Chapter Seven.
I never found out what Blaze would give me for breakfast.
Shortly after what Blaze Montenegro called my 'internal breakdown', I blurted out an apology and fled from her house.
It doesn't take me long to get home. I manage to find my way fairly easily, and sooner than later I'm at my front door.
Although when I get up to my room, my alarm goes off, scaring the shit out of me. 7am.
Well, I guess suicidal thoughts will have to wait.
I'm such an idiot. What kind of fucking psychopath jokes about their own suicidal thoughts?
~
I look terrible.
I stare at myself in the tiny mirror in the corner of the men's bathroom at school. I must say, I'm glad no one's here. This particular bathroom in the school is usually abandoned due to the smell.
I would say I look as bad as it smells in here, but even that would be a little harsh. It really fucking stinks in here.
I have huge purple bags under my eyes and my black greasy hair hangs around my face, making my complexion even paler. I probably should have stayed home, but it's a Tuesday, and Tuesday is game day. Dad invites 'round all his poker buddies for the whole day. Believe me, getting caught in the middle of that is not something I'd rather do than go to school.
I sigh and pull my hood up, and walk out of the bathroom, breathing in the fresh air of the corridor.
~
"And now it's time for a recap," our teacher says in a monotone voice. I have a feeling teaching Physics in a run-down public school wasn't Mrs Mayors dream job.
"The energy in watts, multiplied by the time in seconds, equals..." she looks around the class, until her small beady eyes zone in on... "Mr Greene. Since you look so engaged, why don't you answer the question?"
I look up in surprise. Truth be told, I was listening. I was listening whilst drawing the latest addition to my sketchbook, the one I started yesterday in English Lit. However...
Okay, I have no idea what she's talking about. Unless I want to be a particle of energy when I'm older, why the hell do I need to know this? I'm probably not even going to live until tomorrow, a sad thought slithers its way into my consciousness.
I stare right into Mrs Mayor's eyes, my cheeks flushing, trying to come up with a plausible answer, whilst simultaneously wondering if those small, black eyes of hers show a glimpse into her soul, when...
SLAM! The classroom door bangs open and a boy walks in, clad in grey, ripped jeans, a holier-than-thou smirk, and, lone behold! A worn leather jacket.
Flynn Avery stands in the doorway of my Physics class.
"Hi," he says, flashing a flirty smile at Mrs Mayor. I swear I see her blush. "I believe the answer you're looking for is 'energy', Ma'am." He quips. The whole class is in utter silence, staring at him in what I'm sure is awe. I sit, planted in my seat, gaping at him.
What in Hades is he doing? He doesn't even go here!
Flynn's smile drops a bit at the silence he's met with, but he soon makes up for it. "Well, I'm told this is Angelo Greene's classroom..." he looks around, and when his bright blue eyes meet mine, he grins. "There you are. Come on mate, we've got somewhere to be,"
I look around. Mrs Mayor seems suddenly occupied in looking at her notebook, and no one else is meeting my eyes. Nobody objects him, or tells the strange boy to get out of their classroom.
I get up silently and shove my sketchbook and pencils into my bag, slinging it over my shoulder, and walk over quickly to him. "What are you doing?" I hiss, as he pushes me out of the room and closes the door behind us, leading me down the corridor.
In any other situation, I would probably be a bubbling mess, but I have no motivation to worry today. None at all.
"You, my friend, have somewhere to be. I'm extremely apologetic that you had to be excused from what I'm sure was an insightful, exciting Physics lesson, but we really do have to be going," he answers, and by the time he stops talking we're walking through the front doors and into the car park.
"No, I mean what are you doing? Where are you taking me?! We only met this morning!" I exclaim, wrenching myself away from his touch. We're standing in front of an old, red trailer truck, which looks like its seen better days.
Flynn sighs. "Look. I can't tell you anything right now, and I know you probably don't want to trust me, seeing as the first time we met I was... unpleasant, but you're going to have to. There's somewhere you have to be," he looks desperate, "It's important,"
I look at him, up and down, and sigh. "Does this have something to do with Blaze?" I ask. For a moment, he looks confused, but then realisation dawns on his face.
"Blaze. Right, Blaze. Yes it does. But I can't explain right now. Please, just get in the truck," he pleads.
I sigh again. This all seemed too risky. I literally only met him this morning and he wants me to get in his truck and take me somewhere?
In any other situation I probably would have run for the hills, but when I thought about it, I wasn't scared. I felt... something different.
I stand in a parking lot. I can hear my heart beating in my chest, sense the blood running through my veins, feel the fresh breaths of air in my lungs as I inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
I could feel alive. If I really wanted to.
I could go out, and do what normal, everyday people do. I could have friends, I could get out of this pit. Maybe this is a way out? Maybe this is the ladder I've been screaming for all my life, as I descended down the never ending hole. I could grab on, clutch onto the rungs of my escape route, and climb out.
It could take a while. I could be climbing for ages. Maybe I wouldn't ever get out.
There's only so much falling one can take before they forget what it's like to be grounded.
I smile. A smile that's so fake I feel dirty. I feel filthy. Smiling should indicate you're happy about something. If I smile, but I'm not happy, does that make me a liar?
