Six Months with Irene | ✓

//IRENE// 02

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED COPYRIGHTED 2015

Chapter Two

IRENE

In the blackened blue air that suffocated Irene, she trembled where she stood with her back against the inside of the front door. Her head was pressed sideways against the blue painted door and all she could hear was the sound of her heart beating rapidly in her chest, as if reminding her that although she felt dead inside it was quite the opposite. She was alive, even though she didn't want to be.

It wasn't that that she was focused on, instead her ears were focused on hearing the sound on the other side of the door. She waited for the moment that Orion Sage would turn on his heels and walk away from her, before heading down to his house where his mom and his little sister was waiting for him. Where his family spent more time caring about each other than her mom, Detective Franklin, cared about coming home and having dinner with her clinically depressed daughter.

"Enough," Irene growled to herself quietly, as she knew that it wouldn't do any good thinking about her mom and what life would be like if the woman wasn't like how she was. It wasn't like Irene could do anything to change it, ever since her dad died when she was little, things hadn't been the same for Irene and for her mom either.

In the background Irene heard the soft piddle paddle of Orion making his way down the porch and in the direction of his house once more—it was enough of a sign for Irene to sigh tiredly to herself and let her knobby legs loosen themselves before she fell onto the carpeted flooring of the entrance of her house in a way that let everyone know that she was done.

"Stupid Orion," Irene grumbled as she leaned her head against the door again, her eyes trailing down to where her arms were. In her long sleeve shirt that went down to her a little above her knees (the shirt covered her denim shorts), Irene felt the familiar chill of coldness seep through her skin and into her bones once more.

He's not stupid. He's concerned. Irene scrunched her features together in an unappealing manner as her voice of reason in her head spoke to her in a softer tone that she wasn't used to speaking in. Her voice sounded rough and icy, enough to push others away from her. She didn't need another reason to kill herself added onto the bulletin list.

Still, Irene closed her eyes and remembered the soft look that came across the features of Orion. She remembered seeing his coppery, caramel colored hair glistening from the last bit of light that was still clinging into the air and his eyes peering so carefully, with so much caution at her as though he was afraid that she was going to break down at that very moment and commit suicide in front of his eyes so that she could have an audience.

Irene shook her head, dismissing the image of him standing in front of her front door with pleading eyes and instead slowly got up from the ground. It wasn't until she was finally up from the carpeted flooring that it hit her what she had just agreed to. What she actually brought upon that table, what she had told Orion what was going to happen.

"I'll give you until August, at the end of Summer Break, to convince me to live."

Six months.

Irene just handed over six months of her life to Orion as though it was nothing more than a piece of paper, as though it was just another agreement that businessmen came up with. Her mind ran over the thought of having to actually associate herself with someone, someone who was known well in the school even though his group of prankster friends didn't pop up into her head until now. She could deal with just Orion, but his gang of troublemakers were attention seekers—and if it was one thing that Irene wasn't comfortable with it was attention.

Passing by the living room—Irene barely paid attention to the sight of the home phone that was sitting on the coffee table ringing. She knew that there was only one person that called this late at night. Detective Franklin. And the only reason why she called was to tell her daughter that she was going to be working late tonight because they had gotten someone in custody or they were starting a new case that needed her expertise.