Chapter 7
"Where have you been?" L asked again, his usual cool monotonic tone breaking.
I winced and immediately dropped my gaze to the floor, feeling like I've been caught red handed even though I have no idea what I could've possibly done to make L this upset.
"Why didn't you go to school?" At this, I shot up, staring wide-eyed at him. He crossed his arms and shot back a look that spelled 'don't play innocent'.
I missed school? That's right…Mello and I were in that dessert for two days, there was no way I could've went to school during that time.
"And why didn't you answer your phone? Look at this, there's fifty eight missed calls on your phone," L said, becoming more and more frustrated. He handed my phone which he probably got when he went upstairs over to me. True enough, there's literally fifty eight missed calls, forty two from L and sixteen from Matt. I look over to Matt, he wasn't behind L anymore, but hugging the kitchen doorway and trembling, he looked frightened for some reason despite the fact that I'm the one being reprimanded.
"Thank goodness Matt was here to check up on you, and told me about this," L scolded, "what if something were to happen to you while I was away? I had to put my work on hold because you couldn't act responsibly. Your parents.." He cut himself off. The whole room fell silent.
My heart was wrenching in my chest. My parents? What was he going to say about them? I wanted to know, but my throat clogged up and my vision started to blur. I kept blinking to hold it back, these unnecessary pent up emotions, they won't do anyone any good.
"W-We should be going to school," Matt broke in, coming over to me and tugging me by the sleeves toward the doorway. I took a glance at L, he had a hand over his mouth.
"We'll talk about this when you get back," L said as we were leaving the kitchen.
I got changed quickly and we hastily left the house, making our way to school.
"I'm sorry Near," Matt apologized while we were walking. I looked at him quizzically.
"I came over so that we could walk to school as usual, but you didn't answer the door. And the house was dark. And you didn't answer your phone. I got really worried. I had to tell L. I'm so sorry. I didn't think he'd get so mad," he whimpered, almost like he was about to cry.
We had stopped walking. I'm not sure what it was, maybe it was what he said or the way he said it, but I suddenly had an impulse. The next thing I knew, I had two arms wrapped tightly around the slender redhead and a wide smile spread across my face.
"You're such a sweetheart," I muttered quietly, my face buried in his chest.
A pair of arms wrapped themselves around me slowly, I could feel him bending over so that we were at the same height. His chest heaved and hiccupped, at first I thought he was laughing then I realized he was actually crying.
"Matt, what's wrong?" I tried to look at his face but he just hugged me tighter.
"Don't look! This is really embarrassing!" He said through his sobs, but I could feel a smile coming on.
"Aw come on, don't be like this, I promise not to laugh," I didn't intent to tease him but the words just came off that way.
Slowly, robotically, he let go of my waist and got up, still wearing a pout which just made him more endearing. His goggles were half filled with his tears, waves stirred up every time he moved. Carefully I lifted his goggles up and the trapped tears flowed out like a waterfall. It was the most inappropriate thing to do at the time, but I just couldn't hold it back, I laughed. I really, really laughed, till my tummy hurt.
"Hey, you promise not to laugh," Matt pouted with bloated cheeks.
"…I'm sorry…" I said with difficulty, trying to hold back my laughter.
He grabbed the back of my neck with one arm so that I couldn't get out of his grasp and ruffled my hair. "You little rascal," he kid, and started laughing as well.
"Ok, enough enough!" I surrendered, and he freed me from his grip.
"Foo, good times," Matt regained his signature grin. "What do we do next?"
"Um, go to school?" I answered the obvious.
"What? No way, I'm soooo not in the mood for that," the redhead furrowed his eyebrows.
"Then what are you in the mood for?" I asked, placing two hands at my waist.
"Hm.." He mumbled, looking up and biting his lips, pretending to be thinking hard. "I want ice cream and bowling!" he exclaimed.
"L will kill me," I muttered under my breath.
"Oh," he seemed to have remembered we still have school. "Well, we'll do it after school then!" he piped up again, his spirits impossible to be kept down for long.
"Sure," I agreed softly, starting to walk in the direction towards school again. Matt pranced along happily.
"This is gonna be so awesome!"
School finished early due to a fire drill exercise, which was perfectly fine with me, that just leaves more time for me to spend with Matt. The two of us were the first to run out the exit, with Matt screaming like a lunatic, "Fire! Fire!" No matter how many times I tell him it's just a drill, he just wouldn't shut up.
