by I N Foggarty
“He will.” A grin slowly formed on his lips. “Just leave that bit to me. See you at school, Nat.” He could hear the ‘Urgh’ sound Natalie made before the phone went dead.
Finally, he made it into the Woodlake car park. His plan would be risky and potentially unfeasible if Anna were to be in school and Matt able to talk to her. Still, Anna’s track record gave him hope that he could pull it off. Any time they had a fight she had a tendency to blank Matt until he properly confronted her. So long as he prevented that from happening there was a strong chance that the pair would never speak again and thus his deception would go undiscovered. Once the dust settled Matt would be happy with Natalie and Anna back in the shadows where she belonged. Still grinning at his brilliance Dylan climbed out of the car.
Today might be shaping up to be a gruelling battle but he would be tasting the sweetness of victory for a long time to come.
Re-emergence
Anna opened her eyes and was unsurprised by the darkness that surrounded her. Shakily she pressed her hands down and gradually pushed herself up onto her knees. Her left shoulder throbbed. Moving her fingers across what felt like dirty wood, they came into contact with a small damp patch in the region where her shoulder had lain. Slowly she raised her hand. She might not be able to see her fingers but she could certainly smell them; blood. A search of the area quickly returned a sharp object embedded in the ground; it felt like a broken nail head. Hesitantly she brought her hand up to her naked shoulder and winced on discovering an open wound, though it did not surprise her.
Anna felt her muscles rebel when she forced herself to stand. A quick look around told her she was in her own hallway. She had no idea how she’d gotten there or what time it was, or even what day. Wracking her brain did little to enlighten her any. The last thing she had any certainty about was being cold… Cold… Yes, that felt right. She had been soaked in the thunderstorm on her way home and went to bed… cold. Beyond that… only a vague impression that she had at some point become too hot…
It made little difference now. Fumbling in the dark she found the light switch and flicked it on. “Urgh,” she grimaced, the brightness of the dim light making her head pound like it was being hit by the drummer of a death metal band. Sidestepping into the bathroom Anna seized the lavatory paper and tore off a wad. Running it under the cold tap she brought it up to her shoulder and pressed it against the shallow cut. Nothing serious she realised as she wiped away the residual dried blood. Her headache on the other hand was. Returning to the hallway she hastily extinguished the bulb and made her way to the bedroom; managing to avoid impaling her foot on the rusty remains of the nail. She would have to remove it at some point in the future.
She glanced across her bed at her alarm clock to check the time, yet even the green digits on its display were too bri… it was Friday? Her foot narrowly missed a crunching collision with the bed frame as she took a step too far. How on earth could it be Friday? Had she really slept through an entire day? That surely could not be good. Yet for some reason, probably related to her headache, she didn’t care. Regardless, it was seven-thirty in the morning and she could not even comprehend facing school. On the flip side, she would be able to get about seven and a half hours sleep then get up for work. With any luck, her headache would have subsided enough for her to withstand daylight. Though she doubted that she would be able to withstand Jason; he was migraine-inducing on the best of days.
On the floor beside her bed, she found her pyjama trousers and t-shirt in a crumpled heap. She must have wrestled out of them at some point during her fevered state she reasoned. It took effort to stuff her limbs inside them. Once dressed Anna practically collapsed onto the mattress and with great effort pulled the thin duvet over her. Settling herself down she stretched out a hand and haphazardly set her alarm. Sleep came in a heartbeat.
##
By the time she next awoke, to the piercing sound of her alarm clock, Anna’s body temperature had dropped. Her pyjamas had been discarded again at some unknowing point and the bedsheets were clammy, yet on the whole, her pale skin no longer felt like it was on fire. She still felt tired but at least was an improvement on exhausted. Her headache had receded for now yet she knew it would be foolish to expect it to stay that way. She had best find a pair of sunglasses before leaving for work she decided.
