Graveyard Shift

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO
It was nine-forty-seven PM when I walked over to the pale, turquoise swing set and sat down upon a swing, waiting patiently when I got to the playground. I looked over where, a couple of feet, the river was sitting just a little down the hill, then looked the other way where the playground sat under the moonlight. It was the type of dark that doesn't make a person really feel anxious being alone, just for them to almost want to bask under the stars. And if I weren't the gawky, skinny, six foot seventeen year old teenage guy I was, I would've been basking the crap under those stars. But instead, I came closest by letting my head fall backward in the slightest and wrapping my arms around the wobbly metal handles that held the swing's seats up. There was this light breeze that was warm and cool at the same time that blew and I took a breath in and my eyes closed momentarily.
"Mister Martin," the corners of my lips turned upward and my eyes opened to see an upside down Eleanor before my eyes. She gave a close lipped smile as I sat upright and turned in my swing as she came to sit in the swing next to me. "Fancy meeting you here at this hour."
"Is it? I thought this was what all the cool kids do; or am I just not up to date?"
She smirked with a small scoff and placed a hand to her chest as if offended, "That wounds me as I try so hard to keep my pride on not keeping up with what the cool kids do." I laughed as she smiled. She barely swung to-and-fro, her feet never leaving the ground as she used her toes to push her back and forth in the slightest. Her hands gripped at the wobbly handles, her eyes faced toward the ground as she focused on the wood chips and the pink flip-flops she wore. I stared at her red painted toenails and then looked back up at her face.
We were both quiet, but I never felt awkward when Eleanor and I didn't speak while with each other because it wasn't awkward. Eleanor and I didn't act as if we were in one of those movies where two teenagers have deep conversations about beautiful things and how they saw the world differently from others. We both agreed that it didn't really happen like that in real life, but we both also agreed that movies and books were still great either way. I mean, neither of us would turn down a movie based off of a novel by Suzanne Collins that starred Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson - because that would be stupid when it was a good story.
"Do you ever wonder why people still want to be liked by people even when they say they don't care what people think about them?" Eleanor finally questioned. She still looked at the ground as she said this, but now stopped her movement of swinging.
"The adolescent population wants to be in acceptance with the world." I replied.
"Yeah, but it's not just people our age, you know?" She was now looking up at me, half her body bent forward. Her hair hung over her shoulders and hugged her back. She shrugged, "I mean, don't you see it?" I raised my eyebrows in the slightest. "You could see somebody who is forty-something years old who has the whole world in their hands, William, and they still look for approval from the rest of the people around them." She shrugged and shook her head, looking in front of her through the darkness of the night. "It's just weird, ya' know? I mean, even me, Will; I'm guilty of it. I'll walk into someplace and look around and wonder what a total stranger is thinking of when they glance at me." That was another thing I liked about her: she didn't try to pretend like she did or thought things that she didn't do or think.
"Eleanor, it's just built into the human species." She glanced at me now. "I mean, take me for instance. I know I'm not this popular guy who everybody loves or anything, and I really don't want to be, but if someone looks at me, I still wonder why I'm a loser to them and it kind of gets under my skin that I am. Do you know what I'm saying?" She gave a small smile at me. "We're all guilty of it. There isn't really a reason for it, it's just the flaws of being a human being." She gave small laugh at my reply.
Finally, Eleanor stood and the swing gently swayed. The metal creaked as she smiled and gestured for me to stand as well. "Well, are you ready to take some teenagers on a road trip against their will?"
I pursed my lips and placed my index upon my chin as if thinking. "Hmm, I don't know about that. I might be getting second thoughts, Eleanor."
"Is that so?" She questioned with a smirk.
I shook my head, "No; let's do it." I smiled brightly at her and she laughed before I led the way to my car.
***
Eleanor had one pit stop to go to before we actually went to anybody's houses, so I was in the car thrumming my fingers against the steering wheel as she bought supplies. When she finally entered the car again, Eleanor was already covering her face in black makeup. I chuckled, "Um?"
She raised her eyebrows at me and handed me a case of black makeup too. "We have to be invisible; we have to be ninjas, William. I got us beanies and black hoodies." She shook the plastic bag and I grabbed it. I took a sweater out and glanced at her before looking at the rearview mirror.
"Okay," I said. It was almost hesitant, but I felt my adrenaline pulsing and began to laugh thinking about what Daren was going to do when seeing us in his room, dressed like the night.
***
We pulled up across the street to Daren's house and both of us were clad in black all around. I figured we would have to wear dark colors, so I was happy I wore dark blue jeans and a black T-shirt. The sweater was a good thing to buy as well since I had been a total idiot and forgot to bring one. What if we went somewhere and it rained? I knew it was summer, but still.
"Okay," she began, "now, William, you are a ninja, which means that you are unstoppable."
"I am a ninja," I repeated quietly as I stared at the house. "Unstoppable." She smiled proudly, blue eyes brighter with her ninja painted face. "Okay, um, I know I can do this, I am a ninja."
"Taylor Martin, you are an unstoppable ninja." I smiled and my adrenaline was pumping.
I was excited and nervous and kinda eager to scare the crap out of Daren to go on an unplanned road trip. It felt spontaneous, something I had never been in my whole life. But, Eleanor Trip wanted to go on a road trip with me, and I wasn't going to let that opportunity just waltz right away from me.
I opened the door and began to get out, "I'm a ninja." I closed the door behind me and began to quietly jog up to the house. I looked up and saw his window open and saw how big the tree was. "Okay," I said. "Okay, I can do this. If Eleanor says I'm a ninja, I am an unstoppable ninja, God dammit."