"Everyone's staring at you," I said as we walked away from school, noticing that some of our peers were looking at us, more specifically at Matt.
"Really?" He acted clueless.
"It's because you shouted," I whispered, trying to hide under my collar.
"Oh, is it…then," he paused, placing two hands at the sides of his mouth, and yelled as loud as he could, "It's okay people! Fire's Over! I repeat FIRE'S OVER!"
"Stop it!" I hissed, attempting to cover my hand over his mouth.
"Okay, okay, I won't yell anymore, chill," he sulked, "Man, live a little."
The rest of the way to The Big Bowl was a peaceful one, with me listening to Matt yap on about firearms, how the army has some secret weapon of mass destruction they traded with aliens for, and that we should play video games because thirty years in the future we'll have to learn how to defend ourselves from dinosaurs and the only way to defeat them is coded in the games.
I didn't have the heart to tell him it sounded like a whole lot of nonsense to me because he was so enthusiastic about it, it'd be like telling a kid there's no Santa. That and also, I don't exactly have the right to object considering I'm some sort of demon keeper.
"Hey Near, are you listening?" Matt caught my attention as I was putting on my sneakers. "I'm telling you, Mr. Kayne is Professor Snape from Harry Porter, you gotta believe me!"
"I do…" I mumbled, tying my shoelaces. I stood up looking around, feeling quite confused since the last time I was at a bowling alley was when I was eight with my…well, lets not go there.
"Number two..." Matt said to himself, searching the lower deck. "There it is." He pointed towards one of the booth and we walked over.
"If you don't mind, I wanna go first," He said, stretching his arms and prepping himself up. By all means, he could go first, because I'm a total newbie.
I watched him skid along the wooden approach and make a graceful twirl just before the foul line and released the ball with one smooth sure movement. The ball rolled very fast and very straight, hitting the pins in a clear bulls-eye. The redhead cheered, sliding backwards on his feet with his little moonwalk and pulling a few robot moves, catching some girls' attention from the other booths. I clapped too, feeling extremely envious, Matt was just effortlessly cool and funny, while I'm….me.
"I didn't know you could dance," I said as he sat down next to me.
"I'm a man of many faces, don't cha know?" He said with some fake Norwegian accent, pretending to be tugging on a nonexistent mustache. "Dance, bowl, you name it, and I'll do it," He winked, which made my heart skipped a beat, imagine what it would do to a girl.
"Anyways, it's your turn."
I got up and picked up a ball from the tray, it's weight making me lose my balance a bit. I then realize that my shoes weren't quite the right size, they felt loose as I walked unsteadily, ball in hand with three skinny fingers in it. Without any style or technique of whatsoever, I threw the ball and it rolled three feet before rolling straight into the gutter. Predictable, I thought, but disappointing nonetheless.
"Wow, that was bad." Matt startled me, appearing out of nowhere behind me. "Come, I'll teach you," He said, handing a ball over to me. I took with three weak fingers again and he stood behind me, making me face the pins. He had one hand over mine, and the other on my waist, moving me so that I was in the right position to make a strike.
"It's all in the wrist, you gotta give it enough oomph to make it go the way you want it to go," He said close to my ear, pulling my hand back, the weight of the ball becoming evident. With one hard push of my hand, and a quick tug on my waist, the ball was sent spinning toward the stationary pins, knocking over all ten of them.
"Score!" I cheered, breaking out of my usual passive self. I quickly tried to regain composure, hoping no one saw that uncalled for outburst. But I was too late, Matt was already grinning at me.
"Glad you're having fun," he smiled, tousling my white curls.
We continued our game until we finished all ten frames and of course Matt had a perfect score of three hundred, but I didn't do too bad myself, scoring about half of that.
"Lets go for ice cream," Matt said after returning the shoes.
"Yeah, su-" A realization suddenly hit me painfully. "I forgot to tell L that we weren't going home straight after school!" Oh no, he'll never forgive me this time.
"Chill, I got you covered, I sent him a text almost an hour ago," Matt said nonchalantly.
"Really? When?"
"Just awhile after we started bowling."
"Oh.." I calmed down then.
"Now come on, I want ice cream!" Matt grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me along.
