corrupted lungs | d.w #Wattys2016

t h r e e

For the rest of the day, Dallon wasn't around. I didn't know where he'd went, and the teachers surprisingly didn't seem to notice either. Just a few of them questioned where Mr. Weekes were, but of course no one could answer that question. During the last period of class, I sneaked out of the classroom and strolled down all of the halls, looking for the tall boy.

I didn't know why, I just wanted to find him. Make sure he was alright. I even went outside to check if he was there, but I couldn't see him anywhere. I eventually headed back to class, but his face didn't disappear out of my head.

The day ended around 3 pm and Sarah met up with me outside of my classroom, since we didn't have the same class during the last period. She didn't seem to be mad with me anymore, which felt relieving. I hated fighting with people. We walked together to my locker, were we parted ways since she had to head home as well.

I lived just a block away from school, so it would take about ten minutes for me to arrive back home, were I'd be alone for at least two hours. My mom worked down at the town's church, and my dad spent most of his days in a studio making music with his friend Josh, so they always came home a bit later than me. But that was alright. I enjoyed spending time alone.

I stuffed my books in my backpack and slipped out my bicycle key, before locking up my locker, swinging the backpack up on my shoulder and heading out from the building. My bicycle was parked under a big cork tree that was placed in the outskirts of the school. It was rarely any people here, and sometimes I stayed under the tree and studied before heading home. But not today. Simply because I didn't have much homework, and I was starving for something to eat.

My bicycle was pretty old, I had received it as a Christmas gift about three years ago, but it still looked new. The purple color it was dressed in hadn't faded and surprisingly I hadn't gotten any scratches on it. I unlocked it, placed my backpack in the basket on the front and lead it out on the sidewalk before jumping on and making my way home.

I always found it very calming, riding my bicycle. And especially at night. Sometimes I took small rides around the neighborhood before going to bed. It gave me time to think, go over my homework in my head or just have some me-time. It was nice.

I rolled up outside our two-stories house and parked my bicycle outside the garage. Our house was located in the middle row of all the other houses and was covered in a dark brown color in wood. The roof was kind of flat and covered in grey, while our garage was the same color as the house. It was a pretty expensive house that was a bit too big for just me and my mom and dad.

But my dad always wanted to give me and my mom the best we could get. He was a very generous and giving person and was a lot like me- he wanted people to be happy and even though he'd had a pretty tough life, he was always smiling. My dad was such a big role model to me, and so was my mom. Since the day I was born, she'd always talked to me about wrongs and rights and she'd formed me into the person I am today. Me and my parents had a great relationship that I wouldn't want to trade for anything in the world.

I unlocked the front door, stepping inside our still-not-fully-moved-in house. There was still a lot of boxes in the kitchen and the living room, and my bedroom was probably the only room in the house that was completely done. I left my shoes by the door and walked up the stairs. The second floor consisted of my room, my dad's workroom/mini studio, a small extra living room that I mostly used and a bathroom.

I entered my room, which was almost completely covered in white- the bed, desk, computer and my chair was white. I wasn't much of a colorful person. I hung my backpack on the side of my bed and got seated in front of my desk. I opened up my laptop, logged in and opened up the Facebook tab.

I brought out some of my books from school since I was going to study, before jogging over to my speakers that stood in the corner of the room, plugged in my phone and pressed shuffle.

+++

An hour later, I found myself pushing the books away, completely drained of energy. I looked over at the digital clock on my laptop. 4:35 pm. My mom would be home in a bit. I then realized I hadn't been eating anything and heard my stomach growl. I stood from my seat and tiptoed down to the kitchen.

I brought out two sandwiches, topping, a glass and some orange juice. I made two sandwiches with melted cheese on and poured up orange juice in the whole glass, before bringing it upstairs on a small tray. Arriving back into my room, I placed the tray on my desk, but didn't have the time to sit down before a knock on the door was heard.

I sighed before I skipped down the stairs again, up to the front door and opened it up. I was met by a tall creature standing in front of me, and it took a while for me to register the face hiding behind the grey hood. Dallon.
He raised his hand into a small wave, before shoving his hand back into his pocket.

"Hi!" I exclaimed in confusion. What made him come here? An even better question was, how did he know I lived here?

"Do you want to come inside?" I blurted out, but he just shook his head. He looked over his shoulder and turned back to me, before pointing towards the house on the opposite side of the road.

"I live there." He quietly told me, and I nodded. Apparently we were neighbors, and I think I was a bit too excited about that. "Just thought I'd let you know." He began turning around, but I caught his hand. It was cold, but I didn't let go. 

"Where did you go earlier, at school?" I asked him and he just shrugged, before shooting me smile and proceeding to turn around. I slid my hand out of his and he was gone again.

This boy was definitely something different, just like everyone had told me. They'd even warned me about him, and I kind of understood why. But while everyone else got scared off, I got drawn in. Suddenly I was craving his presence, and he'd only ever spoken to me about two times. There was something about him that just made me forget everything else, school, problems, everything that I didn't want to think much about. And I enjoyed it.