Surface

Chapter 29 - A Tub Filled With Blood

"Are you awake?" I asked fiddling with my hair. I didn't know if I would get a response. The boy had been pretty quiet for the last hour but I didn't hear any snoring.

"Yes."

"Oh . . . Okay." I guess I really didn't expect a response.

"Are you having trouble sleeping?"

"Yeah."

Zac turned over to face me, propping his head up on his hand. "Me too."

"I suppose knowing the police are after you makes it a little difficult to fall asleep," I said, squinting to make out his features in the dark. There was a lamp next to my side of the bed but it was far too bright to keep on. Besides, it was kind of nice not being able to see. I felt like I had seen too much of everything from the hectic day.

"The police chase? That's what's keeping you up? I'm thinking about the evil spirit running around Florida looking for a host."

I chuckled. "Do you actually believe it?"

"I don't know what to believe."

"Me either."

"Why don't we talk about something happy? Or at least milder than the cruel reality we've been subjected to?"

I flipped over to my side. At this angle, I could see the outline of his figure; lean and muscular. "Okay. What do we talk about?"

"A fond memory?"

I nodded, though he probably couldn't see. "You go first."

He thought for a second. In the silence, I could hear his steady breaths right beside me. There something intimate about quiet conversations in the dark. I was hoping he would tell me about something he hadn't told anyone.

I was suddenly grateful for the darkness because it masked my reddened face.

"Hm . . . Back in middle school - when my mom was around - she packed my lunch for me everyday. My Avengers lunch box was usually filled with a grilled cheese sandwich, a brownie, and apple juice."

"Sounds delicious."

"It was. So delicious that a kid in my class got jealous and took it all." He huffed like the thought still bugged. I giggled and then pouted, patting his head.

"Oh no. Did you go hungry?"

"Yeah but luckily he got what was coming to him. Turns out my mom packed the wrong kind of brownie that day."

I was leaning on my hand now. "Wrong brownie?"

"Uhuh." He waited for me to catch on and when I did, he laughed. "The poor kid was acting bonkers the rest of the day. He made a complete fool of himself." He made big gestures, explaining the many shenanigans the boy got himself into.

"Gosh, did your mom get in trouble?"

He was running his hands along the fabric of the pillow when his fingers got caught in my hair. Before I could say anything he was running his fingers through it. "Yeah, it was one more strike that led her to inevitably losing custody of me but hey - it was a fun day."

"That's a positive way to look at it." I knew Zac's home life was rocky. A lot of people in town gossiped about his mother until she moved out of town and into a trailer park. Then they were gossiping about how incompetent his young uncle was. I wondered how true that was.

"Your turn."

I shifted through my mind for something nice that had happened to me but thinking back to the years before high school required too much thinking and I could already feel myself getting sleepier.