"Tell Blaze I'm sorry," I say in a somewhat reasonable tone for my inner state. "I truly am sorry. And thank her for me. Please,"
I smile once more, but it comes out as a grimace when I see the confused look on Flynn's face. He won't even know I'm using him as my note.
"Bye," I say, which comes out as a hoarse whisper, and turn, walking out of the front gates.
I'm going home.
Raven's POV
I'm sitting on a bench outside the Foal's Inn pub when my phone rings with news from Flynn. I flip it open and place it to my ear in urgency. But before I can get a word in he speaks.
"He's not coming," I sigh in frustration and sit back, leaning my head back to look at the grey sky. It reminds me of his eyes.
"Well, why the hell not? Did you tell him it's important?" I demand. He heaves a deep sigh.
"No, I told him to take his time and RSVP his reply," he retorts sarcastically.
"Flynn," I groan. "Don't joke around. It's important. This morning when he left- something was wrong. I know it. I could see it in his eyes,"
"Okay, I get that. But I don't understand why you're suddenly so interested in this kid. Didn't you only meet him yesterday?"
I sigh again, standing up and pacing over to the door of the pub. "Yes, but that's not the point. It's not just about what happened this morning. There's something I need to talk to him about," I lean on the wall under the small porch of the building, and slide my free hand into my pocket, feeling the cold, cheap plastic of Angelo's mobile.
I hear Flynn groan. "You made me drive all the way to his school, effectively wasting all the petrol gas in my baby, because you need to talk to him? You told me it was important!"
"It is important-"
"I literally made it sound like you were giving birth and we were in desperate need of a midwife. He probably thinks we're complete freaks!" he snaps.
I let out a small laugh. "Since when have you cared what people think?"
Flynn lets out a little whine. "He's really hot!" he whispers excitedly. I burst into laughter.
"Avery, you're a 6 foot-tall wall of muscles and you wear your arse as a hat 24/7. Other than those two facts, you hardly qualify for a bad boy, you know that right?"
"Fuck you," He growls. "Let's just pretend that never happened, okay?" I grin, holding back laughter.
"Whatever you say, big boy. What did Greene say, anyway?" I ask.
"Well, after dragging him out of class, I proceeded to tell him that I needed to take him somewhere, and to get into the truck-" I choke on my saliva.
"You specifically told him to get into the truck?" I grin. "Did you by any chance whip out the lemon flavoured lolly pops and bribe him to get into the boot?"
He coughs loudly, whining again. "Stop teasing me, Rave! My truck doesn't even have a boot!"
I smile. "Okay, okay. Carry on,"
"Well, I told Greene that it has something to do with you, and that it was important. But after that, he stood there, staring at me- it was weird. Like, I could tell he was thinking about something, something really..."
"Dark," I finish for him. "I know. He did that this morning. He thinks too much, I can tell,"
"After that, he just... he smiled. He said sorry. He told me to tell you that he's sorry. And he says thank you,"
A deep feeling bubbles in my gut. I frown, not liking those words. "Why the fuck would he say that?"
"No idea. He just said bye after that, and left. He went through the school gates, I imagine he was going home,"
My eyes widen. Shit.
"Avery," I say, my voice is dangerously low. "Where are you?"
"Still in the school parking lot," he sounds concerned. "What's going on, Raven?"
"I need you to get out of the car, right now, and run into reception. Get Angelo Greene's address," I demand, getting up from my stance outside the pub and sprinting down the road and into a side street.
"On it," he replies shortly, and I hear the sound of a car door slamming and feet slapping against dry concrete. One of the things I love about Flynn Avery is that he knows when something is serious. He rarely questions things when it sounds important and he trusts me blindly.
I reach the street corner and stop in front of my BSA motorbike, reaching for the helmet and taking it off the worn leather seat, then sliding on. "Flynn," I say, before jamming the key into the ignition and revving the engine.
"Shit, Raven, the main doors are locked," I hear him say, distressed. "They must have locked them after I left. I knew they wouldn't be happy to see my face again,"
I pull my jacket closer around my shoulders and use my free hand to zip it all the way up, tucking my hair under the collar. I groan in annoyance. "Damn it, Avery, get that address! I don't care what you have to do!"
I hear the sound of a door rattling and Flynn swears under his breath. "Fucking hell Rave, I can't just kick the door down, not this time. Maybe-" he stops, and all I hear is the soft wind blowing around my ears and the sound of late-autumnal leaves being scattered by the breeze.
"Flynn," I say, breaking the tranquillity. "Flynn, what's going on?"
Finally, he sighs in relief, showing signs of life after a long period of quiet. "Don't worry about it Raven, I've got it covered. You do what you have to do, I'll text you the address in no more than 10 minutes," he says, all in one breath.
"Got it. Meet me there, 'kay?" I ask, getting ready to leave. He replies positively, and I hang up, shoving the phone into my pocket before zipping it up, then grabbing the helmet and sliding it over my head.
I rev the engine once more, and press down firmly on the accelerator and speed off down the narrow street, onto the main road, like I'm racing against time.
Which I am, I suppose. Too bad time got a head start.
© 2016 Saving Angelo, (rebelsymphony). All rights reserved.