Part 1: I Am Accepted To A Date
After I had finally wrote the book that was about Misty (I will explain later), I felt like things were now finally able to be put to peace. I felt like I could at least start to function at the gas station on a normal basis without feeling like I was just losing all of my faith in humanity. I even started to open up to Wyatt again. Talking to him on a daily basis for several minutes at a time. I felt like a nice man again. I felt like a man who could actually hold his own. I felt like it was finally back in my favor. Even Wyatt seemed to see my improved mood.
"I'm guessing that now, after nearly six weeks, that you are starting to feel better again?" Wyatt asked one day, this time in a more playful manner. I smiled and then was budding out the cigarette I had currently smoked. I nodded and then explained to him the short version of why my mood suddenly seemed to have taken such a huge increase, thinking that he did deserve this at the very least. But I just didn't really know where to begin with my story.
"Well, I just started to think about the times that we did have. The good old times that made it all feel like it was worth it. I thought about the times where I felt like I had actually done a great job earning her friendship, earning her love and her trust. I felt like I finally was able to look at things with a real lens. I felt like that was the thing that I needed more than anything else. I felt like what I needed more than anything else was a clear idea of what it was like for Misty to have been in my life. I felt like I did something good for the first time since I have come to this city when I wrote that book I told you about over her. I would write about five or ten pages a night before I went to sleep until I felt like it was all told." I said and then I looked at Wyatt too see what he thought.
"About that, you did make a promise that you would tell me why you moved away from your original town, and why you moved here in the first place. Do you think that you would mind telling me the story now?" Wyatt asked and then I shook my head as if to signify 'not at all'.
"I did make a promise after all, you are right about that. So since we are here, I might as well get right to the details of it. It is a story that will take a little while to tell, so sorry if I kind of bore you with the details." I said and then I saw that Wyatt was still paying attention and when I knew he was still listening, I began the story of why I moved here.
"The whole thing started when I was sixteen years old. I had been living in the city that I eventually moved out of for about six or so years. I went there when I was about nine, closer to ten. I had no desire to move there. You know, to place behind the life that I had been making with my friends. To place behind everything that I had done by that point in time. I had no desire to start a whole new life that I knew I was probably not going to enjoy. But things slowly started to move out of that spectrum when I was there for a couple of months, and some of the friends I made there started to keep me entertained long enough to where soon enough, I had all but forgotten the entire living life I had before this.
I had lived there for a few years, and the longer I stayed there, the more that I grew the wrong type of reputation. I grew the type of reputation that many people would consider to be the easy to make fun of type. I mean, people would make fun of me, and I would not ever really try and defend myself. I felt no real need to defend myself. I knew that they were always going to be stronger than me, no matter how hard I tried to fight back. So I just sort of let them do what they wanted to me on a daily basis. However, after school when I would see some of my friends, I would never have to deal with that problem until the start of the next day at school.
It was all one day after school when I was sitting down next to my friend Dakota out at the baseball field. As we were sitting there, we were smoking some cigarettes and not giving a care in the world who was going to notice us. What were they going to do, confiscate them? Oh no, how terrible. We could have always just bought some new ones anyways.
Dakota and I started to get into drugs at a very young age. It started when we were fourteen, and we were hanging out with the popular kids for probably the only time in my life up until that point. It was out in the forest, where we thought we could not get caught and that we were these totally awesome people. One of them took out a dime bag of pot he split up the pot between the five of us. The taste was terrible at first, but the after affects made me want more. I knew that I had to have more. So I managed to find some for myself, and then I eventually went to cigarettes, and it just went on from there.
The point of me telling you this stuff right now is just to paint a picture of what it was like at first. Now that I think I have done that just fine, let's get to the meat of the story. It was when Dakota flicked his cigarette down to the ground and looked right at me. "Sheldon, I have an idea." I always knew Dakota had good ideas, so I instantly indulged him.
He could tell from the look on my face that I was already interested, and he went right to it. "So since prom is in a few days, I was thinking that we could go to the store. You know, get some suits for the dance, and who knows, maybe find a couple of girls that we can ask to join us. I think that there must be a couple of single ladies in there who wouldn't mind giving you or me a try."
