An Open Sky

Chapter Ten ~Alexa~

My dad was knocking on my door. I knew it was something important because he never knocks on my door to wake me up. I didn’t get up. I wasn’t going to open the door. I didn’t care if he woke me up or not. I figured he’d go away after a while. But he didn’t. He only knocked harder.

“What do you want,” I muttered, barely lifting my head out of my pillow. My morning voice cracked mid-sentence.

“I need you to fill out some papers for high school,” he called, overestimating how sound-proof the door was.

“Do you really have to yell that loud? I’m right here,” I mumbled, getting out of bed. I avoided the mirror before opening the door. I could feel the knotted mob of hair that inhabited my head. “What do you mean papers?” I asked, obviously still wishing I was dreaming.

“Classes and stuff like that,” he said handing me a small packet of papers.

“This place has a high school?” I asked doubtfully. I’d already walked through the whole town.

“No, it’s in Eureka,” he paused, but after seeing my raised eyebrows, he continued, “It’s a city about eight miles from here. You need to fill these out as soon as you can,” he said gesturing to the papers that were still held out to me. I took them and started to close the door. “You want some breakfast?” he said, holding my door open with his hand.  

“No, I’m going back to bed,” I said, slamming the door. This time he let it close all the way and I heard the creaking of the floor as it groaned against his weight when he walked back down the hall.  

I sat back on my bed and looked at the bolded block letters on the top of the papers. Lincoln Co. High School. Great. I decided to look it up online before I filled anything out. I folded my legs in front of me and set the laptop on them. I found an official-looking site called Collages in the USA. I scribbled the address on a piece of paper for later and read the page.

Let’s see. Oh, look at this. Eighty-three kids in the senior class. That’s not even a fraction of what my old school used to be. I kept reading. The median household income is below state average. Great. The unemployed percentage is above state average. Fantastic. Number of college students below state average. The institutionalized population percentage is above state average. Wow dad, really setting the bar high here, aren’t you? I closed the page and set the laptop on my side table. I lay back down onto my pillows.

I laid there for the longest time, staring at the ceiling. When my mind finally stopped racing for long enough for my eyes to close, my phone started to buzz next to me. Shots of anticipation went through my body only to be confirmed by Jay’s number popping up on the screen. I slid the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Alex. What’s up?” The way he said my name gave me chills.

“Nothing,” I said as casually as possible, “I’m just filling out some papers for high school,” I said, flipping through the papers that I’d ditched on my floor. The tiny print on a few of them made my head spin.

“Oh yeah? Where are you going?”

“Lincoln Co. in Eureka. Did you know the institutionalized percentage is above state average there?” I said frowning. I wondered if that’s where Creeper Boy went.

“Yeah, I bet. I go there too,” he said, obviously smiling. Some kind of relief swept through my body knowing that he’d be there. “Meet me somewhere.”

“What?” I asked a bit surprised.

“Meet me at the Frontier food place. I’ll buy you something.”

I laughed at the way he said Frontier food place. “I don’t know…”

“Please?” he begged holding out the e in please forever, “Or you’re going to have to lock me up in an institution because I’m going to go crazy for not seeing you in so long.”

I laughed, “It’s only been a day.”

“The longest day of my life!” he said overdramatically.

“Fine, but give me a while. I have to get ready,” I said pulling at my hair from my reliance on a mirror’s view.

“Alright, I’ll meet you there,” he said and hung up.

I smiled and hesitated to pick out clothes. I knew it was cold the day before and I wondered if it’d gotten any warmer. I went downstairs to check. I opened the patio door and scanned the yard. I told myself that I didn’t know why I did it, but I knew I was hoping to catch Creeper Boy in my yard again.  As I stepped outside, the cold immediately hit me. It was cold and damp. Fall was coming on quickly.

I stepped around a puddle and moved to the deck rail. I leaned up against the damp wood and took in a deep breath. You could even smell the cold. I could definitely smell the rain and wet plants. But it didn’t smell so luscious this time. There was a hint of rot in the air. There were splotches of warm colors on the trees that reminded me almost of a rainbow. Up close to the house were trees covered in beautiful displays of red, orange, and yellow. Then the bright green illuminated the grass and spoke of trees that were yet to change. Deeper in the woods, you could see the shadows turning the green pines into ominous shades of blue and purple.

The very trees spoke again of unshared secrets. And I longed to know them.

I moved back into the heat of the house and went up to my room. I grabbed a pair of skinny jeans with a hole on the knee and glittery back pockets, a pair my dad wouldn’t approve of. They happened to be my favorite party-going pants. I slipped them on and replaced my tank-top with an appealing red, long-sleeved sweater.

I brushed the knotty curls of my hair into soft waves that didn’t even seem to be my hair anymore. Okay, so now I can brush my hair and it looks fine, but before I could brush it and all it would do was frizz up! What the heck! It must have been all the air pollution. I tossed my brush onto my bed and applied some quick mascara and eyeliner, nothing heavy. I didn’t want to seem like I was trying too hard.

I glanced down at my navy flats and hesitated to put them on. All I could think about was how Creeper Boy knew I was in the woods, and how we looked at each other. The memory of the strange eye contact made my pulse race. Nevertheless, I slipped them on. It sent shivers up my spine knowing that he’d touched the shoes that were now on my bare feet.

I walked downstairs. “Where are you going?” my dad called from the kitchen.

“Out with a friend,” I said, although I was quickly opening myself to the fact that I wanted him to be more than that. “We’re just going out for breakfast.”

“Okay, what’s her name?”

“Jay,” I said flatly, letting it sink in that he wasn’t a girl.

“Oh…” he trailed off. “Well, I’m going to pick up a car for you today, okay? You’ll need a way to get to school.”

“Okay,” I said opening the door.

“I’ll probably be gone when you come back,” he called after me.

“Don’t worry; I won’t have a heart attack if I find the house empty. I’ll try not to burn it down.” I mumbled walking out the door into the cold. I walked quickly and crossed my arms to keep my hands warm in the soft fabric of my sweater. The gray color of the road I was walking on reminded me of storm clouds. The soft padding of my feet like distant thunder.