Chapter Six

I stared at the T-shirt and the jeans I wore. The color almost faded but it almost looked like black. I had my hair tied to a simple bun and kept on my pair of old black Snickers. Yesterday Alan didn't show up for work and Angie never mentioned a thing about him being absent.

If he even had a bit of love in his concrete heart maybe he would care showing up and never let Angie overwork. I wonder what caused him not to come…

I heard a light knock on my door causing me to turn back to the direction of the sound. It was Jaya, in a pretty back dress but the sad face made everything feel dull.

She came to pick me up so we could attend Parkour's funeral. I nodded at her presence and picked up my monkey bag. My mother had a night shift and hadn't arrived from her shift. I prepared some pancakes and left it covered in the kitchen for her to eat incase she comes.

The entire walk was silent and full of sad looks. Sometimes I wonder why Jaya still held onto me when there was a lot of reasons for her to stop being my friend. I guess that was what friendship was all about.

Inside me was an ocean of memories, sometimes I felt this burden of keeping things and even if I felt there was no space because I didn't have the guts to talk. I looked at Jaya who looked far away in her thoughts as we walked along the road. Her Raven black hair dangled and swayed back in accordance with the winds flow.

If shit gets serious, will you have the room to keep me around you?

Though I sensed I could see through people, Jaya was a mystery at times. It was hard to know what went through her head when she was silent.

After about half an hour we reached at Parkour's home, he lived in a street different from mine but his home had the same structure as mine. A simple old house with dried lawns and dead plants. Near the door I saw a blue wooden chair with one of its leg missing.

Darn, he might have had a life worse than mine.

When we walked in, we were greeted with a cold atmosphere. Every adult inside there seemed from a vampire movie. They had long faces worn on them and pale faces with some faded hues of pink on their lips and eyes.

I hardly swallowed my saliva and turned around. On my right side was the living room. Jaya and I looked at each other not knowing what to do next. I noticed a lot of people moved in and out of the living room and I assumed that's where the casket lay.

I held Jaya's hand and led her to the living room. I think she understood what I intended and moved swiftly without any hesitation.

When we reached I saw the grey wooden casket. The living room was painted off white and had old pictures hanged on the walls of sunflowers. It would be a pretty thing to watch but the atmosphere distracted me from it. I looked at Parkour's picture which was delicately placed near his casket on a tall icy glass stand.

The old picture of him sad holding a ball gave my tiny brain frost bites. We sat on empty seats quietly watching everything. As I was lost looking at his picture I heard a loud thud.

It was Parkour's mom. She fainted. Immediately some women whom I assumed was her relatives picked her up and led her to the nearest seat.

"She's even drunk on her own son's burial."

An old woman whispered.

"Such a shame she can't wait for her son to rest in his grave before embarrassing herself" a younger woman replied back.

I curled up to the chair not wanting to look at their faces avoiding a more awkward situation. The women were sure brave talking about her in such manner in an ear length voice. After a while I decided to grab a drink at the table behind us. When I reached at the table I realized the cups were over.

"Don't worry, you can get a disposable cup in the kitchen little gorl" it was a man dressed in a black suit. He looked like he was in his mid sixties.

I nodded and walked to the kitchen. Upon reaching I saw the cups stacked on a counter near the window. I walked to the counter to pick one but what I saw outside the window diverted my attention from the cups. It was Steve and some boys from the basketball team arguing. The noise from people talking inside made it impossible to gather what they were saying. I scrunched my nose as I tried to read Steve's lips from the heated argument.

In that moment Steve's head shot up in my direction and he pointed at me so his boys could see. He said somethings which I assumed was awful from his facial expressions. They started approaching the kitchen backdoors. I panicked and rushed to the living room to where Jaya was sitting.

"Errr… We need to leave" I told Jaya half panicking as my eyes moved around the living room.

"What!? Why??" Jaya asked shouting in a whisper tone.

I looked back at her with a pleading face while fidgeting my fingers.

'Please say yes before Steve catches up with me' my mind screamed

"Periods?"

I nodded as long as it convinced her to get away. She threw her hands up in defeat and started walking out. I caught up with her fast pace and as soon as we were out of that house I felt relieved the moment we were away.

Steve was known for picking up on people and seeing me spy on him was enough to make him ruin my life. Today's escape wasn't a guarantee of peace but I hope the trouble doesn't catch up to me tomorrow during class.

The next day I came to school earlier than usual to avoid Steve seeing me at any cost.

I looked at my book at the badly written notes. Maybe I was day dreaming or maybe I was…

"Hey there shy… I mean Anna"

My thoughts were interrupted by Alan's voice. For the first time he ACKNOWLEDGED me!

I looked at the date I earlier written on my book to make sure it wasn't April fool's day.

"Hi" I said it quickly covering my face with my book to give him the impression that I was busy reading.

"I won't bite if you looked at me while greeting back at me"

I slid my book down a bit to make sure I caught him red handed of any deception but all I got in return was a sweet toothy smile.