I thought about it. I thought that they might like him, and that he could pull this off. But I was in no way going to get a date. I knew that the chances of me not only getting a date, but getting a girlfriend, were so low, that I was more likely to get into Harvard. By the way, now that I think about it, fuck Harvard. Small interruption aside, let's continue.
Dakota also could tell from how I was not responding right away that I didn't believe in him. "Come on Sheldon, I know that you have a hard time getting into relationships. But please, I don't want to be not ready for prom. This might be my last chance to get ready. Besides, school ends next Tuesday. This is the last chance for us to do anything in our tenth grade year. Don't you want to at least make the end of the year remember-able?" Dakota asked, and I thought of how boring the year has been before now. I realized that I really have not lived a full life this year. As annoying as it was to admit, the bro was right. The year had been pretty lame, and even a half decent prom night would be certain to slightly rectify that.
"Fine, you win. I will do it." I said and then I smashed the nearly finished cigarette on the ground by stomping on it. Dakota and I started heading to his car. As we got inside, I looked around just one last time to see if anybody would catch us. While I didn't care for the most part, I knew my parents would find a way to punish me for this act of personal enjoyment.
Dakota started to drive the car and as he was heading down to the store, he turned the volume up a couple of notches. "You know, I think that there are a couple of people out there who would like to try and have a relationship with you. I think you just need to try. I mean, you're a nice guy after all. You are pretty relaxed, easy to talk to, and have no real problems with your personality. The only thing that might be a little bit of a turn off to people are the things that you do in your spare time." Dakota said, referring to the games I played and the hours I would spend on random projects that would hardly go anywhere.
"I think that you give me too much credit. I barely have had anybody try and talk to me. Barely anybody ever notices me. I think that they probably just think I'm some weird dude who needs to get a grip on life. Considering all of the stuff I barely ever participate in, there might be a chance that they are right." I said, realizing that this might be a good reason to actually go to prom. After all, it could be a nice way to actually get out there and build up some form of reputation that would be beyond base line people making fun of me.
We eventually reached the store, and I looked at the money I had. I didn't have nearly enough to get a suit. Not even close. I doubted that Dakota would want to give me some of his money as he was going to use it for his own prom preparations. I did however think that I could use it to get some form of tolerable clothing. Something that would at least not look like it had been run in the washer fourteen hundred times.
Dakota spent probably fifteen minutes looking around for him getting a dress suit. He found a large, red button down shirt and some slacks. He decided that this would be what I wanted. I told him about my money situation. He said he barely had any and probably couldn't help me. I sighed and looked around a bit more. I eventually found a maroon jacket and I thought it would compliment my other attire decent enough. Which was almost exclusively white shirts with no buttons or anything. Realizing that this jacket was going to be my best thing for the most important dance of the year, I wanted to slap myself for not actually getting that job offer I was given a couple of months ago.
We just bought the clothes and started to head out of the store. As we were heading out, I put on the jacket since it was a pretty cold day anyways and I doubted that I was going to wear it again before prom. At the door, there was a girl who we went to school with that came in. It was Emily, the girl that I had a crush on.
I knew right then and there that my chances of getting a date that I wanted were totally fucked. There was a second girl who walked in, her name being Ashley, and Dakota looked at me. He gave me a 'I ask Ashley, you ask Emily' type of look as if trying to hook me up. I rolled my eyes at him trying to be my wing man, but I knew that it was better than nothing. So I went to Emily and then I placed my right hand behind my head and started to get a little bit of a queasy feeling. But I forced myself to say "Hey Emily..." It was good enough for her to turn around and at least look at me.
Emily looked right at me and she had a combination of a shocked look and a smile on her face. I was not really sure to register if this was a good first step or not, but I knew that I needed to continue going at this. "So Emily... Would you like to... Could you possibly want to... You know... Go with me... To the prom?" I was not even sure how I was able to get the words out of my mouth, but I fucking managed to do it. I knew it was next to impossible for me to do it without breaking down in some way. This however was the best I would be able to get.
I could see Dakota look at me as if he was actually impressed I was able to get the words out of my mouth. He must have thought that I would choke before I even got to the 'would you' and just leave. But all I had to do was just wait for the response. Emily stood there for what felt like to me a million years, even though I was well aware of how it was probably only like three or four seconds. But the answer that I never thought in a million years she would give me were the words that came out of her mouth.
