Across Acheron

Session 21

Lorna's smile dropped quicker than the rain outside the house. She brought him to his feet with one hand, looking at him squarely. "Your parents will be informed of this incident. Do it again and we will have to take action."

"Yeah, like restraining me on the damn floor wasn't action enough," Finn spat back. "Tell my parents; they don't give a rat's ass. Why the hell do you think I'm still here?"

I heard one of the housemothers warn him about his language, but Finn didn't seem to hear them. His face had gotten so red that it matched the shade of his hair, his eyes blazing ferociously that I was sure I could see every speck of green in them. We all waited for Lorna to say something, but instead she turned her back on him and walked straight to the steps.

"Excuse me for trying to offer service for the youth of this prison you call a home!" Finn yelled at her back before turning to the three of us, spitting, "What the fuck are you looking at?"

He retreated back into our room before any of us could get a word in, slamming the door so hard I feared it would snap off its hinges. The housemothers stood dumbfounded for a moment, blinking wildly to clear their heads.

"Isaac, Jack, why don't you two come along and help me with breakfast? Classes will start in a few," one of them said—I think her name was Mrs. Blanchard or something. "Robyn, you can help Ms. Duffield with some chores."

"And now the show is over," Robyn muttered as she strutted away with Duffield at her tail. I didn't get too close to her during my time there. You could tell that she was growing into something toxic.

Isaac didn't have a thing to say about the whole ordeal. I would be lying if I said that he didn't creep me out from time to time. With the way he seemed so...soulless, it was hard to tell if he felt anything at all.

Nonetheless, I followed him and Blanchard down the staircase. I had a deal to bestow.

 ***

"Why did the both of you show up?"

That was the last thing I expected to hear out of Isaac's mouth as we cracked eggs into separate bowls. He didn't look at me when he said it; he acted all cool as if he hadn't spoken anything at all. It reminded me of Keenan a little which pissed me off, so I started wishing he would just quit it.

"What do you mean?" I said instead, keeping my eyes on the yellowish substance in my glass bowl.

"The guy that used to be in Finn's room was the calmest guy I knew here. Then one day, he randomly went crazy and they shipped him away. My roommate used to talk about how his parents wanted him back but he didn't want to go. Then suddenly, he packed his bags and left too." He looked over at me. "Do you see what I'm getting at here?"

I knew exactly what he was getting at. He even knew that I knew, but I'd crawl into my own grave if I admitted things too soon. So instead, I let out a shaky laugh before saying, "Wow, talk about coincidence, huh? How did Amy like her eggs again?"

Isaac wasn't buying it. He grabbed a whisk and began beating the eggs reverently, reminding me of one of those cooks on TV. "Why are you here, Jack? You never show up for classes either, so everything about you is a bit sketchy."

I ended up losing my awkward smile at that point. There's something bitter about people suspecting you for something, especially when it's true. If I've got to be honest, Rosebay was taking a toll on me. The city seemed to have its own certain tune that everybody else could harmonise to, but I couldn't seem to find the right beat. No matter what I did to fall into step with the rest of the kids, that feeling never left me. It sucked.

"I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours. It's only fair, right?" I told him, taking another whisk from the drawer beside me.

Isaac was silent for a moment. It was easy to tell that he didn't like the idea of people finding out about him, but little did he know that I already read through half of his story. I just couldn't fit the pieces together yet.