Sighing she rolled over and checked the clock. Anna groaned. If she could just stay in bed for the rest of the day she could beat this thing and be well enough for work tomorrow. Except she couldn’t afford to. This week’s expenses had already eaten into the followings budget, by a whole twelve dollars, so she could not afford to miss work. Then there was the matter of Matt…
Her head felt at sea as she attempted to sit up. The sensible thing to do would be to cancel. Though that may give him the wrong impression, especially after she had flown off the handle at him. Did she regret it now...? Perhaps not, he had been a total douche after all. However, in the end, it only put more distance between them. Yet a small part of her still thought it may be for the best. Over the past year, she could probably count on one hand the number of times they had been alone together. She just didn’t have time for him around her school and work commitments; mostly the later. Then again letting him go would force her to confront a much bigger issue...
Anna grimaced upon standing and tried to work the stiffness out of her limbs. The lack of pillows certainly had not been sympathetic to her, compounding the fact that the mattress’ time had unquestionably been and gone. Shakily she put one foot in front of the other and made her way to the bathroom. A quick whiff under the armpit reminded her that she had not showered since Wednesday morning. Inside the cubical, the cold water felt refreshing as it washed over her warm skin and for once she had no urge to curse the temperamental temperature.
Ten minutes later and the hunt for work clothes had begun. The set she had been wearing last were still in a sodden heap in the bathroom; another job to add to her list. Hence she had to sift through the piles of scattered garments in the bedroom in order to find ‘fresh’ ones. During the course of her hunt, she also managed to reclaim her sky blue wrist bandana. Apparently, even that had been too much clothing for her during the past twenty-four hours. Carefully she folded it into its usual triangular form and tied it tightly around her left wrist.
Now presentable for the outside world, Anna headed for the kitchen to root around for something to eat. It turned out to be a Hobson’s choice in the end, the only edible things being a tin of spaghetti and the end slice of a loaf of bread. Grudgingly she ate them both while consuming the last can of Pepsi she had. Luckily she had told Matt to bring copious amounts of Chinese food. The leftovers would last her until she could go to the store on Sunday for her bi-weekly shop.
Anna sighed. A slight twang of remorse striking up inside her. Matt had been a douche when he failed to side with her. However, he and Mark had probably done her a favour by blocking her path to Natalie. It had been a long time since she had lost control like that and upon reflection, she did not like the way she had felt. All that anger, that hate, that willingness to inflicting pain. That was the old Anna. Someone she thought she had left in the past… apparently not entirely.
Swallowing the last mouthful of soda Anna tossed the can and went in search of her cell phone, finding it beside the sink in the bathroom. She would be lucky if it had survived the rain she thought. Jabbing the power button she held the device tightly as the manufacturer's logo flashed on the screen for the briefest of moments, then vanished. “Crap.” The battery had died.
By the time she found the charger and plugged it in she had no time left to wait for it to power on. She would just have to call Matt when she got home and hope he hadn’t decided to ditch her that evening. Leaving the device Anna grabbed a black leather jacket from the back of one of the kitchen chairs. En-route to the front door, she took a final glance around the apartment. She would have her work cut out when she got back if she were to get this place into
a fit state for company.
The door closed on the mess and Anna headed down the stairs.
Course coercion
The previous night had been the second most restless Matt could remember having. It was only beaten to the number one spot by a night three years ago when a chest infection had kept him awake coughing. His mind, of course, had been fixated on Anna. After the events of Wednesday afternoon, he had tried to phone her but to no avail. Her absence yesterday had only amplified his concern that things between them may be over. After trying to phone her for the second night in a row he had actually made the trek to South Chicago and knocked on her door but got no reply. He had reasoned that she had been called into work, however perhaps announcing himself after the first knock had stopped her from answering.
By the time he made it back home, it had been approaching ten o’clock and he still had an assignment for world history to finish. In the end, it had been after midnight by the time he finally put down his pen. A fitful night’s sleep had ensued so much so that when his alarm went off for his morning run he had hastily reset it for a more sociable time. It was the first time he had outright missed the run without a prior decision for almost a year. It had done him little good, though. When he eventually rolled out of bed he had felt just as tired.
