You know for a tough, silent, almost emo-looking guy, he sure does seem antsy in public.
"What's eating ya?" I ask him.
"You should know." He quips.
"Crowds. You don't like crowds. I know, just trying to start up a conversation. But I guess that's a pretty stupid idea too, huh?"
He cracks a smile, or really, it's more like one corner of his mouth twitches up a bit. "So how far is it? You did walk right?" he asked.
"I walk about two miles every day to get to dance, except Sunday. So we've got about another quarter mile to go. Relax, will ya?"
He shoots me a bit of a glare that makes my skin crawl a little. You really don't want to be glared at by Fang. Just saying.
"So what will we do when we get there, just walk in the front door or something? Are you're parents even home right now?"
"Well, dad might. He's a substitute teacher, and I forget if he's working today. Mom works till 5:30 in the evening, so we're okay from her. But I'll go in first and let you in my window if I have to, alright?" He nodded and I started to jog a bit. It's a little awkward trying to talk to him, I should probably speed up the pace.
A few minutes later we reached my house. The only brick faced building on my entire block. "Wait here." I tell him. "And if I'm not back in five minutes for you, go around back and fly up to the window on the very right side, k?"
He nodded and I ran up the steps and unlocked the front door. "Hey dad!" I shouted, hoping to get no reply.
But as luck would have it, I heard a muffled, "Hi sweetheart, what're you doing home? Shouldn't you be at dance."
I conjoured up the same excuse I had for Jenneanne. "Stomachache, you know, a girl thing."
"Aha, got it. Well how was school?" He said while I absent-mindedly threw my book bag and dance bag in my usual spot, and grabbed a whole giant bag of chips, and began to back out of the room slowly so he wouldn't notice my rush.
"Uh, it was good, but like I said, kinda need to lie down for a bit, okay? And I'll be back down for dinner alright?"
"Sure pumpkin, let me know if you need me for anything, I'll check on you in a little while, alright?"
"Uh… NO!" I say a little too quickly. "Don't come check, I just want to lie down and go to bed, I'll come down later if I'm hungry." I say, hoping he buys it.
"Alright, I guess." He says and looks back down to the newspaper he'd been reading.
With that I dash upstairs and lock my bedroom door, and stuff a towel underneath the door so it will block a little of the noise I'll be making. Then I go to my window and open it up. I pry the screen off and put it on the side of my beaurou. Then I peered down and there was Fang, I could barely make out his outline, (since he'd made himself pretty much invisible), hiding behind a bush in the back of the yard. He spotted me right away and managed to fly up to the window without being seen by unsuspecting neighbors.
"Quick, in here!" I whispered.
He shuffled through the window and fell onto the bedroom floor, well that was graceful! Then he got up and took a look around my room. "This is small." He said.
"Yeah, I know, that's what I said to my mom when we moved here. She said it would look larger when I organize it a bit, and I tried, but as you can see, it still looks as cramped as a little-old lady's house. Anyways, over here I have the books, see?" I said, pointing to the stack of books on my bookshelf.
He cautiously walked over to the bookshelf, and tentatively picked up the first book of the series. "Do you mind if I read through these for a bit?" He asked.
"Not at all. And here, have a snack. I'll see if I can fix up a bed or something for you in the basement. My parent's don't come in my room much, but they don't ever go in the basement anymore. So you'd be best living down there till you're done with the books, and anything else you need. Okay?"
He nodded and then turned his attention back to the book. "This is crazy." He mumbled.
"Tell me about it." I said as I started finding bedding, pillows and blankets to bring down to the basement.
I grabbed my bundle of stuff and snuck downstairs, past my dad who was still reading the paper. He didn't hear me, and I dashed downstairs to the basement and plopped my large bundle onto the table in the study room, where I do my homework. I had a blue sleeping bag, a bunch of pillows and blankets, and I also had a bunch of cushions from my room that I never use. It was just then that I heard a noise. I spun around quickly, and there, looking at me confusedly was my little sister. She had supposedly been at a friends house for the night, and I was confused to see me as much as she was confused to see me with a bundle of sleepover materials.
"Um, I know I was supposed to be at a friend's house for the night, but why would you cut dance class to have a sleepover? What are you even doing here sis?" She asked me.
"Um… well, I'm not feeling good, my time of the month." I said with a smile I hoped looked convincing.
"So the sleepover materials are for…" she continued.
"I was uh… going to sleep in the basement tonight." I said off the top of my head.
"Why? Wouldn't you want to sleep in your regular bed?"
"Well I was too hot upstairs, it always was a lot cooler down here you know. And besides, why am I explaining all this to you? Why are YOU here tonight? You were supposed to be at Jenny's house weren't you?"
"She got sick and had to call the whole thing off." She said with a raise of her eyebrows. "You're really weird you know." She remarks.
"I get that a lot, especially from you." I retort. Then I spread out my pillows and blankets on the floor and set up the sleeping bag.
She leaves the room a few minutes later, and I prayed that she wouldn't for some reason go in my room without asking. Though I figure Fang would have the sense to fade into the shadows of my closet or something if she tried that. So I just hurried back up to my bedroom.