Elliot Granger & The Clueless Brigade

Chapter Two: Dreamers can play chess

I rapped my fist against the daylight basement window that was one of six I would use to get in and out of Pete's room—but, that only worked when they weren't locked. Bare branches poked at my shoulders. My torso was almost completely flat against the cold ground. Matilda stood very happily over my head wagging her tail. Layers of dirt bordered her front haunches and neck. A bath was going to be a necessary next step.

Footsteps and a shadow got closer to the window. Matilda let out a very soft bark. Pete slid open the window. His bright blue eyes are always the first thing anyone could notice about Pete. His wide lazy grin was the next. "Hey, what's up?"

"Why are the windows locked?"

"To avoid break-ins," he offered. His voice a constant low raspy drawl that wrapped around his sarcastic comments. "My mom's been watching too much news." Then there was the instant guilty expression that I always got anytime anyone mentioned their mothers. Shrugging it off would continuously add to my overwhelming urge to scream.

"Can you unlock the back door?"

"The front door works too."

"Is anyone else home?" Of course, I'm only asking if his mom is home. It is just the two of them.

"Yeah, she's making dinner. Shouldn't you be with Glen?"

"I couldn't remember. I don't want to track mud through the house."

"Why are you muddy?"

"Matilda got me muddy." I felt a smile form on my face which didn't happen all that much these days.

Pete smiled back. "Who is Matilda?"

"My new dog."

"What?"

"Just let me in around the back," my voice raised in volume.

"Okay, okay." Pete slammed the window closed, and I shimmied myself out of the bushes. Matilda was wiggling with the wags of her tail as she did the same. Her wide brown eyes looked at me with more kindness that I'm used to seeing. I instantly loved her with my entire heart.

We walked down along the side of the house. If I reached out both of my arms I would be able to touch Pete's house as well as Mr. Costello's—like I mentioned earlier, everything is cramped and overlapping. I felt like a rat in a cage; some people seemed not to notice or mind that congested and suffocated casualties of Northern New Jersey, but it made me crazy. I felt like I had a limited amount of time before it consumed me entirely rendering ever leaving impossible. My left foot was almost always twitching with anticipation. I had to get out.

Matilda heeled naturally. Her fur grazed my leg as we walked into Pete's postage-stamp-sized yard—something all homes in this area had in common. My pant leg was slowly collecting an accumulating amount of dirt as it passed from Matilda's coat to me. I wasn't sure if she was well trained or just thankful to have a friend.

Pete and I lived a solid five-minute walk apart, but we used have touching back yards. We had been friends since we were seven since my mom and I moved into the house. Our moms became best friends first. I didn't feel like Pete was like my brother, he's definitely a friend. Pete had his band and a constant influx of girls, but he always kept me by his side, kept me close. I was the robin to his batman.

Just as I stepped onto the two-step stoop, Pete swung open the back door. His dyed jet black hair hung over his face. An eyebrow, lip, and nose piercing only added to the prettiness of his face, which I knew for a fact was the opposite of his goals. Pete did everything he could to make himself look tough, but he only added to his female fan base and solidified the fact that their band 'Goat's Gin' was the most popular band in the local scene, which was like the shopping malls, were quite large and varied.