Breakfast had of course been a barrel of laughs, fending off questions regarding why he had broken with routine. Donny and Lou had japed at him and made outlandish guesses at what was wrong. The best of them being that he had been attacked by a brain-eating fungus and that the cure involved eating a red rock from the eighth moon of Jupiter; Donny really needed to watch less TV. His mother on the other hand been insistent he must be sick, to the point that she stuck a thermometer in his ear when he wasn’t looking. His father had just chuckled at the fuss his wife and two younger children were making and went back to his morning coffee and paper. Finally, there had been Janine. His older sister had simply shot him one look and went back to her breakfast without any sort of witty remark.
Though she had no tangible way of knowing the details, Janine always had a habit of knowing what was bothering him. Maybe it stemmed from the period they had spent living with just their father and grandmother. They always had shared a closer bond with each other than with either of their other siblings. Eventually, she had taken pity on him and snuck him out the door on her way to work. No doubt much to Lou and Donny’s displeasure when the pair eventually noticed. The silent car trip only interrupted when Janine gave the obligatory ‘if you want to talk my doors only one down from yours’ line.
In homeroom that morning he had been one of the first to arrive yet it mattered nought for at no point did Anna rear her red-haired head. By the time morning break arrived it had become apparent that she would not be there for the second day in a row. The rest of the day had then passed Matt by without much pause for consideration. His decision to forgo Raymond’s party that evening had virtually excluded him from all conversation post the start of lunchtime. It was actually quite cathartic to observe the whispered chatter and note passing without being involved. Is this how Anna felt every day? When eventually the bell rang to signal the beginning of the weekend a mad scramble ensued, people all around him forcing books into bags and racing for the door. Apparently, three hours was not enough time for anybody to get ready in.
His mind still firmly fixed on the Anna problem Matt deposited his history notebook into his rucksack and made for the exit in an orderly fashion. “Are you the only one who didn’t drink the caffeinated water, Taylor?” Matt turned back to glance at the teacher and smiled softly. The man’s jokes got worse each week. Dylan was waiting for him in the hallway when he got outside.
“Where’s everyone else?” he asked when he failed to spot any of the others.
“Nat dragged Kitty off to help her look pretty for tonight. And…”
“Mark’s standing behind you.” The whispered voice in his ear almost made Matt jump higher than the infamous ledge leaper.
“Bloody hell, Mark.” He had been too busy thinking about Anna to notice that Mark too had refrained from entering the fray; it had also escaped the teacher's notice.
“Sorry bud, too easy.” Before he had a chance for a retort the muscular teen squeezed his way past. “I’ll see you after the game on Sunday.” He said before turning his attention to Dylan. “You, I’ll see later tonight.”
“You know it.” Matt watched as Dylan gave the other boy a sly wink. “Don’t forget to get me you know what. And don’t try pulling the same trick you did last time. Or I’ll kick your ass.”
Matt burst out laughing and Mark gave Dylan a look that said ‘really?’ Even just the thought of the pair facing off was enough to bring a tear to his eye. The tall yet scrawny computer geek who hated all forms of physical exercise against the taller, broader, muscular martial artist. He knew which one his money would be on. In fact, the contest would be so one-sided that all bets would have to be placed on simply how long it would take Mark to turn his opponent inside out.
“You didn’t even notice until Nat pointed it out to you,” Mark said. Dylan scowled at him. Out of their group of friends, Mark was the only one capable of consistently procuring booze and the incident to which they were referring involved him passing off non-alcoholic beer as the real thing. Dylan had drunk four bottles and seemed to actually drunk, right up until Natalie sobered him up by showing him the label. Apparently, the placebo effect actually worked. “Anyway, I’ll catch you guys later.” With that, the purveyor of poison departed.
The smile on Matt’s face must have shown for he received the same look Dylan had just used on Mark. “It wasn’t funny!”
