Alone Together

4. chemistry

tw: suicidal ideation

Monday, my mom was back to work. It was possible that I wouldn't see her for another few days. She did however leave me with an errand after watching me laze about the whole of Sunday. I think it killed her inside to see me relaxing. 

She had told me to put some old stuff in the garage into some boxes and that we should have done this a long time ago. I wasn't sure where the momentum to push this stagnant household came from; perhaps it was me suddenly becoming a social butterfly. Or at least in her eyes, that's what it was.

I started on the bottom shelves, scoping for useless junk. A lot of it was pretty useless. Old car parts, things that looked as if they were apart of the sewage system, mine and my brother's old toys. This place really was a junkyard. Flat out in the middle of the garage was my grandfather's rustic Ford.

The keys were already inside the car, ready to turn on the ignition, steal, and drive off away with for the thieves. Perfect for that scheming, tall dark-haired boy should he feel like it.

A car like this was really old and sure to let out lots of carbon monoxide, especially in this enclosed space. A slow but easy death. I wondered what my mother would think finding me on the floor of this dirty garage. Oh how parallel would the realities of her two children would be: gone, in their own different ways. I stared at the car.

Maybe...

I chuckled at how dark I had suddenly began to think and thought to open the garage, in case I got any stupid ideas. As I was about to reach out to press the button on the wall to open the garage, I felt a surge of panic.

What if I was seen? I was already in a bad mood, being perceived was not something I was prepared to handle.

However it was also incredibly hot and mildly stuffy. I took a breath and opened the garage door. Back I went, into sorting out the junk from what could be kept. The junk pile was a lot bigger, reminding me of the gravity of how much of a wasteland we lived in.

"Need a hand?" I heard a voice suddenly ask.

I screamed and dropped a porcelain toilet seat onto my foot. The owner of the voice cursed and quickly rushed to my side as I bent down to remove the heavy object. 

"Are you okay," he asked me, already untying my sneakers while I grimaced in pain.

"I'm fine," I said through my teeth. 

Just perfect, what the hell was this penguin freak doing here? I looked away from my throbbing foot to stop at his face, which was deathly close to mine. Before I couldn't see but he had a few freckles, randomly speckled on across his nose and cheek.

 His eyes suddenly flicked up to mine. He was so close I realised I had made a mistake. His eyes were not dark at but hazel, a kaleidoscope of dark green, inked with gold. The realisation made heat rise up my neck and flood into my cheeks.

"I'll be the judge of that," he said.

There was no way he could see me blushing, just because a boy was close to me. Instead I shoved him away and began to limp into my house.

"I'm fine, okay?" I said but he followed me into my house anyway. 

I panicked and then sighed in relief when I realised it was only my bedroom and the garage that were in a state of mayhem. I limped onto my couch and took off my sneaker and sock. I saw Mr Happy Feet rummaging through my fridge. He then came back with a pack of frozen peas.

I thought about protesting but he was already in my house, already gone through my fridge, already pressing the pack of frozen peas onto my foot. I flinched and then relaxed.