"I think that would be a great idea. Where do you want to meet up?" Emily asked and then I gulped. I had no idea how the hell I was going to pull this off. I didn't have a place I wanted to meet her up at. So I thought about it for a couple of seconds before I came up with an answer that I knew would be able to at least somewhat suffice to both of us.
"How about we go and meet up at the skating park? It's pretty close to the school." I said and then I felt stupid for saying this. I shook my head and raised my hands up and shook them around like a fucking mad man for like five seconds. "No, just tell me where you live, and I will come to your house. I will meet me where you live!" I couldn't believe that in my mind I was fucking up this badly when I was not even at the date yet. Emily then nodded, as if she would be totally fine with meeting me up at her house.
"Yeah, let's meet up at my house around Saturday at five." She responded and started to walk away. But then she turned around and she asked me a question I felt like was sort of in the waits to be asked to me this whole short conversation. "Sheldon, do you need something to wear to the dance? Or do you already have something beyond just your normal clothes?" She asked and then I shook my head. I knew that this was going to be a problem right away, and that I needed to find something soon.
"I can always ask my father if he would be willing to give me something!" I said excitedly, not even really sure why I didn't think of that earlier. I could tell that Emily was buying it as she waved bye at me and she told me that she would see me soon. I was blushing to my core at this point. Fuck, she was one hell of a woman. And even asking her wasn't all that bad, once I over came the first hurdle of it all. I just needed to start saying the words, and then it had just come to me. I walked back to Dakota, thinking that this was my first win in the game of relationships probably ever.
"So Dakota, how did it go?" I asked, as if I was on top of the world. I could tell that Dakota knew my result right away, and that he seemed a bit proud of me for pulling it off like that. But I could tell that he was thinking about getting me set up with some prom gear before the dance. If it was just me, he wouldn't have thought of it too much, but then here I was, actually getting hooked up with any girl at all. This showed that I wouldn't be able to just go in blind to the whole matter.
"She said yes. But the thing between you and me is that I already have some material. You do not have any material at all. You have a lot of stuff that you need to get in order to pull this off. So I think that you need to talk to your dad about this now." Dakota asked and then we went inside of his car. As I got inside of his car, I opened up the storage cabinet that most cars had and I found his bong with a small amount of pot in it. I looked at him as if to silent ask if I could have it. "Go ahead, better to use it now than my parents find it and get in a pissy mood over it." Dakota decided so I lit up s he started to drive off.
I knew that my father would be shocked to hear that I was going to prom. I was one of the most unpopular kids in the school. I mean, nobody wanted to say it, but I could tell that they didn't think super highly of me when they saw me. Plus, there were some people that didn't hide it. I just think that if he heard me going to prom, he would have a little bit more respect for me. In fact, he might actually start to be a little bit honest with me about some of the stuff he does. That would be if I could lead him down that road in the conversation. Earn his respect and trust enough tow here he would feel like talking with me. I didn't want to force something that wasn't going to work, but if I was easy about it, then maybe it would work just fine.
"Sheldon, trust me when I say that this will be a turning point in your life. Once you get your first girl, then it will start to be a little bit of a natural instinct. Maybe you will see what I mean. Just be slow about this one though. Don't try to be mister Romeo on your first date with this girl. In fact, maybe at school tomorrow, you can suggest a way to get a date with her on Friday or something. You know, so that way you can have a night where you get to know her a bit better before the dance." Dakota said and I could tell that it was because he wasn't high that he was able to fully comprehend what he was saying.
"That sounds easy enough. Just find her at school. Talk to her a bit, then ask her on dinner. Then she will talk to me, and we can get know each other. Doesn't really sound like it would be all that hard. Just don't want a double date." I said, thinking about how that was going to be a nightmare.
I mean, if it was a double date, then there could have been a chance that Emily would end up liking the guy on the other side of the date more and then I would feel betrayed. I would feel like I went through all of that for absolutely nothing. But if Dakota was right, now that I did ask somebody once, all I had to do was just remember how to do it and things will be easier.
"I believe you can pull it off. I think you just need to remember like I said to not play Romeo." Dakota said and then before I knew it, I was at my house and I knew my father would smell me. "Well, just talk to your dad about some suit to wear for the prom and maybe get some money for a date." Dakota said and then I nodded as I grabbed my back pack which I had not touched in hours and then left the car to go inside.