“It was from where we were standing. Besides Mark had a point, you didn’t specify you wanted alcoholic beer.” He had to move quickly to dodge a kick that came his way. When Dylan’s leg flailed around in empty space he began to laugh even harder. “Come on let's go. Everyone else seems to think it’ll take them three hours to get ready, why should you be any different?”
“I only have three hours? Dammit, Matt. I’d better hurry home. It’ll take me at least half an hour to pull on my jeans.” They both laughed at the joke as they wandered down the hallway and towards the exit closest to the car park. When they reached his car Dylan turned to him. “Why don’t you come hang out at my place for a bit?”
Matt looked at him quizzically. Was this some sort of ploy that would eventually lead to him being shanghaied into attending Raymond’s stupid party? Dylan had a habit of being able to twist his arm and he could ill afford that to happen tonight. Besides when factoring in the walking time between the school and home and then from there to Dylan’s it would hardly be worth it. “Sorry dude but by the time I get home, get changed and then walk to your place you’d be about to head out.”
“Hey don’t sweat it. You think I’d drive off and leave you to walk all that way by yourself?” The look of mock hurt on his friends face caused Matt to shake his head. It was for situations like this, where Dylan used the morally outraged tactic, that he needed Natalie to be on hand to pour water over him. Figuratively of course. “I’ll take you home. You pick up whatever and then change back at mine. We hang out until I leave for Raymond’s after which you head off to Anna’s. Besides her place is closer to mine than it is to yours.”
Matt thought for a moment. Though it seemed Dylan had thought his plan through too well he could find no problem with it. Why was he even looking for issue? They had been best friends for years and never once meant each other harm. It would also reduce his walking time considerably. He smiled, “sounds good to me.”
Dylan patted him on the back. “Good man. Hop in.”
##
The trip to Dylan’s, via a quick stop at Matt’s, took a surprisingly short amount of time. Though far more used to walking he couldn’t help shake the feeling that at some point Dylan had sat down and painstakingly worked out the quickest routes to and from his most frequent destinations. The thunderstorm of
two days prior had long since moved on and the sky again free of ominous looking clouds. Instead, white wisps drifted lazily across the pale blue backdrop. Consequently, the temperature had rocketed back up to within a whisker of Tuesday’s hottest day of the year high.
The engine quietened to a standstill and Matt cautiously opened his door, stepping out of the vehicle in the lightest way possible. A learned behaviour at Dylan’s. Circumventing the ‘old witch’ of a housekeeper being paramount to having a pleasant visit. Peeling his t-shirt off his sweaty back he waited for the signal to close the car door.
“There’s no need for that,” Dylan called. Demonstrating his point by slamming his own door. “The witch is casting her curses elsewhere today. Probably won’t be back till tomorrow.”
“She’s at a friend’s?” A valid question. Even from his own brief encounters with the woman, he had got the impression that she was indeed every bit the horrid old woman his friend made her out to be. Thus it came as a surprise that someone would willingly want to spend time with her.
Dylan laughed. “Yeah, apparently so. I bet she’s a horrible old witch too. They probably spend the time shouting at each other.”
“Who said it was a woman?”
“Urgh, dude! Don’t even suggest something like that!” Dylan screwed up his face causing Matt to laugh at him.
“Hey, I’m not responsible for the dirty little things your mind comes away with. Still… maybe he likes being scolded by her.”
From the back of the car, Dylan launched Matt’s own rucksack at him from the trunk. Instinctively he caught it and gave his friend a wicked smile. “Get up the stairs, Matt.”
The fortress that Dylan called a bedroom sat at a perfect temperature when they entered, much to the pair’s collective relief. Haphazardly Matt dropped his bag on the floor, followed quickly by his jacket. Even though the sun split the sidewalk he had chosen to bring one just in case. Knowing his luck, if he had not, the fates would have taken it as a slight and whipped up a snowstorm to throw at him while he walked to Anna’s. Besides, it provided him with somewhere to store his wallet and cell phone.