The sun was still rising slowly as Lysander slid inside his 'giant, hurtling, metal death trap' (as his parents had called it before caving in and buying him a hybrid). Lysander placed the two cups of coffee in the cup holder, silently blessing, for the first and only time, Dr.Bloor.
After much badgering from senior and junior classes years passed, the headmaster had broken down and allowed those eligible to bring their cars on Mondays, as long as they stayed within school walls all week. Lysander had Dr. Bloor to thank for both his new car, and the lack of hellish bus rides with all the snot-nosed, whiny underclassmen, and as it was his nature, Lysander shared the wealth.
The artist's car crept silently up the hill towards the Thunder House.
Another great thing about the morning was that the Torsson household was almost always silent. Unless someone was having a nightmare, it was quite peaceful. All the brave birds would come out to around to poke around the wind whipped yard before the day's regular torrents. Lysander shifted the car into park, enjoying the few, resilient birds' songs and the rising sun as Mrs. Torsson shepherded Tancred out the door and towards the waiting car.
"Hemmatee," slurred Tancred as he dropped into the backseat, stretching outs and quickly falling back to sleep.
Tancred was not a morning person, nor was he an afternoon, teatime, evening or night person.
The lights were still out in the Silks' house as they passed by. The Loom's were still asleep too, but their hulking dogs snarled and pawed as the car went by. From the backseat Tancred stirred and mumbled, "Rotters".
Orange and pink light reflected off the paving stones slick with dew, and the small markets were cranking open their awnings and rolling up their metal grates. Soon, Lysander pulled up in front of Ingledew's bookshop, jerking to a stop on the wet stones and sending Tancred rolling to the floor.
Moments later, a groggy Emma Tolly tugged open the passenger door and plopped down in a mess of pale hair. Turning in her seat, Emma frowned at the sleeping figure in the back.
"Its like he never even got up," Lysander sighed. He knew the silence of the morning ride was now going to be broken, as Emma no doubt had a load of troubles to deal with on the relatively short ride to Bloor's.
"So, how was your…"
"Well,myauntdecidedthatshewasgoingtomakeALLthebutterforthewedding.Whichisgreat andllbutitsaloadofbloodywork.SoIspentallmyweekendelbowdeepinbutterandIsmelllikea milkmade.AndthenmeandCharlietriedtofigureouthowwewouldberelated.AndIwaslike 'We'recousins,right?'andhewaslike'Somethinglikethat,butonceremovedmaybe.'Sowe decided to callLivstoaskherandshewaslike'Whydoyoutwoevencareblahblahblahblah'. So,shit,shelikesCharlie-"
"Olivia likes Charlie?"
"This week."
"Ah, continue."
"Right.Sothenshewaslike'Well,howamIrelatedtoFideliothen?'.Whichisbloodystupid,anda lowblowandtotallyirrelevantbecausemeandCharlieareactually,legitametly,somehow relatednow.But,anyway,Itoldherthis,andshegotallpissyandwaslike'Wellhowdoesitmake youfeel?'.SoIwaslike'Bloodyshittybecaueyouknowthatsarawsubjectforme'andshewaslike'Exactly'soIwaslike'Bye'.Click.Soanyway,nowshe'sgoingtobemadatmeandshe'sgoingto flirtwithFido,whichisgoingtomakethatone" She paused to gesture to the sleeping figure in the backseat "allpissyaswell.
AndFidowon'treactoranything,causehecanbesodensebutstill.AndI'mgoingtofailmymathsexambecauseIhadnotimetostudyandI'msickofthisstupid bloodyangstandhormonesandandand….and is that for me?"
Lysander smiled and handed over the travel cup of coffee to the out of breath Emma, who took grateful sip and let out a deep sigh.
"So how was yours then?"
"Comparatively? Just dandy."