Six

Calm before the storm

I don’t know who I expected to be at the door.

 

Okay, that’s a lie; I know exactly who I expected to be there. It wasn’t my red-haired friend though, it was the blonde one. Instead, I opened my door to Drew. The sun was shining bright outside, which confused me. Hadn’t I only dozed off for a minute or two?

 

“Drew?” I asked stupidly, scratching my chin which was in need of a shave. Why would he be here?

 

“Hey….did I interrupt something? Are you alright?” He looked concerned, so I glanced at the mirror next to the door. My face was pale and my eyes looked tired. I glanced around him, shocked to see some live people milling about.

 

“I…I guess I overslept. How did you get in?” I asked, confused. Every evening I closed and locked the gates and the opened them back up in the morning. It was part of my job as groundskeeper.

 

He pointed a thumb over his shoulder, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. “The gate was unlocked, dude. Are you sure you’re okay? You look like s**t.”

 

I rolled my eyes, relaxing. “Thanks man, here I was thinking I looked beautiful as always.” Drew didn’t lower his eyebrow, so I sighed, “I’m fine, Drew. I just had a nightmare.”

 

The look on Drew’s face reminded me of the second time he’d almost lost his best friend. “I thought they stopped.”

 

“Everyone has nightmares,” I lied easily, waving a hand. I was slightly worried about where Juliette was, and why I hadn’t done my job last night. “So what’s up? Why are you here?”

 

Drew was still weary, but presented me with a milkshake. My outlook brightened considerably. “I went out with Ashley last night”

 

That cause a bit of chocolate spewage and once I was done coughing, I clapped him on the back. “Really? That’s great! How’d it go?”

 

Drew gave a little half-smile, and plopped onto my couch. “It was…fine. Great, actually. We went to the movies. She let me put her arm around her.”

 

“Was she scared of you or the movie?” I teased, shaking my milkshake and opening my fridge. I caught his sneer at me and grinned.

 

“I’ll have you know we went to see that new slasher.” He sounded proud of himself and I knew why.

 

“Are you sure she wasn’t the one holding you?” I laughed, digging out some leftovers. Drew didn’t like scary movies, and he rarely went to the movies to see them. I’d dragged him along a few times when I felt too lame to go alone.

 

“That’s not funny!” he said angrily, and I rolled my eyes. Just as I was taking a bite of my pizza, someone knocked on the door.

 

“See who’s at the door, I need to get dressed.” I took my milkshake into my room, changing my jeans and pulling on a black t-shirt. I heard the door close, but Drew hadn’t said anything. “Drew? Who was at the door?” I asked, coming out of my tiny room.

 

He stands there awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. Natalie stands next to him, looking around my small cottage. I can feel myself blush and try to hide it behind my shake. “Er…hello. Can I help you with something?”

 

I can’t stop looking at the way her hair curls, or her long eyelashes. Forcing myself to not go farther into pervert territory, I glance outside. Mrs. Flurry, an eighty-year old resident here, is staring at the woods with a perplexed face. What?

 

“My…my mother is being buried here today. I thought I s-should check in with you or something…” Her voice breaks in the middle of her sentence. I understand. I step forward, leading her to the garage off of the kitchen. I converted into the office a while ago. 

 

“I’m not going to be the one burying her. I take care of everything afterwards.” I repress a shudder at the thought of how true that is. Natalie just nods and it makes me think she knew this already. I decide that she needs some comfort. “I know how you feel, and I just want you to know if you ever need to talk, you can come here.”

 

I said the wrong thing. She glared at me, her dark eyes piercing mine. “You don’t know how it feels! Everyone keeps saying they know how it feels! They don’t know a thing! They all have families safe at home, not six feet under!”

 

I feel like I’ve been punched in the stomach. She didn’t know, but still it hurts for some reason. “I…I have to go. Come by if you ever want to talk, or any care is unsatisfactory. I’m sorry for your loss.”

 

Without much more word than that, I pushed past Drew who was waiting in the kitchen and went into the bathroom. Colors flashed before my eyes, and I gripped the sink. This time I thought I could smell dirt and oil. It didn’t last long, so I exited the bathroom in a reasonable amount of time.

