Standing for Weirdo

Chapter 17

I hardly slept after the movie. It hadn’t been that bad—nothing too original, but decent special effects—and the pancake eating afterward had been as cool as always, but my heart hadn’t been in it.

I refused to think about why and instead, stared a hole through the ceiling. The strange knot seizing my stomach would go nameless.

In spite of my good intentions, though, I declined when Stella called me the next day to ask whether I wanted to hang out with her and Josh. I told her that I had plans, and she said it was okay, and it sounded like she understood. She probably did.

I knew in my gut that if I went with them, I’d spend another night unable to sleep, wondering at that other possible life that might be waiting for me. It seemed to be worse than my current one in all-important matters, but I still couldn’t forget it so I dragged myself out of bed and got ready to face my metaphorical demons.

An hour later, I rang the bell.

Trevor's father opened the door, his face drawn and tight, but he brightened up when he saw me.

“Hi, Mr. Bennett,” I chirped. Chirped! Go ahead and kill me now… “I’m sorry I didn’t call beforehand. Is it a bad time?” I pressed on, trying very hard not to second guess myself.

“Alice! No, not at all, I’m very glad you are visiting. Come in,” he said, smiling and stepping aside, completely oblivious to my inner drama.

“I brought a cake,” I said, lifting the shopping bag I carried while telling myself, quite sternly, to relax already. “Chocolate.”

“You shouldn’t have! But thank you very much. I’m sure Trevor will appreciate it. He’s playing in his room; perhaps you can get him to stop and come out to celebrate with us.”

I smiled. “He’s taking it seriously, then?”

“You could say that.” Mr. Bennett's smile wavered a little, and I thought there was a smidgen of worry in the creases of his eyes, but I shook it off and went down the short corridor to Trevor's door.

I knocked twice and twisted the doorknob when I got no response. There he was, wearing headphones and playing like there was no tomorrow. He even looked cute, gazing off into nothingness. I stepped into his room and checked for Sparrow, in case the wild beast was thinking of sneaking up on me, but the cat was nowhere to be seen, so I approached Trevor.

“Hi,” I said, but he didn’t give any signal of having heard me. Probably he hadn’t. Music blaring in his ears and all.

Moving to stand in front of him, I watched, incredulously, him looking right past me. I reached out to tap his shoulder, but then had a moment of doubt as his fingers picked up speed playing the silent song.

Perhaps he’s ignoring me on purpose. Perhaps he doesn’t want me here. This is not my normal spying time. It’s Saturday afternoon. What if I’m just an intrusion?

I started to step back, but then saw his brow furrow in concentration, in effort. I saw him blink and slowly focus on me. A shadow of a smile appeared on his lips, tense but real, and he stopped playing.

“Hey,” he said, taking off the headphones and lifting the guitar from his lap so that he could stand. “I’m surprised to see you here.”