Four Hearts

Chapter 11

Cedric

His notepad started screaming next to him with his daily wake up call that the school mandates. Cedric sluggishly rose his head and glared at the notepad that was still going crazy. He tapped the stop icon, with the thought that his notepad was worth more than his house being the only thing stopping him from throwing it against a wall. He rubbed his sore neck and looked down to see that he ruined a few pages in his textbook after he used it as a pillow. I must have fallen asleep while I was studying again. What is this? The third night in a row? Cedric pulls himself out of his desk chair and begins his slow getting ready process.

He was glad to see that he made it to the bathroom before the person in the room next to him could go. He would've had to wait another forty-five minutes if he didn't. That would've meant he wouldn't have time to get breakfast. Something his grumbling tummy would be extremely upset about. He had already showered the night before, making his time in the bathroom short. Cedric was able to get out of there without having to run into his neighbor that he was forced to share the bathroom with. He slowly got into his uniform, gathered his books, and grabbed his notepad and was ready to be out the door. However, a huge box was in his way this morning. Cedric groans as he puts his stuff down to drag the box in. Why couldn't they bring it into my room last night like do any other time someone has mail? Were they seriously just that tired from carrying it up the stairs?

Cedric brings the box into the middle of the room and opens it up. On top of all the plastic used to protect whatever was inside was a small notecard and a letter. The note was from his family.

Cedric,

You left this when you went to school. We figured that you'd want to have it. We are so proud of you for getting this far. You can visit us anytime you like. We all miss you.

Love,

Dad, Mom, Lily, and Sean

P.S. Delilah wrote a letter for you, so we put it in here too

Cedric looked at the folded piece of paper that his girlfriend wrote her letter on and puts it on his desk. He'll read it after he finds out what his parents left for him. He doesn't have to dig far through the plastic to find what his parents thought he missed. Cedric pulls out his guitar from the box with child-like joy. After another peak in the box, he is able to find his songbook at the bottom. He has to tilt the box over to get it out, but when he does, Cedric can't stop running his hand over the worn leather cover. He still remembers the day he got it. It was his thirteenth birthday. The year after his father gave him his old guitar. His parents had to save up their money for weeks to buy it. Leather bound journals were expensive, but they lasted longer than ones bound with cloth. Cedric's been careful not to fill it up too quickly. It wasn't that hard in recent years due to work taking over most of his time. I can't wait to finally become a demon hunter. Then I'll have enough money to buy as many of these books as I want.

He picks up the guitar and sits on the bed. He runs his fingers over the strings, cringing at how out of tune the instrument is. He begins the process of tuning it when his stomach grumbles again.

"Maybe I should get something to eat first," he chuckles to himself. "I can wait until lunch to tune you, or even study hall if I have too."

Cedric finally gathers up his things again and leaves his room for the morning.

Allegra

"Okay, so today we're going to work on face shapes," Sophia says as she begins drawing on the board. "There are seven basic shapes that we're going to focus on..."