I nodded. I stared at the house and swallowed. "I am a ninja. I am unstoppable. I am a ninja. I am unstoppable." I repeated this in a mantra until I began to climb this god damn tree and say this at the same time.
"I'm a-" I grunted and grabbed onto a bump of the tree, "I'm a ninja, who's climbing up the biggest tree-" grunt "in all of friggin' mankind, and-" I took three short breaths, "I'm a-I can't breathe." I was starting to run out of breath and wished I did not agree to any of this as I fell straight from the tree into the grass. I lay there on the ground, already defeated. I then heard somebody running up to me and knew I had to be getting arrested or something. "Okay, let's try that again." I opened my eyes and saw Eleanor's blue eyes floating in the dark. She reached down and helped me up. I felt rather embarrassed as she set her hands up as a boost for me and I stepped onto her palms, hoisting myself onto the tree branch that was across his window. I looked down at her as she gave me a thumbs up. And, as I reached across and began to yank the crap out of his screen, Eleanor ran right back to the car.
Finally, the screen broke free, after maybe, four minutes of yanking and pulling. I dropped it to the ground and nodded as it lightly clanked to the ground. "Okay," I looked back up and nearly screamed as Daren's face was at the window now. I reached for anything I could grab onto, which was air, until Daren grabbed my hand and made sure I wasn't going to fall from the tree again. He laughed at me for about two minutes as I caught my breath and slowed my heart rate down.
"Holy," I breathed out a bit angrily. "Why are you awake??" I asked as he helped pull me into his room.
He laughed, "It's the first night of summer break, dude. Why wouldn't I be awake?" I looked at his TV, which was on. He had his controllers on the floor, next to his game chairs, and the game was paused. He raised his eyebrows as I stumbled through his window and dusted myself off. "What the Hell are you wearing? Why are you covered in black - paint?" He guessed.
I sighed out, "I'm a ninja, and you were supposed to be asleep and I was supposed to wake you up." He laughed.
"I don't even think my parents are asleep, man." I glared. "Okay, so, why were you going to randomly wake me up?"
I sighed again. He stifled his laughter by now. "Because, you're going on a road trip with me."
He let out a breath of air, humor still in him, "Psh, man, I can't go on a road trip."
"Why not?"
"Because, I don't want to. I mean, no offense, but being stuck in a car all day long, doing nothing, doesn't sound fun to me." I scoffed.
"Eleanor will be with us too."
"I'm not particularly keen on watching you gawk over her all day long."
"Come on," I whined. He shook his head.
"Nope, not doing it; don't want to."
"Anna's coming too." I finally said. He paused and glanced over his shoulder to look at his paused video game. He then looked back at me. "And I'll get you In 'N Out." He pressed his lips together as he thought and his eyes widened as he looked to be really contemplating this all now. "Dude, my car is still running, so if you don't mind-"
"Okay, I'll go."
***
Daren was sitting in the back seat with Anna as we drove to Kris' house. It was quiet in the car. Supposedly, Anna was harder to convince than Daren, but our hardest convincing was definitely going to be Kris. Kris and her family were all Muslim and that meant somehow we had to convince her that she was not going to die when we all got back from the road trip.
As we pulled up to her house, we all looked at each other and let out a breath. "It's gonna take a team effort," Eleanor said to Anna. Anna nodded. "Let's go." As they left the car Daren looked at me.
"So, was the In 'N Out just a lie or was I mistaken when I heard you say it?" I laughed.
"It's not a lie," I replied. "I just gotta tell them first." We both looked at them as Eleanor was boosted up by Anna and Eleanor tried to reach for the window. After a minute, she hopped down and they began to talk to each other. "I wonder how they're gonna open the window." He shrugged as they began to walk back.
"I guess they gave up," he said. "That was easy." I furrowed my brows.
"Too easy," I said. Anna opened the door and smiled at Daren. He fell for it immediately and swooned.
"We can't reach the window," Eleanor told me. "I was thinking that we could use some boys help?"
"What do-"
"Okay!" Daren said and began to scramble out of the car. Anna smirked at Eleanor and I laughed at that. Daren rushed over to the house with them and Anna was showing him what to do. He nodded and before you knew it, Eleanor was stepping into his hands and he was helping her up higher. She was able to actually reach the window this time and since there was no screen, she only had to try to open it. Daren's arms wobbled, but Anna kept conversation with him to keep his mind off of that matter; he was trying to impress her by making sure he didn't drop Eleanor, getting crushed in that process.
"Eleanor began to knock on the window until Kris finally came over and rubbed her eyes. She said something and then helped her into the house through the window. I could see the two conversing right next to the window and Kris began to tie her hair up into a sloppy bun as Eleanor tried to convince her.
Daren and Anna were no longer talking, just looking up at the two as well. After fifteen minutes, Eleanor was climbing back out the window alone. I sighed in defeat. I had actually thought we were going to be able to convince her to go with us. Eleanor was being helped down by both Daren and Anna until she reached the ground. Then, as the three slumped their shoulders and walked slowly to the car, Kris' front door opened and she ran out with a sloppy bun bouncing, pulling on a sweater as she hopped onto Anna's back. Anna crumpled and grabbed Eleanor's arm, taking her down with her. Daren tried to grab Anna, but merely fell with them all. "Oh my God," I breathed out, leaving the car and going over to help them up. They began to call each other names as they began to stand again until everybody was up. Then everybody was silent. We all looked at each other, and slowlyyy, all of us began to laugh hysterically together.
Thus began our road trip at eleven-ten PM.