In order to lower the risk of getting caught like this, I went right to my room and closed the door and decided to take a quick nap.
During that time napping, it was very blissful. As if I was floating in the skies. Everything was going to be just fine. All I had to do was talk to my dad and take it easy. It was a slow ride in a way. Not some high octane fuel situation where I needed to prove myself in less than a day to anybody. I slept for a good three hours or so before I got up and felt ready to talk to my dad about my issue at hand.
I saw that my father was working on some really important business stuff. I felt like I was doing the wrong thing by talking to him right at that moment. I felt like that if I started to talk to him, then he was going to get really angry at me. But I knew that I needed to actually take a chance on talking to him. I knew that he was able to take a moment to talk with me, and show me a bit of decency. I had no problem with my father. I respect the work he did, and the efforts he made to make sure that our family was wealthy and didn't ever have to have a problem surviving. But I was well aware of the fact that I needed understand that he wasn't always willing to talk to me on a normal basis.
I still sat down a few feet away. "Dad... I wanted to ask you for something..." I said, and I was really wanting to pick my words carefully. I didn't want him to get angry over what I was doing. You know, trying to get him to acknowledge me. My father turned around and he didn't give me a happy or angry face. He was just simply staring right at me.
"Yes Sheldon, what do you need?" My father asked, and then I thought about it. The carelessness of his voice was giving me mixed emotions. On one hand, he wasn't telling me off before I started. But I could tell that he wasn't really fully invested either. I was thinking about my next words. Once I carefully thought things out, and I felt like I had picked my words carefully, I was ready to go on and take the leap of faith.
"I asked a girl out to prom, and she accepted my offer. I was really happy. But then I realized that I have no suit or anything. I never thought I would get accepted to prom. I think that I might ask her on a date soon. You know, get to know her a bit better before the dance. I was wondering if you would let me have some money and borrow one of your suits for a couple of nights." I said, and now I had no idea why that was so hard for me to say. I pretty much just said it, and now all I had to do was wait for what my father was going to tell me. I could tell that once I had explained the situation, his expression went from annoyed at me interrupting him to actually being proud of me. As if he never thought in a million years that I would have been giving him this type of news.
"Yes Sheldon. You can borrow one of my suits. I am so proud that you actually managed to get a date. I was starting to think that maybe you were..." My father said and he shook his head. He didn't want to say it. I knew exactly what he was wanting to say. He feared that I was a faggoot. I told him that I indeed was not one and that he didn't need to worry about that.
"Well, we can't stay here forever. Give me ten minutes to finish the report I am in. Then I will come along and show you some of my suits that I think you will be able to fit." My father said and then I nodded. I was happy that my father was actually going to be helping me out right now. So I stood up and walked to my room. I sat down in my room, just thinking about the fact that I had actually managed to get not only a girl to like me, but to also get my father to even just look proud of me for a moment. I knew that this was going to be the turn around I needed in my life. This was the best day in a while. Plus, it looked like he didn't notice that I used to be high even just a couple of hours ago.
When I was walking back to my room, right after I stood up, I noticed something though. Just a few words that got me. "Missing Case Report." I knew that my father wasn't a cop, so I had no idea why he was looking at a Missing Case Report. Unless if it was the one that I feared he was looking at.
I feared he was looking at the one of my older sister. Her name was Riley. My family and I moved here when I was just about ten years old. She was thirteen. About six months after we moved here, and just a few weeks after she had turned fourteen, Riley had gone missing. I was so deep into my high state and my drugs and my friends that sometimes I forgot she even existed.
I know, I sound like a terrible brother for saying that, but consider this. I had been getting high on a weekly basis for a couple of years. Hell, I even went high just mere hours ago. I was also always working on school. I was also always dealing with friends and trying to earn my parents attention. I rarely had time to think about her. Besides, she barely even hung out with me or gave me much attention. It was as if she never cared about me.
But now that I was reminded very harshly of her existence once again, I knew that I needed to figure out what had happened to her. I needed to know why she had gone missing. I needed to know why my parents never talked about it. I felt like if I was getting along with my dad enough tonight, if we talked for a while, then I might be able to bring it up and actually not get him to be pissed off at me for doing this. I felt like I deserved to know. There is no way after six years, that he didn't get at least some evidence on the case.
