Chapter five

this is probably the shortest chapter so far...

 

Chapter 5

     We’re standing on the porch talking. Sam said he had to go, but I’m not sure he wants to. In the middle of our conversation, my mother walks up to the gate and stands on the other side. Then she decides that it’s ok for her to come in without even asking. When he hears the gate opening, Jake comes outside, hoping to see Mrs.Fallstaff. His eyes immediately go to me, and when they see that I’m shocked, he begins glaring at her. I see that look more and more these days, and I wonder what has gotten into Jake. He used to be a quite person, but never an angry one.

     “When did it become all right for you to come through that gate without asking?” I was shocked when I heard him ask my mother that. He usually has nothing to do with these confrontations, and when he is there, he never says anything.

     “When did it become all right for young boys to be rude to adults?” Of course, my mother isn’t one to go down without a fight. And she certainly wont let a “young boy” as she puts it get away with being rude towards her.
     “When the adults hurt children.” And with that, he turned and walked into the house, grabbing my arm and leading me in after him, leaving Sam standing on the porch with her.

     A few seconds go by, and I hear the gate open and close. I don’t know if it was Sam or my mother. I don’t care at the moment anyway. I want to find out why Jake is different these days. I want to know what has caused him to change. Before I can say anything to him though, he goes into his room and comes back carrying a stack of books. When he sits down he motions for me to come and sit next to him. He’s back to his usual self again, not speaking unless it was necessary for him to. As I sit down he hands me a book, then opens one himself.

     A little while later I hear the front door opening, and Chris walks in. He gives us a perplexed look when he sees us sitting on the couch reading, then he shrugs it off and goes into the kitchen. A few minutes later he comes back out and sits on the chair across from us. He stares at us as if we are a museum exhibit, or a math problem waiting to be solved. Finally, I get annoyed.

     “What? See something interesting?”

     “Two idiots sitting on the couch reading books. Do you know how long it’s been since you started reading?”

     “No, but judging by the light outside I would say it’s been three hours. Why?”

     “ You’re hopeless.” He sighs.

     “Why? because I like reading to pass the time?”

     “No, but you didn’t even realize that time was passing. And apparently you also forgot that you two will be alone tonight.”

     Jakes head shot up. He had that unreadable expression again. Except this time it was more of a shocked and confused look, as if he thought that Chris is playing a trick on him or something. I’m confused too. I have no idea what he’s talking about.

     Chris sighs again, “ You really are hopeless. The twins are staying over at a friends house tonight, Mary and Jen took Kim with them to their sleepover party, and Mrs.Fallstaff has a training to attend in the city. I’ve also taken the graveyard shift on weekends.”

     Jake and I look at each other, then back and Chris. Then we just shrug and go back to reading our books. when Chris leaves, he’s shaking his head and muttering something under his breath. Without moving my head, I look over at Jake. He was so absorbed in his book almost as if he had left this world and joined the one in the book. I return my attention back to my book, not willing to risk disturbing his peace while he reads.

 

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     I’m standing in an old abandoned shed. It’s completely dark, and I can’t see anything. Suddenly, candles light up along the wall and in stands around the room. The dusty smell of old books hits me and finally I realize where I am.

     An old library.

     I walk slowly down the aisle in between the rows of bookshelves, breathing in the dust of many years. I turn down an aisle, and suddenly a book catches my attention. I reach out to grab the book from it’s spot on the shelf, and suddenly someone, or something, grabs me. I can’t scream because there is a hand placed over my mouth. I’m turned around in such a sudden movement it feels as though I could have been thrown across the room. I’m now looking at the person’s face, except I don’t see anything.

     All I see are the two white fangs.

 

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     I wake up gasping for breath. Man, that was some dream. Vampires? Where did that come from? The book I’d been reading last night had nothing to do with vampires. In fact, I haven’t read a book about vampires for at least a month. It seems strange to me that I should start dreaming about them when I haven’t really thought about them for a while.

