And then I pulled away. Our eyes held again as he walked out.
I shut the door. Returning to my room, I flicked a tear away from the corner of my eye and then curled underneath my blanket.
*
Mandy had left early for school. Through my open window, I’d heard Carter say goodbye as he got into his car. A second later I heard Austin pad by my doorway on his way to the kitchen. Moments later, I heard his friends pull up and honk their car horn.
“Hey, dude. Hurry your ass up!” One of his friends must’ve called because Austin slammed the door shut and yelled back, “Shut the hell up. I’m moving.”
I stayed put. Another second later there was silence.
I rolled over, pulling my blanket over me.
It was a few hours later when I got out of bed. I saw my phone blinking, knowing there were probably a few messages, but I just didn’t care. I didn’t care about school. Not today.
After showering and grabbing a bite to eat, I dressed and walked out to my car. Getting in, I turned it in the direction of Geezer’s, knowing I’d forgotten to go to his place last night, but knowing he probably didn’t even noticed.
An hour later, I looked at the old house again. This time the music wasn’t blaring from inside and it was quiet—almost too quiet. It was eerie.
Walking inside, I sighed, smelling the ever-present aroma of his favorite substance and I found him curled on the couch…again. Greeting him like I always do, I dropped kicked the end of the couch and he fell off.
Blinking in a drug filled haze, he croaked, “Tarter?”
“You got something for me?”
Frowning, he ran a hand through his hair, making it even shaggier. “Uh…like what?”
“Like some plans that Grayley was supposed to give you.”
“Oh.”
He had no idea. Grayley might’ve just dropped them off and taken off. He dropped out of school the second it was possible and spends the majority of his time not on our realm of reality. Geezer wasn’t known for his ambition, but then again—who would be with a father who stopped caring about him at the age of three and a mother who was in jail for selling meth. His parents stopped caring a long time ago, so why would Geezer? At least that was his motto.
Sighing, I moved into his kitchen and found the blueprints placed on the counter with my name written at the top of them.
I heard a crash behind me and whirled around, breathless for a moment. I saw Geezer on the floor, his blanket wrapped around his feet.
Helping him up, I asked, “You trying to walk like us adults? You should know better.”
He laughed, a hand balancing on my shoulder as I helped him unwrap the blanket. “Oh, Tartar. What are we going to do without you?”
“What have you been doing?”
“Smoking up.” he answered.
I laughed. “That’s the truth, but it’s no different from before.”
“It’s different,” he said quietly, stumbling back to the couch. Curling back up, he said again, “It’s a lot different.”
Then he fell asleep.
Standing there, I frowned down at his form, seeing the innocence that’s only present when asleep.
I moved into the kitchen and dialed Grayley’s number.
“Yo,” he greeted. I could hear sound in the background.
“You’re at school?”