Falling to Pieces

Chapter 3 - Deep, Sky Blue Eyes

---- Edited Version ----

________________________________________________________________________

By the time I had approached the kid, he had already managed to yank himself out of the shrubs. I knelt down, firmly pressing his shoulder while trying to catch a glimpse of the face that was hidden behind his deep brown hair.

                “Whoa, uhh… are you okay?”

                Shaking, he replied with a slow grunt, “It doesn’t…matter. Just help me.”

                I bit my lip, feeling taken a back for a moment until suddenly I caught a whiff of the foul aroma escaping from his mouth. I crinkled my nose while attempting to search for his eyes, “Okay, well, how can I help?”

                The boy whipped his head around, his chocolate colored, shaggy hair whipping me in the face as I flinched. My eyes widened as I came face to face with a boy, probably around the age of thirteen or fourteen, staring at me with hard, sky blue eyes. His face had literally turned pale and his eyes had obviously dilated. After a few more seconds of me staring at him in complete astonishment, he decided to respond.

                “Take me home,” he huffed, his eyelids flickering as if he were to pass out again.

                “U-uhm,” I stuttered while pulling him up along with me. I stumbled for a second, trying to catch my balance as I juggled pulling this unstable kid with one arm, holding my enormous textbooks in the other, and a backpack tightly clung to my back. I let out a massive sigh, darting my eyes towards him and his ghastly state. “Are you sure you’re going to be able to make it home?”

                “I live a few blocks away, it’s not going to be hard.” His eyes pierced through mine as he looked at me with both anger and annoyance.

                I bit my lip. If this kid keeps acting stubborn and hotheaded, I swear to god I’m going to blow up. I was already having a horrible day, and I didn’t need to be yelled at by someone that I’m trying to help. Sheesh, people these days.

                “Alright then,” I replied taking my first step as he sluggishly followed.

                We walked a few more minutes in complete silence, neither of us saying a word nor looking at each other. I bit my lip once again, forcing myself to ask the question.

                Furrowing my eyebrows, I drew my eyes to look at him. “What happened to you back there?”

                “I’m stoned, you idiot.”

                My head shot backed as I stopped in my steps. I wasn’t even the slightest bit angry about him calling me an idiot, I was just appalled at the fact that he was so young and he was… stoned.

                “And how old are you?” I asked, my head still jerked back.

                His eyes slightly widened, “Fourteen.”

                I immediately looked away, dragging him along with me as I continued to hike up the steep path. “I’m not even going to say anything.” People like that made me so angry. You sit there and throw away your life for something stupid like drugs? It doesn’t make any sense to me.

***

                After we had reached the top of the bike path—only a few blocks past my home –we steered left towards the wealthier side of town.

                “Where exactly do you live,” I inquired, wrinkling my forehead in doubt.

                He lifted his arm, his finger extending towards the giant, white building situated in the middle of all the homes. Although it was in a prime location, it was completely secluded, cut off by all the gates.

                I shook my head in disbelief as we approached the black stone in front of the mansion that read: The Millbrae Oaks—Mayor Bryan’s Residence. “You’re the Mayor’s son.”

                “Take me through the back.” He suddenly began to violently cough, nervously pointing to the direction that he desired for me to go. “I don’t want anyone to see me.”

                “Are you kidding me?” I roughly questioned, “How do you expect me to get you into this house? It’s gated away like a jail, not to mention I’ll probably go to jail if I help you break in.”

                “I know how to enter through the back,” he quickly protested, “Now will you please get me there faster; you’re making it so easy for people to see us.”

                I clenched my teeth at his haughty tone. “Well obviously! This house is smacked right in the middle of tons of houses full of preying neighbors!”

                As we finally shuffled our way to the back, he halted, pulling me back with him. “Turn the dial there and push it open,” he remarked, his eyes signaling towards the metal gates.

                I let go of him and reached over, twisting the cold, metal dial while it instantly clicked open. The gate screeched as I pushed it open even further. “Okay, so where do we—”

                A big thud escaped from behind me, forcing me to instantly zip my head around. I quickly dropped my hold on the books in my arm, bending down to attempt and lift this now unconscious fourteen year old. After a few fruitless attempts, I sighed, dropping to my knees as I held my forehead with one hand and gripped my stomach with another. It’s not that I was too weak to pick him up, it’s just that I didn’t know where I would take him if I did.

                What was I supposed to do? If anyone saw me like this, they’d probably assume I did something to the Mayor’s son and blame me trespassing on private property. Plus, I couldn’t just run, my guilty conscious would kill me if I left this kid laying here like this. Oh my god, Jess, why did you have to take the bike path home today?

                “Tyler?!” a deep, masculine voice suddenly called out from behind me.

                In shock, I jumped, hitting my head hard against the metal gate as someone approached. While furiously rubbing the side of my head, I peered through one of my eyes. It was an older-looking guy, his lightly tanned muscles exposed through his short-sleeved, black t-shirt as he easily lifted the kid off the ground.

                “You need to go home… it’s not safe for you to be here,” he demanded, his voice surprisingly soft and husky.

                “Wait—” but before I could continue, he was already gone. I shook my head, attempting to open my eyes as I tugged at the metal bars of the gate to help myself up. “Okay, what just happened,” I whispered to myself while making a sloppy attempt to gather all my books.

                Suddenly, a warm hand grabbed my arm, yanking me upwards. Scared to death, I hastily shut my eyes only to realize that in a matter of seconds I was literally pinned to a wall with a hand covering my mouth. The door slammed shut, and I jerked, my eyes peeling open in complete shock.

                But as my eyes met another pair of deep, sky blue eyes, I fell into a daze. I had instantly recognized him from a minute ago, but now I noticed the auburn hair that fell right above his eyes and the perfect features that fit his structured face.

                As my breath got heavier, I woke from my trance, whipping my hands up in an effort to tear away his hand from my mouth. It was obviously a waste, as his grip grew tighter. He was a lot stronger than me. Why was he doing this to me? I began to wiggle, attempting to release myself from him and his death grip.

                “Shh,” his light, pink lips curved up, “I’m not trying to hurt you, I promise.”

________________________________________________________________________

Comment/vote if you like :) Thanks for reading!