Ch 6: 1200 seconds.
A/N: Counting second make them seem faster. Of course, ignoring the clock makes them seem even faster :P. Review please? Note that I have not really edited this as much I'd have liked to.
At about 9 PM, Cody received a phone call from someone who, apparently, had something confidential to talk to him about, and Cody went upstairs to his bedroom, telling me that he probably wouldn't be back downstairs today.
First, however, he handed me a plastic bag, and said "So you have a place to put what you are wearing."
"Thanks." I said, feeling grateful.
"No problem. Hey, and sorry about having to run off on you." He said.
"No problem, I understand." I said. It was true, too. I did understand, and, more to the point, I desperately needed the alone time, now more than ever.
I felt like I was drowning in everything, things were far more complicated than I'd ever have expected. It was far more complicated than anything I'd dealt with before, even in the digital world, but in reality I'd barely scratched the surface. Partly, it was because I'd lived such a sheltered life. Mostly, though, it was because this was what I'd sought; the real world.
And, if I was truly drowning in all of this, I shouldn't have run away. I understood why my mother had tried to shelter me from this. From the alcohol, from the dating, and from the world as a whole. Because I COULDN'T deal with it, not yet. And I instantly resented her even more now that I understood what she had been protecting me from.
Because it was worth protecting me from. Which made it all the worse. Had it not been worth protecting me from, it would have been fine. But she'd been right to protect me from it... But not to hide it from me.
I was bound to crash like this, the way she'd set me up. And she should have known it. Because I knew nothing of what I was getting into. Because she didn't trust me, so she'd 'protected' me from knowledge that I needed to avoid disaster when I made mistakes. And she'd 'protected' me from talking to girls and dealing with Kari, because she didn't trust me to make the right decision in a complicated situation. In so doing, she'd assured that I'd have trouble making such a decision when it mattered.
It also struck me that I'd followed her rules, and that this had been a mistake. Because I hadn't taken responsibility for my own life once I felt it was necessary. Because I hadn't cared. Because, in reality, I hadn't run away to face the real world. I'd run away to stay with my friends.
And even when I'd finally broken free, I didn't really face the world. I had made it this far on pure luck. Luck that Kari had called me before I'd done something REALLY stupid or poisoned myself. Luck because Cody had told me that I really did need to make up my mind on how I felt about Kari. Luck that Johnathan had been willing to buy clothes for me. Luck that he realized that I needed them!
Heck, it had been luck that I hadn't had to walk home with my metaphorical tail between my legs fifteen minutes after I'd left. Had Cody not found someone to take me in for the day, and then been willing to take me in himself the next day, I would have had to face the rain alone.
And I'd nearly given up, facing the rain with help. It struck me that I wasn't really 'drowning' in everything, that I was treading water, but just barely. And it wasn't JUST luck. It was fortitude and determination that had allowed me to keep my head above water, as well.
And, in reality, it didn't matter if it was luck or not; I'd made the right decision. Because I'd made this mistakes... and I was learning from them. I'd done it minimal harm, hell, with minimal embarrassment.
I wasn't sure how much longer I could JUST tread water, though. At some point, it would be sink or swim. Because, at some point, I would have to leave the Kamiya's household. At some point, I would have to put a roof over my head, or go home. I didn't want to go home until my mother was ready to admit that I could do as I pleased, so long as I followed reasonable rules.
I was willing to follow reasonable rules. And that was new; I realized that it had been her house, and I was grateful for the roof. But I wasn't going to live there unless the rules were fair, and I wasn't going to be grateful for the roof if I didn't have the freedom not to live under it.
It was then that I realized that I probably should call Dad and tell him to call Mom and say that I was fine; that was, at the very least, a safe thing to do, and I didn't want to end up being 'missing', because then people would start looking for me. Which I didn't particularly want.
So I dialed his number, and the phone rang for a few moments. And then Matt, who was home from college for the break, picked it up.
"Hello, who is this?" He asked, sounding vaguely angry.
"This it T.K" I said, "I just wanted to call and say that I'm safe."
Matt sighed, and then snapped at me, "Takeru, you've caused me and Dad NO END of inconvenience, you know that, right?"
"Huh?" I asked, vaguely confused.
"First, Mom called, claiming that we'd 'kidnapped you' and then the police came and searched the whole place seeing if you were here. And now, now you tell us you are safe?" Matt ranted, and then calmed down, saying "Well, I'm glad you are alright. Do you need someone to pick you up and bring you back home? You've got to be awful hungry by now."
"No, I'm fine, I'm staying with friends. And I have no home Matt. I might have a house, although Mom kicked me out anyway. But it doesn't matter. That place hasn't been home for me for years." I snapped back.
"Friends?" Matt asked suspiciously.
"You promise that you won't tell anyone, if you feel I'm safe with them?" I asked.
"Sure." He replied, "Who is it?"
"Cody, for the moment, and then I'm going to be staying with the Kamiyas." I answered.
"They aren't home." Matt said, "You know that, right?"
"The Kamiyas got home today, actually." I replied, smirking to myself.
"Alright. Do you want me to call Mom and tell her you are alright?" Matt asked.
"If you don't think it will be too much trouble. I mean, I didn't want to call her myself because I didn't particularly want to give her my location."
"Alright. You need anything?" Matt asked.
"Not anything you are allowed to give." I replied, "I may need a place to stay in a week or so, but since I doubt I will be able to get emancipation that quickly, I don't think you can do much for me on that score."
"Alright. If you need anything I can help you with, call me. I'll be glad to help."
"Thanks." I said, "Bye."
"Bye." He said, and laughed, "Don't do anything with Kari that her parents wouldn't approve of."
"Whatever" I said, and laughed, hanging up.
