Invisible Boy

Chapter 9

The bus ride home is dead silent although the world is boisterous around me. My eyes are so focused ahead that I don't see a thing, and would have missed my stop if someone else hadn't got off first. Slowly, I make my way off the bus, lingering there on the street with my hands in my pockets and head bowed.

I just robbed a store.

I'm being forced to commit crimes while some freaks are stalking my loved ones all because I was stupid enough to think I could be the hero. This is the consequence of my ridiculous actions. It isn't just me that could lose everything.

I'm going to throw up.

Rushing over to a nearby bush, I do exactly that. All the contents of my stomach is upchucked in a second leaving my throat sore and mouth tasting of, well, puke. Groaning, I stand up, run my fingers frustratingly through my hair then kick at the sidewalk.

"Calm down, Micah, calm down," I speak in whispers to myself while walking home. Sure enough, the car is there, sitting along the street. It even flashes its lights at me in the form of a taunt that has me growling.

I need to get out of this mess. Fast.

"Micah, how'd tutoring go?" Mom asks when I step through the door. She frowns upon seeing me though. "Is something wrong?"

"Feel sick to my stomach," I answer, which isn't a lie at all so, technically, I'm not a complete sack of garbage. "I'm probably gonna go to bed early."

"Ah, ok, do you want me to make you anything?"

"No thanks."

I grab a glass from the kitchen, get some water, then disappear up the steps. Mom is probably worried and I feel bad for it, but there's nothing she can do right now. This is something I have to handle on my own. I'm not going to put her, or anyone for that matter, in anymore danger.

Think. I have to think. The three buffoons I have met are exactly that, buffoons. Judging purely on what they are making me do accompanied by how they are going about it, I think it's safe to say they're in some sort of gang, have definitely partaken in illegal actions before. No, I know that they have. I caught Clover in the act and I know I've seen Blondie before. Now the question is, if that is the case, why have I only met three? Is it because there are only three or they want me to think there are only three?

I peek out of my curtains to inspect the car down the street. They're smart enough to have tinted windows but I doubt the car is filled with people, probably two max. I've still only seen the two vehicles thus far. Clover wasn't with us today, but one was surely tailing Mom. Was it him? Are they taking turns?

Sadly, only time will tell. I have to put up with this a while longer and try to learn their movements so, rather than sleep, I stay up through the night. Coffee has never been something I enjoyed, but one wouldn't be able to tell by the way I'm inhaling it like oxygen. I'm literally vibrating on my bed.

The sound of cars lessen in the evening until, eventually, every sound of an engine has me sneaking a peek out the window. It isn't until almost 4am that another vehicle pulls up, different from the other two. Blondie steps out of the new car while, as I thought, Clover steps out of the old one. They switch and the car drives off. I'm certain that this operation is a small one, otherwise, they wouldn't be switching with each other like this. That's good to know.

Before I realize it, my alarm is going off. It's no use. I'm already awake. My eyes feel heavy, but I can't fall asleep. My body is restless, continuously twitching even when I try pacing my room. There's no point staying home. It won't make me feel better so, even after mom suggests I take the day off, I head to school. Beckett and Misty are concerned when they see me, understandably so. I both look and feel like shit.