The ten minutes passed and my father walked inside of the room. He saw that I was very deep into thought. He wondered what was bothering me, and he figured that he could help me out. I really thought that my father was a great man. I mean, how could I have known any better on the surface. I mean, the only hint that I could have possibly had was the fact that he was a big name businessman. If I did not have that going for me, I would have been just as blind to it as anybody else. It was hard to understand.
Sorry for jumping a bit ahead of myself.
"Sheldon, let's look in my room for the clothes that I think would best fit you. I will only be able to spend about thirty minutes or so with you. So we need to make this quick." My father said, and I knew that I needed to get the clothes as fast as possible. I went downstairs with my dad and he led me to his closet. I was wondering where mom had been. I mean, she was always out late at night every day of the week. I just assumed that she was working all the time, but now that I was thinking about it, I had a feeling that maybe there was something more to this than the 'official' story that my father gave me. "Here you go Sheldon, take any one that you want. As long as it fits your size obviously. I don't want you to grab something that is too small on you. That really would not be a sight that we would want to see." My father said, and he was thinking about something from my Freshmen year where my clothes were too big for homecoming.
"I know dad. I don't need to be reminded." I was giving off that smartass but also appreciation vibe. You know, one of those strange vibes that people can give off when they are trying to show which mix of emotions that was stronger. As of that moment for me, even I didn't know which one was stronger for me.
I went up and found a blue shirt. I had no idea why the blue shirt was something I was digging. But I grabbed it. I saw that along with the blue shirt was a black pair of dress pants. I grabbed it. I thought that blue and black was a interesting combination, but I was adventurous enough to try it out. Then I saw the dress shoes that I always wanted to try from my father. I grabbed them and tried them on. When I saw that they finally fit, I smiled and showed my father that this was the set that I really wanted this year. My father placed his hands behind his head and then he shrugged, thinking that it was better than nothing.
I sat down on my father's bed, and I could tell that my father was finding this to be a combination of annoying and strange. But he clearly was able to see that I wanted to talk to him. So he sat down next to me and then he took a long deep breath. "Sheldon, what is it that you want to talk to me about? I want to talk to my child, and I want to actually make you feel like you are cared about. But I want you to understand that I am putting your behind on a constant basis because I need to do my job. I have no desire to actually throw you away." My father said and then I held my hand up as if I was trying to signify that I understood why he had done this.
"That has nothing to do with it. I was wanting to just talk to you about your job. What exactly do you do at work? I know that it is none of my business. I know that you don't like to talk to me about it. But I feel like I deserve to know the truth. I mean, after all, I am your son." I said, and then my father thought about that for a moment and then he placed his hand on his face. As if he hated the fact that I placed him in this corner.
"I am a businessman. I know that you are aware of this. I work at a business in town that creates construction jobs for people in town. There several young men who work here after high school and in college on a part time schedule in order to make it so that people can actually have a place to live. I know that if I don't do my job, that people will not be able to live anywhere. I have one of the most important jobs in the entire city if you think of it for that very reason. I am providing housing for the people in the city. Is that really all that you wanted to know?" My father asked, and then I thought about it. That was all I wanted to know about his job. But there was now one thing that I knew I needed to know. One thing that I knew I needed to clear up right then and there.
"Tell me the truth about Riley. Tell me what happened to her. I tried hard to forget about her all these years, and I even almost did so. But here I am right now. I now look back and I can't deny that she was my older sister. That she did indeed exist. Please, just tell me what you know." I said, and my father looked like he was about to cry as if he couldn't handle the fact that this was now the thing that he was going to have to talk to me about now.
"You know, I felt like it was only a matter of time before I felt like you would have finally had the desire to know the truth. So I will tell you this only once. We will only have this conversation tonight, and we will never even so much as bring it up again. Am I fucking understood?" My father said, and I could tell that there was a level of edge to his voice. As if this conversation was going to break him.
I nodded, and then after that, my father sighed. He placed his hand on my shoulder, as if the fact that this conversation was the thing that would finally bring us together. The thing that would make me want to work for him.