I was vaguely tired, which surprised me slightly, but it had been a long day, and besides, I'd been moderately drunk last night, so I had no idea if I would sleep as well.
I changed into a new set of clothing from what Johnathan had bought, and then put my dirty laundry into the plastic bag. The new clothing itched vaguely, because it had not yet been washed, but it was better than wearing the clothing I'd been wearing for the last two days.
It didn't take long before I was asleep on the couch. When I woke up the next morning, I realized just how bad I smelled. When I looked up, I noticed that Cody was already downstairs.
"Must... Shower." I grumbled.
"Go right ahead." Cody said, "You'll probably want a towel, though, so I'll go find something."
He went downstairs, and came back holding a towel for a bunch of childish cartoon characters.
"Sorry, man, it's the best I can find that no one uses."
"It's cool." I replied, "Anything is better than smelling like this."
So I went upstairs, and showered. After I got dried off and got dressed again, I looked at myself at the mirror for the first time since I'd run away.
My hair was damp and clumped together, but that was the only thing about me that looked truly unkempt. Instead, I looked clean, and well groomed. I wanted to remind my reflection that I was a runaway, that there was no way in hell I could have looked so clean.
Of course, this would have been ridiculous. And I knew that. It was just that I'd assumed that I wasn't going to be able to take care of myself beyond my basic needs, so I'd expected the face looking back at me to look the part of a runaway.
It didn't. I didn't. I smiled, and breathed a deep sigh. I guess it should have been obvious that I wasn't going to change over the course of two days. But, apparently, it hadn't been. I left the bathroom, and walked downstairs.
"Hey, T.K." Cody said, "You need a ride to the Kamiya's, right?"
"What time is it?" I asked.
"It's 9:15." Cody replied.
"I'll call and check to see if they are awake." I said, taking the phone from my pocket.
I dailed Kari's number, knowing she'd have her phone if she was awake, and that it probably wouldn't wake her if she wasn't.
Ring. Ring.
She picked it up.
"Good morning, T.K." She mumbled.
"Did I wake you up?" I asked, worried.
"No." She said, with the sound of her arm rubbing up against the phone; she was probably rubbing her eyes.
"But you haven't been up for long." I concluded.
"Uhh.... Would 'yes' or 'no' be 'I just woke up." She asked, presumably responding to the negative in my question.
"I don't know, actually. It doesn't matter, I know what you mean now. When should I come over?"
"Give me thirty minutes, alright?" She requested.
"Alright. See you soon?" I asked, trying not to sound too excited.
"Yeah." She said, audibly more awake.
I hung up, and smiled. "Thirty minutes."
"Cool." He said.
I looked up at the clock. 7:16.
"So, we can get there as early as 7:46. It takes 15 minutes to get there, right?" I estimated.
"I'd say 10 minutes. And yes, I'm counting that we are walking." Cody replied, sighing and rolling his eyes.
"So, we leave at 8:06" I calculated quickly.
"Or we could leave at 8:10." Cody said, "No need to rush."
"Do you REALLY want to put up with me for 4 extra minutes?" I asked, knowing that he DID, but that was beside the point.
"Not like this, you are right." He replied, and then laughed. "Seriously CALM DOWN."
"20 minutes is... 2*6, 12, two zeros, 1200 seconds." I calculated, hardly audibly.
"And a long 1200 seconds it's going to be, T.K." Cody replied, "Seriously, you are like a little kid."
I rolled my eyes, "So?"
"So you are making it a long 1200 seconds for me, too."
I glanced up at the clock, a minute had passed.
"19 minutes left." I said.
"Whatever, T.K."
I laughed, "Sorry, man."
"No problem, I understand, I'm just giving you a hard time."
"I know." I replied, looking back up at the clock.
"10% of the time has passed." I said, laughing slightly.
"What is this, Takeru's random fact of the minute?"
"I haven't seen her outside of school in more than a month. She's my best friend, AND I like her." I replied, "I think I get to have a random fact of the minute."
"Yeah, but you're making this as much of a drag for me as this is for you."
"Think of it this way; by extending the time between seconds, I'm extending your life. You should thank me!"
"Whatever." Cody replied, "Ten minute game of Super Smash?"
"Sure.
So we went upstairs to Cody's room and started up the game console. During the time it took to start the game, three more minutes passed (I even knew that character selection took a whole thirty seconds, due to my incessant checking of the clock.)
I chose Link, he chose Pikachu.
"Pikachu?" I asked, with a bit of contempt.
"Never, ever, EVER underestimate Pikachu."
He killed me at 20 seconds.... And then at 40 seconds. And then at 1 minute. He was much, MUCH, MUCH better than me, and by the time the game was over, the score was 25 to -25.
"How do you do that?" I asked.
"Lots and lots and LOTS of practice. Not something you can learn in five minutes, especially because you should be getting on your shoes and getting ready to leave."
"True."
I ran down the stairs, and put my shoes on without untying and retying them.
"Slow down!" Cody said from the stairs. "You're going to want your clothes."
"Right." I said, getting the two bags from on the couch.
"Alright, see you later." Cody said, walking down the stairs.
"Yeah. See you." I said, and opened the door.
"By the way; I would have estimated it would take 20 minutes, but I know that you are going to run the whole way there."
"You were right, I intend to."
"Have fun. Don't do anything stupid."
"I won't." I promised.
"Good."
True to my word, I sprinted as fast as I could toward the Kamiya's house. I ran out of breath before I was half way there, and had to slow down to a walk.
It struck me that this was the first time I'd been outside in over a day. I wasn't sure what to think of that, it was just vaguely strange to have been cooped up so much, and even stranger to have not realized it.
Finally, I found the energy to sprint again, and reached my destination, gasping for air, but where I had wanted to be for so long. I knocked on the door.