Paper Folds | On Hold

Azure

He took a fork full of noodles, then put it in his mouth. After taking his time to chew and eat it, he turned towards me.

"Cal. It's Cal. And it's 2pm. You better eat fast. You slept till the afternoon?"

I nodded, a bit embarrassed.

"Well, you needed it. God knows you needed some good sleep. Eat up now, we have some things to do after eating."

I licked my fork clean, then put it back in the carton.

"What things?"

He kept his unfinished carton on his lap, then blinked at me with a sombre look in his eyes.

"Well. Since you could hardly, uh, Shayne, uh, during service yesterday, I, uh, oh damn I'm mixing everything up, I just thought you'd want to go? To see him?"

The food I had just gulped down threatened to travel up my throat and out of my mouth. That one broken sentence...

"Go? I... I'm not going anywhere. I'm okay here, absolutely okay. In fact, more than okay. I think I've over-stayed my welcome here. I think I ought to go back, to Zircon. Mum, yeah, she and Dad, and even Scar, they'll be worrying."

Caleb looked at me with utter disbelief at my words. And confusion, lot of confusion. And I? I was shaken out of my wits. Everybody had become the same, proving to meddle with my head, huh? I'd thought Caleb would know. But now, he was the same. He didn't want me to know, did he?

But I knew. I knew it oh so well. They were all lying. About the injuries. About me being a murderer. About Shayne having died. Huh! And now Caleb was just like them.

"Ray? Ray?!"

I shook my head and looked at his palm, that was curled over my hand, warmth seeping through his skin. But my skin felt burnt, my heart betrayed.

I pushed his hand away, then thought over my chances. I got up, then walked up to the side-table beside the bed. Caleb had kept my wallet and my phone on the table. I grabbed them, then checked my phone. Caleb had charged up my phone? But that was least of my worries.

I ran to the door, pulling it open.

"Ray!"

I was roughly turned around, to come face to face with a rumpled shirt covered Caleb, who was now staring at me angrily.

"What are you doing?"

I wrenched myself out of his hold.

"Going."

But that wasn't an answer he wanted, not what he'd liked.

"Where? Why? What are you doing huh? You need to calm down. Can we just sit and talk, if I've offended you enough to have you run away? Where will you even go now?"

I put my phone and wallet inside the two pockets in my pants.

"I have no answers to your questions. I'm going. I'm done here."

He put his hand forward, but I had made up my mind. I walked out.

****

Blue.

She'd always been my anchor. Kind of funny how I'd trust her more than my mom, but I didn't want the overprotective-ness that my own mother would want to give me. Blue would just listen, and be Blue.

The first thing I'd done after I'd left a bewildered receptionist watching Caleb calling my name and running after me, was to call Blue.

She was coming to Iridium. To take me back home. But where was home?