"Well, I will tell you what the police say. The police had placed in a report that she had died. They said she died nine months after she had gone missing, at the tinder young age of fourteen. I can't really argue with the true story. But there is something to it that makes me think that he is lying." My father said and then I could tell for a fraction of a second that he was smiling. Then he looked at me and dropped his smiling persona and then he got back into his grief-stricken persona once again. "Tell me Sheldon, how did you not remember this? Do you not remember what Sheriff Garrett told us when she had been found. He told us the entire news report. Then he looked at you and said something to you before he left. As if he knew that this was a personal secret between the two of you."
As he had told me this, I realized that my father was right. I do remember Sheriff Garrett coming by that one night near Christmas of 1956. I remember when he showed up and gave us the news. I remember how my father was totally expressionless. As if he couldn't have cared less. Then he looked at me and told me that my career would be looked at with great interest, and then he left the house. I didn't think of it at the time, and I honestly thought that he was a bit crazy in all honesty.
But I knew that my father was telling the truth. According to the news, Riley was dead. But I didn't know if it was true or not. I thought that there was a chance that there was a level of lies to it. I thought that maybe Riley was alive. I wanted to figure out with Riley was alive. Even if this had meant that I myself was going to be the one who was going to die. Only if I kept looking into this any further.
"Have you tried to tell the officials what you think? Have you tried to tell people that you feel like she is alive?" I asked, hoping that he had been fighting for her survival this whole time. I was hoping that this was his last real attempt to be a good father to Riley. If that was not what the truth was, I didn't know how much longer I could have lived with these facts.
"I have tried. But nobody believed me. People thought that I was a father in mourning. I hoped that you would let the memories slide..." My father responded and then he looked at me quietly. That was when I was starting to think that he did indeed know of my drug use. As if he was hoping that the drugs would fuck me up just enough to make me forget about this. He didn't care that I was into drugs. In fact, if anything, I felt like he had wanted me to be into them. That was when I was started to wonder if he really did care about my best interest at heart. But before I would be able to question this further, he started to explain himself further.
"But it seems like you have not. It is honestly none of your fucking business what happened to Riley. You are now at least three years older than she would ever be, You get to live a fucking life. She does not. Drop the fucking subject as soon as possible, and I might be able to forgive you for even bringing the subject up." My father said, and then I nodded. I knew that he wasn't fucking around. I knew that if I continued this subject at all, that there was going to be a riff between us. "This is the one and only time I even want you to fucking say Riley's name again for the rest of your life."
I was fucking livid with my father. I knew that he was clearly doing this for his own personal gain. He didn't give a fucking shit about me. He thought that I was just a pawn to make him forget this. I then said simply "Yes sir," before heading out of the room and going to my own.
When I was inside of my room, I forgot about the prom clothes that I had in my hands. I slammed the clothes back down on the drawer right next to my bed. I then placed my head on my pillow. My fucking father hated me. My sister was fucking dead. I was a fucking social outcast. And my mother barely even was fucking here. It was like she didn't even fucking exist. I then cried as hard as I could.
I wanted to get high. I needed to get high. Getting high was the only fucking way that I could forget about the pain that was given to me over the fact that I knew my sister was dead plus everything else. Why did I not earn the idea of getting high? It was the one thing that would have soothed me. Just smoking a joint with Dakota in his car like I did about five or six hours ago.
I was catching myself just wishing that this was what I could have been given. I knew that there was no real reason for me to wish this more than anything else, but I could not get myself to think of anything different. It was fucking impossible for me to actually think of anything else. I had only been away from it for a few hours, and I was already feeling like I was starting to get some form of withdrawals. I knew that there would be a lot of people who would not really be all that proud of the fact that I am admitting this, and in hindsight even I am not, but nothing could have been prevented about it right there.
But before I could think about my desires to not have my withdrawls suffer even worse, there was a strange sound that I was not really ready for at all. I looked up and I saw that it was somebody who was staring at me right outside of my fucking window. I could not believe that a guy who looked like he was barely in middle school managed to find his way up here. I wondered why he was doing this at all anyways. Probably a strange prank that he was told to do. I rolled my eyes and then I was about to leave it alone.
I was about to head away and just pretend that I had never seen any of that before when there was a loud knock on the window to get my attention again. I then was actually getting a bit angry when I walked up to the window and then I opened up the window just to make him shut up. "Dude, I am really not in the mood to be dealing with annoying young kids right now. So can you please just me alone?" I asked, and then before I could even wrap my mind around what the hell was going on, the guy just walked right inside of my house and got in my room without even asking for my permission. Now I was starting to get a little bit annoyed at what he was doing.