We walked to the playground nearby. Matt said there was an ice cream man who would sell ice cream there at the same spot everyday, and has been doing so since he was just a toddler. When we reached, I got a simple vanilla ice cream cone, whereas Matt got a colorful one which I'm not quite sure what flavor it's suppose to be. We sat on the swings under the shade of some trees, getting a great view of the hilly countryside.
"Shouldn't there be more kids around?" Matt asked.
"Maybe it's because there's school tomorrow," I offered.
"No life…" He mumbled, eating his ice cream.
We sat on the swings, side by side in silence for awhile, enjoying the cool sweetness on our tongues and the orangey sun gradually growing closer and closer to the hills. For some reason though, I was agitated, it felt as if there was something I wanted to say but couldn't get out. No, I knew exactly what it was, I just couldn't keep it from Matt anymore. It didn't feel right to keep secrets from the redhead, he is after all, my friend. My heart sped up just a little from the word. Friend…finally, I have one, but I'm not being honest with him.
"Matt," I called slowly, with uncertainty, "I've got something to tell you."
"Hm?" He turned to face me, curiosity in his eyes.
And so I told him. Everything. About Mello, about the Shadows, about the secret room, the flute, the gateways that open to hell. All the while, he just listened quietly, his expression was serious, thinking hard about what I was saying.
"Well?" I asked since he was still silent.
"Well what?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Say something."
"What can I say?"
"You don't believe me," I said sadly.
"I do!" I looked at him doubtfully. "I mean you're not the kind to joke about stuff like this but…" he added.
"But what?" It was impossible to keep up my robotic voice.
"It's just that I know…" his voice hushed, looking away, "I know what it's like to lose a part of yourself."
He played with the dirt under his feet, averting his gaze from me, whereas I on the other hand was staring wide-eyed at him, holding on to every word he spoke.
"I'm sorry, I asked L about your parents. I know it's none of my business, but…I just want you to know that you're not alone," He paused, breathing hard, probably holding back tears.
"I never had a father," He whispered almost inaudibly.
Silence fell between us.
I waited for him, and once he composed himself, he spoke again with a steadier voice.
"I know it's not exactly the same thing, but it wasn't easy growing up without a dad. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom and all, but I just always felt like I was missing out on something, ya know?" He finally turned to face me again.
"And my mom's not always around, some days I get so lonely I just cry till I fall asleep." I could see his eyes become glassy even behind his goggles.
"I know what you mean," I said slowly, "I miss them. So Much. I wish…they were here…why did they leave me?…" My words were tangled with sobs.
Matt got up from his swing and knelt down in front of me, a hand on my knee. "It's okay Near, I'm here," He smiled at me even though he was crying too, "We're brothers for life!"
The way he said it was so juvenile and scout captain like that I couldn't help but break a laugh. And for the first time in three months, I felt like my burden has lightened, even if just by a little.
"Brothers?" He put out a fist. I smiled and met my fist with his.
"Brothers," I affirmed.
"Okay, so no more of this imaginary demon thing alright?" he spoke as if he was talking to a child.
"I knew it, you don't believe me!" I accused, although not in a serious manner,
"I'm sorry, how do you expect me to believe it?" He said jokingly.
"You believe in aliens!"
"Well, that's different! That's aliens not demons!" Raising his voice to match mine to fight for his point.
"I'll proof it," I said confidently. It was about time the two of them met. Besides, I need confirmation myself to see if things were actually real, for all I know, it could've been a figment of my imagination.
"Ok, ok, it's getting late, you gotta go home before L throws a fit," he tried to shrug me off.
"But I can proof it, Mello is real!"
"Fine, fine, I'll meet him another day and we'll all have tea together," He said sarcastically.
"Matt…" I whined.
"Near…" He copied me. He ruffled my hair and said with a smile, "Can we just finish today with 'brothers'?"
I blinked at him, a smile forming on my lips. "Okay, brother."
Sorry for the slightly later update! This chapter was suppose to be a quick short one but once I started I just kept on going. Anyways, next chapter I'll be going into the climax, updates might be late due to more time needed to get the plot out or becuz of a new job I might be taking up, just a warning, don't be hatin'. Reviews and loves would make my day, please leave one if you believe in the power of words! Thanks again for your wonderful support.
