No Strings Attached

Chapter 13: The Boy in The Closet

"Aria, please don't," I begged. 

She laughed so hard, tears rolled down her eyes.

"Wow, " she giggled, "You must really like him, do you?"

"Like who?" asked Dad, engaged in the conversation.

"I don't know, " I lied, growing flustered. "Just some guy, okay?"

But Aria playfully wags her finger. "I think you are lying—"

"Aria!" I screeched. "Can we change the subject?"

My best friend put up her hands in defense. "Okay, sorry. Sheesh!"

I smile in triumph. "Good."

Increasing the volume, Mom frowned when she hears a nine-year-old African-American boy being gunned down by a police officer.

According to the new reporter, she claims that the police officer thought the boy had a gun on him.

But when the cops searched the kid's pockets, it was a Superman action figure.

Shaking her head grimly, Aria mumbled: "This has been the second shooting this week. First, it was an unarmed store clerk and now a kid?"

Dad nodded in agreement, pausing near a stoplight. "What has this world coming to?" 

"I don't know, Dad." I sigh.

Mom glowers at the radio, pressing her finger on the power button.

"You think the news is terrible, " she began, look at the papers! We have men in spider pajamas and haunted hospitals."

I roll my eyes. "It's Spider-Man, Mom."

She flicks her gaze at me. "I am sorry?"

"The guy in the spider pajamas is Spider-Man,"  Aria explains.

Embarrassed, Mom pinched her forehead.

"Oh, right." she chuckled. "Spider-Man, my bad."

Dad smirked. "Wow, you are definitely not a fan of comic books, aren't you?"

Mom scrunched her nose in distaste. "I prefer romantic comedies over cartoons."

"I don't, " he states casually. "Being a superhero is amazing. I grew up reading comics as a kid."

Aria's brown eyes brightened. "What kind of comic books are you into?"

Dad opened his mouth to answer when we were suddenly transported to our driveway.

The house remained the same: its walls are toffee brown, the lawn is perfectly trimmed, and the concrete driveway remains the color of white.

Parking the car, we scrambled into the house, where my parents got started on making breakfast.

Mom retrieved a box of pancake mix, chocolate syrup, chips, and cocoa powder from the cupboard.

Placing the ingredients on the table, Mom starts taking out the pans when Dad turned the TV on to listen to some music.

"If You Really Love Me?" by Stevie Wonder poured from the speakers, as Dad shimmies his way over to Mom.

Tossing his remote on the couch, he did an odd dance which made Aria and I both laugh.

Flustered, Mom giggled as Dad spun her around like spaghetti. Pulling Mom close, Dad wrapped his strong arms around her waist.

Baffled, Mom squealed, "David!  What are you—"

"Dance off, " he challenged. "You and me."

"You are loco, " she sighs.

But Mom swayed her hips to the beat, staring at Dad's charismatic eyes.

"You remember this song playing when we first met?" asked Dad.

Nodding, Mom puts her arms around his neck.

Her hair rocked from side to side, as she kisses Dad on the mouth.

"Yeah, " she chuckled. "You were the worst man to dance with."

"Oh really?" Dad asks slyly.

Playfully, he then dipped Mom, pulls her close to his chest and continues to kiss her on the forehead.

Watching them dance, Aria and I exchange sweet looks then head up to my bedroom.

As we walked towards the ascending stairs, Aria says to me: "your parents are very cool."

I smile a little. "They can be embarrassing, but I love their chemistry."

Aria bobs her head, running her fingers against the wooden stair rails.

"Yeah, " she chuckled. "In the meantime, my parents—"

Suddenly, Aria was interrupted by a loud moan coming from behind the door.

My smile shifts into a suspicious frown as I stopped.

"What the hell was that?" Aria asked.

I shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Did someone break into your house last night?"

I shake my head. "My parents always locked the doors and windows."

Aria gives me a quizzical stare.

"Then who is moaning in your room?" she asked.

"Only one way to find out, " I said, putting my hand around the knob.

Opening the door, I cautiously stepped inside the room when James stumbled out of the closet, wearing an uncomfortable hospital gown.

James' light blue dress is covered in sand and bird feather; his hair remained the color of copper, and his aquamarine eyes stared at our shocked faces.

Shutting the door behind me, I went up to him then asked, "Where the hell were you?"

"And why do you smell like bird shit?" asked Aria, covering her nose.

James massages his head for a second, trying to remember what happened.

But so far, he doesn't know anything.

"I have no idea," he replies groggily.

"Oh my God, " I moan. "Your mother is worried sick! She has been calling and texting you for hours!"

James glanced at me for a second. "What?"

"Yeah, " agreed Aria. "So have Marco, Nadine, and I, but you didn't pick up."

James sighed. "That's because my phone died. I didn't know you guys called me, I swear."

I glare at him for a moment, but somehow, all of my anger was gone.

I didn't know if it was my disappearing headache, but I do know that James is alive and well.

Tucking a lock of hair behind my ears, I said to James: "Look, we are so glad you are okay."

"We thought you ran away, " said Aria.

Smiling, James scoffed, "Are you kidding me? I wouldn't leave you guys for the world."

After that, he gave us a warm hug and sat comfortably on my bed.

"So, where were you?" I ask, leaning against the nightstand.

"We couldn't find you anywhere in the hospital."

James chuckled, "Yeah, that's because I wasn't in the hospital." 

Aria blinked her eyes at him. "Then where did you go?"

"I didn't go anywhere, " insisted James. "I was teleported in Maui."

Aria and I stared at him blankly.

"Maui?" Aria cried. "Isn't that in Hawaii?"

"Yeah, " James nodded. "And trust me, their seagulls aren't tourist friendly."