Since Summers

twenty two : rest

"Nobody could live all by himself."

Mario offered me a sad smile. "I just don't want to give them power over me."

"If you don't have any liability holding you back, then why didn't you walk away? Why didn't you leave the organization?"

"You're kidding, right?" When I didn't answer, he folded his arms behind his head. "Because I still want to live. No one leaves the organization, man. At least no one left and lived to tell the story."

AUTUMN

I turned on the TV and watched Riverdale on Netflix as I waited for my pizza to come. I was too lazy to walk to McD or any restaurant nearby but I was hungry. Good Hemmings, there was a thing called food delivery.

I ordered pepperoni and cheese and when the bell finally rang, I jumped to my feet and ran like a mad, hungry girl which I probably was right now. I was going to swing the door open like I usually did but then I remembered reading an article somewhere about the dangers of opening the door before checking. For the first time in my life, I leaned forward and peered through the small peephole. A guy dressed in a regular red and white shirt wearing a cap with similar color combination stood on the other side of the door, a box of pizza in his hand. Well, he looked like a delivery guy for me so I swung my door open.

"Pepperoni and cheese for Miss Summers," he read the paper he held in his other hand. He proceeded to confirm my order and address.

"How much is it?" As the words rolled out of my mouth, I realized I didn't have my wallet with me. Stupid! I was too excited about the pizza that I ran to the door empty-handed.

"It'll be seventeen dollars fifty cents." He handed me the pizza and I carefully put it on the small table beside the shoe cabinet.

I held up one hand. "Hold on, let me get the money." I made a short trip to the coat stand. I wasn't the type who took out all my belongings from my pockets and put them on the table or inside a drawer. Whenever I got home, I simply let whatever was in my pockets stayed in my pocket until I needed them. Just like I thought, my wallet was still in the right pocket of my coat. I pulled out two tens from my wallet and walked back to the door.

The delivery guy still stood in front of the door, carrying the receipt in one hand, however, I swore I saw his eyes scanning the inside of my apartment, almost as if he was looking for something. Or someone. By the time I reached the door, his eyes were on the floor, gazing lazily at the line between the wooden floor of my apartment and the pale yellow tiles of the hallway. Although I found it rather odd, I kept my mouth shut. It wasn't nice to start accusing someone. Plus, I had no idea how he would react. Since Villain X, I finally realized that not everyone that looked normal was actually normal.

I handed him the two tens and told him to keep the change. He gave a brief nod and walked away. Carrying the pizza box in one hand, I went back to the couch and put it on the table. The smell of pepperoni and cheese made my stomach growl so without further ado, I opened the box and dug in.

I was on my third pizza when I softly heard my phone buzzed. After tossing several pillows aside, I finally found my phone stuck in the small gap on the couch. Using my clean hand, I pulled it out and tapped on its screen.

I nearly choked on my pizza as I read the caller ID. It was Audrey, Tyler's mom. I put the half-eaten pizza into the box and quickly swallowed what was left in my mouth.

"Hello?"

"Autumn! It's so good to hear your voice, dear. How are you?" Audrey has always been cheerful, she was simply the coolest mom I've ever met, but right now there was something else in her voice that made me sit a little straight and put the phone a little closer to my ear. Today she sounded different, she sounded like she was truly happy.