Keeping Tabs

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Wake up, Tabby.”

I could only groan.

“Are you still feeling ill? I’ll just tell that boy to come back tomorrow.”

My mother’s smirk could be heard in her voice. Her laughter bubbled up from her throat as my head popped up from the covers. My mouth was moving before my brain could react.

“Micah?” I asked myself, bolting up from my mattress, tripping over the blankets that I had been wrapped up in. I nearly made the stairs before I realized that I was still wearing my pajamas. My mother just laughed and scooped up my shoes, finding a pair of socks for me while I donned fresh jeans and a blue tee.

I threw on my shoes and rushed downstairs, knowing that I was lucky to dodge the interrogation my mom had waiting. But even at that tender age I knew better than to think it wasn’t still coming. She’d save it for later.

I was through the front door before either of my parents could see anything more than a blue blur shoot out of the house. I ran down the front steps, my heart dropping a bit at first, then soaring into my throat when I saw him leaning against my garage door, his dark chocolate brown hair hanging in his eyes. He looked up from his shoes and waved.

“Hey. So what do you want to do today?”

The million-dollar question, and I just had to ask it.

“Well, my mom and her boyfriend are out of town until tonight, so I had a sleepover last night and everyone’s still back at my place.” He paused, kicking at clump of grass before he said, “So, yeah. . . I can’t stay out long, but you could come back with me. But only if you want to. You would be the only girl there, but-“

“I’d love to.” I said, smiling as his jaw gaped open a bit, and then snapped shut. He hadn’t been expecting me to say yes, and the shock of my answer registered all over his face.

“Really? I mean, cool. Do you play video games?” He asked, giving me a humored but doubtful expression, raising my competitive hackles. Could I play video games…

“Of course. Now let’s go before my parents want to come out and meet you. They think you’re like my new boyfriend or something.” I said, rolling my eyes to emphasize the point, and his response was only nervous laughter. We walked in silence the remainder of the two-block walk to Micah’s house.

The front yard was cluttered with various appliances and two old cars on cinder blocks, but the grass was trimmed short and neat. The front steps were nothing more than a few slats of decayed and rotting wood, and they groaned testily when any pressure was applied to them.

The door stuck, and when it did move it creaked loudly. At least three of the window panels on this one side of the house were merely cardboard taped up where glass should have been. When he finally managed to open the door, he softly apologized and removed his shoes before stepping inside. It seemed very important to him, so I followed suit, and he smiled appreciatively at me before gesturing for me to enter ahead of him.

I was getting my wish, we were becoming fast friends, and I was already getting to go into his house! I tried not to seem too overjoyed, but my happiness at just being accepted and welcomed into his home kept bubbling up. It was doomed even then, to be short lived.

We walked through the cluttered living room with its mismatched furniture and the pungent smell of beer and sweat. He practically dragged me past the kitchen, which was incredibly filthy and full of dirty dishes on every surface. In the hallway he slammed the door of a room that reeked of cigarettes and something that my young nose could not yet identify, then he led me past it.

We ended up in a small room with dark wood paneled walls and green linoleum on the floor. This was the cleanest and tidiest room in the entire house, despite the fact that there were three boys in it other than Micah.

“Where’s Colin?”Micah asked the boy lying across the neatly made bed. The boy didn’t even move, just pointed in our general direction.

“Out back.”

“Wait here. I’ll be back.” He gripped my shoulder for a moment then brushed past me, going back up the narrow hallway.

“Who are you?” A blonde haired boy of about twelve with freckles and green eyes looked up from the video game remote he’d been intent on a moment before.

“Tabitha. You?”

“No, my name’s not Tabitha. Chris is the name. And Killer Instinct’s my game.” He said. And just that quickly his interest in me faded and he went back to his game.

“You’re the girl. I’m Seth. That’s Adam, but everyone calls him Snoopy.”

This one seemed a bit older than the other two, maybe even a year or so older than Micah. And I had to admit that he was more than a bit cute with dark blue eyes and ruddy brown hair that he’d gelled into spikes. I smiled apprehensively at him, and he returned the smile, and then went back to waiting for his turn to play, trash talking the one named Chris the whole while.

And then the most drastic and traumatic change of my entire life happened. The catalyst for every decision I've made ever since. He walked in and changed everything about me in mere moments.

“Excuse me.”

I felt him brush against me before I had a chance to move, and when I looked up his back was turned to me. But I already felt my heart begin to pound. A lean, tall figure, only the slightest bit lanky, hair the color of warm caramel, and oh, he smelled so wonderful. And then he turned toward me, and I was sure that the feeling I was experiencing in that moment was my heart literally bursting in my chest.

Oh, he was beautiful! Dramatic eyebrows rested at a comfortably cocky angle over a pair of brilliantly flashing blue irises that seemed to fill his almond shaped eyes, perfectly complimenting his straight, angular nose. A careless smile played across a flawless cupid’s bow of a mouth, and a strong yet not overbearing chin rounded out his beauty. And he was looking dead at me.

“Who’s the runt?”He asked Micah in a playful yet curious tone, gesturing to me as the question left his mouth. The mere sound of his voice, quiet yet powerful, soft yet commanding, sent chills racing across my skin, electrifying even my blood and bones.

“This is Tabitha. Tabitha, this is Colin. He’s good people.” Micah smiled as he said this, and I could see in the look that they shared that they were old friends that had seen a lot together.

“Hi.” Colin’s hand extended in my direction, but I could only stare at it. I managed to count four scars and six freckles before I realized that he was trying to shake my hand. I blushed a heated red as I grabbed his hand just as he began to let it drop. I flailed my arm wildly, making all of them laugh at my sudden awkwardness.

I suddenly couldn’t breathe, and the room began to spin. The room kept getting hotter and hotter, and all I could smell was the delicious scent rolling off of this boy that I was clinging to. The room swayed and pitched dramatically making my stomach roll. Before I even realized what was happening, I was falling into darkness.