The Sky Has Fallen

| Chapter 07

David didn't want to deal with her. After the police showed up at the front door, I couldn't blame him. But I knew we couldn't just leave her outside.

She had found us for a reason. And I wanted to redeem myself, let go of my guilt from the other night, and help.

"So, you brought her into my room." David leaned against his bedroom door as I pushed open his window, motioning for the Pylon girl to climb up the side of the house. "My room," he added, annoyed.

"Well, I can't take her into mine," I said as the girl made her way up the garden fence. "It's not out of the way."

"Yeah, it is." David stood behind me, grumbling when the girl reached the window's ledge. I extended my hand to her.

But David sighed. "It's back at your house. You can take her there, you know."

"My house." I looked back at him but decided there was no reason to listen to him. He was good at focusing on himself, especially when it was his ass on the line. But this girl put her life in danger. Pylons never traveled alone.

I closed the window and shut the curtain. I may have blocked out the sunlight, but her eyes brought in their own. "What's your name?" I asked her.

"Names." David shook his head before throwing his hands up above his head in defeat. "I thought y'all did the name shit last night, being friends and all."

The girl lowered her hood, freeing her curly hair. With the sleeves too long on her sweater, she looked innocent, timid. Yet, the glare she gave David once he sat on his bed was the complete opposite. Angry. Strong. Determined.

To him, she said, "We're not friends."

When she looked back at me, her expression softened. A star sparkled in the corner of her eye. "I'm Vera," she said.

I wasn't sure whether to smile at her or nod. Her voice was genuine, lovely, like music to my ears.

Even when she continued to remind us that I wasn't her friend.

I rubbed the side of my neck. "I'm—"

"I know." She held up her hand. "Gus, right? You said that yesterday. When you were following me."

"Oh?" David dropped back against his pillows. When we looked at him, he lifted his brows and placed his hands on top of his head. "You mean like how you followed us?"

"I didn't. I mean—" Vera bit her lip. Instead of finishing her sentence, she glanced around the room. Her eyes darted towards every corner, every shelf, as if she was searching for something.

For what? I couldn't tell. There wasn't much to David's space. Memories of his rocker teens days were still taped to the wall. A school silver medal was lazily placed above his dresser, hanging just above the basket of weeks old laundry he hadn't bothered to wash. I wasn't sure how the supposed potential of a 'soon to be scholar' award would help cover the smell of days old socks and jeans, but there it was. A forgotten focus.

"I need help." Vera's voice grabbed my attention and I looked back at her. I wanted to ask, "with what," but the words didn't leave me. Common sense told me it was a dumb question. I was there with her last night; I still felt the pain.

Rubbing my shoulder, I nodded. "Okay."

What else can I say?

Vera didn't look at me, her eyes still focused on everything else in the room. I could tell she was nervous, afraid. She tapped her foot. She twiddled her fingers in front of her, chipping away at the dirt and blood on her nails.