"I have something that I think you should know. It will tell you a lot of information that is bothering you right now." The guy said and then I turned around and tried to hide my annoyance. I only then just realized that I had not taken off my jacket at all by that point in time. I took the jacket off and then put it away. I was really not in the mood to listen to this guy, but it was also very clear to me that he was not going to leave me alone until I finally indulged him.
"Just tell me what you so called know, and then I can send you off. I really have no reason to believe in you." I was telling the truth. The guy was raising his hands up as if to concede that this was indeed sounding a bit strange, and then he looked right at me as if he was going to get in his so called serious mode before I can even have a chance to still talk to him about how much I did not appreciate him being in here.
"Well, I heard about this place called the Labyrinth. It is a location under the city. I think that there is something about this city that you will really want to know about. Something that I am pretty sure will change your life forever." The guy said and then he rolled his eyes and then he held out his hand. "My name is Todd. I have only been in this town for about nine months or so. But I think I know more about this city than almost anybody else here." The guy said and I rolled my eyes, realizing that this guy was having an ego the size of the mono liza.
But there was something about the name that did make me stop. There was something about the name that did make me believe in him for maybe just a second. That maybe he actually did know something about this town that I had no idea about. I sighed and hated the fact that I was going to indulge him at all about this labyrinth, but I decided to give him a chance.
"What is the labyrinth?" I asked, as I was finally starting to piece together the details about what my father said about Riley. I didn't know why I was suddenly thinking about Riley all of a sudden, but I knew that there was something about this that might have been related to her. My father said that she had died nine months after she went missing. Todd had been here nine months. That is a whole school year. She died a whole school year later. Or even worse yet, the thought I should have never even wanted to flirt with. A whole pregnancy later.
"Well it is this underground organization. It is a very dangerous place. A place that we should be careful about. A place that can ruin your life if you are not careful." Todd said and there was something about what he was saying that did make me think that he was telling the truth. I decided that I did need to give him a chance to prove himself to be telling the truth.
"I can't tell you anything else about it unless if I show you it. Only when you see the labyrinth will you understand what exactly about this place that makes it so important to everything that is going on here. This is the most vital place in town, and I think that once you see it, you will understand why. I went down there once for a few minutes, and I escaped before anything could have been able to happen to me." Todd said and while I was so beyond confused at this, I could tell from the look at his face that he was not fucking around at all.
I then looked at my hoodie again. I then walked up to the hoodie and then I grabbed it and slowly placed it on my body. I then turned around and looked Todd right in the face. "If you're right, I think that we should probably try and let everybody know..." I said and then I started to zip my shirt up when I heard Todd telling me to stop. I could tell that there was some form of a trigger that I had crossed by even suggesting this idea to him.
"Don't you ever even suggest that! I know that if this was exposed to the public, people will think that we are fucking lying. They will call us the criminals. Don't take this risk. I want to show you myself. Then once you see what is going on, then we can slowly go in there and save everybody one step at a time." Todd said and then I sighed in annoyance. This fucking kid was thinking that he had the right to act as if he was running this whole fucking show. It was a little bit annoying, but I could tell that he did indeed have the best intentions in mind, and was worried for my sake.
I knew that whatever happened next was going to be something that even if I was trying to be prepared for, that I would not be even close to being ready for. Todd was looking as if to try and really understand the look on my face. I thought it was a bit odd he was caring so much about my expression, but I didn't really want to say anything.
"You know what, fuck this. Just show me what is happening, and I will see what I can do to help you out." I said and then I walked to my window and pushed myself through and got out of the house. Then Todd did the same thing and he looked at me. "Seriously though, why did you think that you should try and talk to me about this? What about me makes you think that I can actually help you out?" I asked, just trying to keep this at a relatively civil tone. Although I think Todd could tell that he was actually treading on some thin ice.
"I was wanting to show you something that I think you would need to know. Something about your family. I think that you will truly get it when you see what I am talking about. Trust me for the time being though. I don't want to explain any further though until you see what I am talking about." Todd said and then I just slowly nodded. Hoping my parents didn't see what I was doing as we walked down and I followed Todd.
