her bright doona. After she had done this six or so times, She rolled over and stared at the ceiling. 

"Pull it together, Carissa," she muttered. The truth was that she was feeling nauseous. Her instinct had been to yell and scream at whoever had hacked Austen's facebook, to show them she wasn't scared, but now she was worried. Had she made everything worse for them? More importantly, had she just screwed herself over?

Tapping a finger against her thigh, she squinted at a spider that had woven it's web between her fan and the plaster. It was a tiny thing, hardly worth fussing over, and yet it had forced it's home into existence. It wasn't wanted or needed and yet it had decided it didn't care, that today it would be strong. 

It was an Ebony-spider. 

Over come by the urge to launch to her feet and retrieve the bug spray from under the kitchen sink, Carissa was sitting on the edge of her bed before she knew it. She calmed after a moment, and resorted to sending one last hateful glare at the arachnid before ignoring it. If she didn't acknowledge it, then it didn't exist. 

The glare from her lamp reflected off her mirror, drawing her eye to her own reflection. She cast herself a dazzling smile, all teeth, and winked.

"Shall we catch up on some beauty sleep?" she asked. 

Her reflection pursed it's lips, a scowl forming a tiny vertical line between it's eyebrows. Carissa, with the relfection it tow, raised a hand to smooth the crease, and gasped in outrage as she had an epiphany. Just as she was hesitant to sleep, so would the others be. 

"And if they have to wait somewhere, they may as well wait where we all have to meet in 6 hours," she snapped, lunging to her feet. Back straight and chin up, she sauntered to her cupboard, reefing out a small leather suitcase. She sifted through her clothes with a practised eye, sorting them by colour, design, year and flirt factor. Nothing under a ten in the last category was lowered into the bag. 

"And I know," she muttered, tugging a midnight blue halter top off the hanger with far too much vigour, "that that little weasel will be there, batting her bloody eyelashes and pressing her flat chest against him."

She tossed a grin over her shoulder at the mirror, empowered by the equally vibrant smile her reflection cast back at her. "Well, two can play at that game."

Good evening.... or should I say morning? It depends how technical you want to be I guess... sorry, the sleep deprivation is getting to me. I struggled to write the bit from Salena's POV last chapter (Please let me know how you think I did. Realistic or just really weird?) but I still have a week of holidays and the easier bits are coming now. I know at least the next two chapters. and they should definitely make their way online within the next couple of days. I said that about chapter 28 though....

Anyway, I really hope you're enjoying this story. I know it's not brilliantly written, but it is fun to write and hopefully fun to read (*crosses fingers whilst types* (which is actually surprisingly challenging - give it a go!)) I realize that it often comes across as cliche, but hopefully as it progresses you're finding that is just an illusion.....

My ramble is over now. I'm sorry to have taken up so much of your time. Have a fantabulous..... hour, whenever you are. 

Adios,

SwimmingUpstream