     When I open my eyes and look around the room, everybody, and I mean everybody, is in the room, looking down at me from their spots. The twins and Kim are looking up from their spot on the floor, Mary and Jen are sharing the big chair next to the couch and Chris is leaning against the wall. Mrs.Fallstaff must have just come in through the door, because she was still holding the knob as she looked down at me curiously.  Haven’t they ever seen someone fall asleep on a couch before? If not, then they need to watch more TV.

     I get my answer when I sit up. Or at least try to sit up, anyway. Something’s holding me in place, and when I feel around at my waist, I’m relieved to find that they aren’t straps used on mental hospital patients. What I do find feels warm, and after a moment I realize that it’s someone’s arms wrapped around me.

     Whoever it was holding me stirs when I touch them, pulling their arms tighter around my waist and nuzzling their head into the groove between my shoulder blades, like a young child and his teddy bear.

     I must have looked confused, because Chris finally spoke.

     “Well, looks like you two had a fun night.”  I must have still looked confused because he just nodded down at the floor, where a bunch of books lay on the floor in scattered chaos, as if they had been pushed off the couch without much care. After a moment, I realize what he was telling me.

     Jake? He’s the one who’s holding me, sleeping like an innocent child?

     While I’m pondering this, I feel Jake wake up. I know he’s awake because I feel the muscles in his arms tense. He doesn’t sit up right away, and when he does, it’s a sudden movement, pulling me up with him. He doesn’t realize he’s still holding me immediately, but when he does, he blushes, unsure of what to say.

     He doesn’t have to say anything though. Kim decides to plant herself on the couch right between us, and from the way her head is moving back and forth, I can tell that she’s thinking something.

     “Do you like Sophie?” She demands of Jake. The rest of the audience wanders off, bored of what’s going on now, except for Chris. He stays where he is leaning on the wall, looking curious as to what Jake is going to say.

     “Yes.”

     Kim turns her head so fast I fear she will get whiplash from the movement. “ Do you like Jake?” Jake looks up at me, watching and waiting, like a very eager Kim, to hear my answer.

     “Of course I do.” I say, then add “ He’s one of my two best friends.” I look to where Chris is leaning on the wall, but he’s no longer there.

     Something in Jake’s expression changes. He now looks a little sad. Disappointed? Did I say something that might have hurt him? I don’t think so, but Jake’s such an emotional guy sometimes it’s hard to tell.  He didn’t have to feel what he was feeling for long because Kim, the ever curious child she is, continued on asking questions.

     “Are you going to marry her?”

     We both freeze at this question, caught in the shock of it. I looked up slowly to see that Jake is blushing a deep red. Is he embarrassed by her question?

     “I don’t think that’s going to happen, Kim.” Chris is now back at his spot on the wall.

     “Why not? They like each other, so it’s ok.”

     “It’s more complicated then that.”

     “Why”

     “Because that’s the way life his.” He turns to go to his room, probably to sleep since he’d been working all night. I think he also intended for the conversation to end there, but Kim is determined to get more of an explaination from him, so she jumps down from the couch and runs down the hall to follow him, leaving me and Jake alone in the awkward silence.

     I bend over to pick up the books that had apparently been pushed off the couch when we fell asleep. I still couldn’t get my head around it. How was I able to fall asleep on a couch with Jake’s arms around me and still be able to have that dream without falling off the couch and pulling him with me? When I get dreams I usually toss and turn a lot, especially dreams like the one I had last night.

     Something warm touches my hand, and when I snap out of my thoughts I see that Jake and I had reached for the same book. He quickly pulls his hand away, blushing. Then he gets u, and grabbing the rest of the books off the floor, goes to his room. I look down at the book I’m still holding in my hand.

     It’s a book about Vampires.

Reviews

[Calypso]

Sweet. While reading this I was listening to Shinedown's Breaking Inside. It seemed to go well with this.