 

Drew looked troubled, sitting at my small table. “Did she leave?” I ask, grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge.

 

“Yeah…I think so…” My best friend stares at the table in front of him. I’m now worried.

 

“Dude, what’s wrong?” I ask, twisting a chair around and laying my arms on the back. His blue/grey eyes stay trained on the lightly polished wood, not answering me for a second.

 

“It’s nothing really….” I roll my eyes, knowing him better than that. He glances at me and can’t keep the grin from flashing on his face for a second. That’s a start at least. “Ashley called me. She says she has something to tell me. She sounded sad and…sorry.”

 

I breathed a sigh of relief. Nothing was seriously wrong, he was just nervous. The way he looked, you’d think someone was in huge trouble. “Oh. Well, what’s the problem then?” I could guess what she wanted to tell him, and I didn’t see any reason for him to be this worried.

 

Drew’s eyes snap to mine. “What’s the problem? What if she regrets last night? What if she’s mad at me or something? How am I supposed to know what’s wrong, Isaac?!”

 

If the situation wasn’t so serious, I would’ve laughed. Drew was never this worried about his relationships, or relations, if you catch my drift. It was a bit scary to see him like this. “Dude, calm down. Ashley probably just wants to tell you in person and not over the phone. No big deal.”

 

“Tell me what?”

 

Okay, I understood he was freaking out, but he needed to have some sense knocked into him. “Look, Drew. If you did something wrong or hurt her, you know I’d hurt you. I know you’d be the first person in line to slap you. You need to calm down! Ashley is an amazing friend, you two look awesome together. If something was wrong, you guys would work it out. She’s not going to just back out, if she didn’t like last night, she would have told you then!”

 

I think he finally got it. I could see the tension leave his shoulders as they visibly relaxed. I grinned, getting up from the able to glance out the window. The burial was just beginning. I was shocked to see how little people were there. Besides the family, only three other people stood near, not counting the dead.

 

I wonder if Mrs. Meyers was a mean person. I wonder if I’ll ever meet her. I derail my thoughts from that point, letting my eyes slide to the woods. I wonder what happened to Juliette. I feel my stomach roll at the thought of her Going and not saying goodbye. Turning away from the window and leaving my bad thoughts with it, I glance at the clock.

 

“Shouldn’t you be getting to work soon?” I ask, knowing how important the garage is to him. Drew’s eyes widen and his mouth drops open.

 

“S**t! Yeah! I’ll see you, Isaac.” He gives a little wave as he rushes out of the door.

 

“Goodbye, my love! I don’t know how I’ll survive without you!” I call after him, shaking my head as I shut the door. I have about half and hour before I’ll need to actually go outside and work. I’m about to go see if I’m missing any info in my office when a voice rings out behind me.

 

“I always knew you swung a different way.”

 

“Juliette!” I spin around and see her dark hair looks messy and she looks worn out. “Where have you been?” I ask, stepping closer to her and cocking my head to the side.

 

Though she looks happy to see me, she presses her lips together and I feel a bit hurt. Don’t I deserve some kind of explanation? She always makes me tell her where I’m going, and if she happens to leave, she’ll tell me. I guess it’s not my business, though. I walk past her, sighing, “Secrets are no fun.”

 

“No,” she murmurs, her silver eyes following me as I move towards the office, “They’re not.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the long, long wait. The next chapter for Fallen Angel will also be up soon. I've just had a lot of things going on and all that.
Thoughts?

Reviews

[Bella Luna]

I love the dialogue between Isaac and Drew! I wonder what's going on with Isaac that he's so out of it and where was Juliette!? Great chapter!

[Sophie]

Hmmm...... Interesting.... I Can't wait for more :D

[Amanda]

There's an easter egg here, in case you couldn't tell

[Sophie]

huh?

[Amanda]

there's a HINT HINT

[Sophie]

I've just had 7 hours of school, my brain isn't functioning.

[Amanda]

Oh well then :)