Jailbird Tango

Part 21 - Surprise, Study

I sent Laura a text, after avoiding her again all week. It just didn't sit right that we went straight back to normal as if I wasn't spending all my time elsewhere, I couldn't even bring myself to walk past the house. I was an awful brother. I had even procrastinated on ringing Reyna back and she had called three times in the last five hours.

She responded by ringing me, and acting on my guilt, I declined it. 'Sorry Laura, can't call now, but did I get any more mail?' I muttered aloud before sending the message. The response was fast, as expected.

With a sigh, I walked down the street, keeping my head down. My music was blasting in my ears and I kept pace with the beat. The sky was blue, a nice temperature to walk home. Home? No, back to the manor. Nodding my head to the beat, I sidled over to the mailbox, it wasn't empty.

Pulling my phone out my back pocket, I checked the time. Three thirty, Laura wouldn't be home yet at this time, her class went until five. There were five envelopes, four all had her name on them. The other one, thin, tightly sealed and with an obnoxiously large stamp for the penitentiary on the front just above the printed address.

I slipped it into my jacket with a sigh, putting the other mail back in the letter box hastily. If anyone was watching, they would probably think that I was stealing mail. Again. Shaking my head, I walked on, continuing to the beat of the song. The only question was, which way should I walk to the manor? The bus was appealing, my boots were comfortable but they definitely weren't for hiking, and I could get off at the Highschool and surprise Yan. Though, would she be happy to see me?

Running to get to the bus stop, I made it just as the usual bus pulled up. Giving the bus drier a nod, I scanned my card settling down at the front in a seat by myself. It wasn't too crowded today, about four old ladies, a couple kids who had skipped school. I continued humming along quietly to my music, scrolling through the randomly suggested news articles. They all blended together, there wasn't anything interesting.

I watched the streets blur past, checking the time occasionally, hoping that the bus wouldn't be late. Fidgeting with my card, I almost forgot to press the button for my stop. The bus jolted forward and I mumbled apologies as one of the old ladies seemed to tutt at me angrily, shaking her head. I couldn't hear what she was saying, my music was too loud and I intended to keep it that way.

Scrambling off the bus, I headed to the school gates where a couple parents were already loitering outside. I kept an eye out for Yan, pulling my headphones out of my ears. She was walking along, head down, hands clutching her school bag. Two boys looked like they were going to head over to her, but when they saw me standing there, for some reason they went their separate ways.

I waved, trying to get Yan's attention. She didn't see. Another random classmate tapped her on the shoulder and she looked up in surprise before seeing me. Her expression went from a frown to a bright smile. She walked a lot more quickly towards me.

'Evan! Dad and Papa didn't say you were coming!' She cried out in greeting as she walked quickly out of the gate. Some of the loitering parents looked strangely at the two of us, but I tried to ignore them, looking down at the smiling girl in front of me.

'Hey Yan! Come on, let's walk,' I chuckled, 'and, picking you up was more of an impromptu thing...'

'Impromptu?' She asked and I nodded.

'Yeah, unplanned, a surprise.'

'You thought about surprising me?'

'Yeah!' I laughed as we walked down the street. 'How was your day?'

'Could have been better, could have been worse. I did really well on my English presentation though! It was on the book we're studying, Pride and Prejudice.'