Sweetened Facade

Chapter Eleven

Warning: quite a long chapter ? Excuse the mistakes.

I woke up rested for the first time after a long nights' sleep. I slept in Mum's old pyjamas sank into their bed. The memory of them was carried in that room, that house. Either I slept well because I felt good after spending time with Dylan, or the house had an effect on me. Saturday mornings were pretty boring and I was sure none of the Bosticks cares to know where I was. They never really did in the last, so why should they now?

I longboarded my way home only to quickly pick up my keys and leave.

***

"Morning!" said Finn cheerfully. "Nurse Susan brought in some breakfast for you too," he said as he pushed over his tray with a fried egg, toast, orange juice and two sausages.

"Thanks." I smiled. I wolfed down my breakfast and walked into the bathroom. The marble floor was shiny and radiated a cold sensation into the room. I splashed some water onto my face and fixed up my mascara and eyeliner and put up my hair.

Suddenly, Finn started coughing violently. I ran into his room and patted him on the back. "Are you alright?" I questioned. He nodded as he wiped away a tear.

"Hey, its okay. I'm gonna go call Susan alright?" He sat back on his bed and grabbed a pillow. The worry was starting to build inside but I tried to ignore it and headed to the nurse's office. The tall wooden door was opened almost as soon as I turned the knob.

"Oh! You startled me!" Chuckled Nurse Susan. "Are you alright?"

"Em its..its Finn he's just.. Please come." I managed to say between breaths.

"Right away. What happened," she asked as we walked to his room. I told her the tale by the time we got to the corner of the corridor. When we walked in, Finn was lying on the floor throwing up. Susan and I helped him up and sat him onto the bed.

"Its okay." I said as I pulled him into a hug, squeezing him gently. A small smile managed to appear on his tear streamed face. Doctor Alec walked in ten minutes later.

"He needs to rest. Susan will stay with him. Ria you really shouldn't be here, you have school." He said.

"If I wasn't here, who knows what else would have happened." I retorted. He knew he couldn't argue with that.

I kissed Finn on the head and grabbed my bag. On the way out of the building I had to stop a few times to fight back tears that were stinging my eyes. I hopped into the car and drove to a record shop. I needed to calm my mind a bit. It was still only 11 o'clock and I had no intention of going to school. The sun was bright but cold. I clung onto my jacket for warmth.

I pushed the little glass door and the bell rang as I walked in. The sight was comforting, seeing vinyl record players and the rows of discs and cassettes. The man at the cash register had a fuzzy stubble and a fat belly. He had a vacant expression and was resting on the wall. A rather handsome guy was looking through a shelf of Misfits records. He was brunette and was wearing jeans with sneakers and a black tee. I approached the Nirvana rack and started shuffling through to find a good one. The guy looked up and took a record off the shelf. He then walked over to the opposite rack and started shuffling through the discs as well. I pulled out a very jagged-looking disc cover and continued the shuffling.

"Nirvana, original vinyl record of 'Come As You Are,' rather good tune but I do suggest you try something like The Arctic Monkeys 'One For The Road." he said as he walked over with a large grey record. This guy has good taste in music for a cute guy, I thought to myself. My heart could not handle all the attractive young men I've been running into.

"Arctic Monkeys are one of my all time favourite bands." I said cheekily with a smirk.

"Ah yes indeed," he looked up into my eyes. "James. James Wood."

"Who's James?! I questioned jokingly and we both started laughing.

"I am the James you speak of. And who might this fair maiden be?"

"I be Ria. Ria the Tate. Pleasure to find out who be the James."

"You should probably buy that record," he said as he pulled it gently out of my hands. He took a pen out and turned to look at another shelf. A couple moments later he turned back and handed me the record.

"Not often you find modern songs on vinyl." I walked over to the till and handed over some cash.

He spoke once more just as I was about to walk out the door; "Will I see you again?"

"Maybe," and with that I shut the door. As I got in the car I turned over the disc only to find "He be James 09876413259" written messily on the cover. I smiled reluctantly before scrunching it into my bag and driving off. I couldn't help but think about Dylan.

***

I flopped on my bed pushing off my boots. I had walked straight up to my room without even bothering to say hello to Christopher. I reluctantly hopped into the shower and refreshed my body, the cold droplets of water smashing against my burning skin as the water started to heat up. The sensation was refreshing and after what could have been 30 minutes I stepped back out onto the shaggy blue bathmat. The chilliness of the bathroom made the hairs on my legs stand up and after I dried myself they danced under the fabric of my clothes as they flattened out.

As I walked into my room I brushed my hair with my finger and messily arranging it into a bun. After a few moments I decide that it was going to be a long night of Netflix and pizza and gathered my blankets. Cleaning off the messy bed covers I plumped down on the mattress and dialled the Dominoes pizza number.

A young man answered in a clear tone of voice. "Dominoes Pizza how can I help you?"

"I'd like to order two large pepperoni pizzas," I replied.

"Delivery or take out?"

"Delivery."

"Um yeah sure sorry you sounded like someone I know. Cash or card?"

"Cash, now hurry up I want my damn pizza!"

I switched on the Tv and let Netflix load as the doorbell rang. Quickly running down the stairs I slid into some slippers and walked into the kitchen to tell Christopher I got pizza.

"Hey Chris I ordered- Wait I'm sorry I shouldn't have interrupted." My face flushed red at the sight of Christopher talking to a man in a business suit with lots of paperwork in front of them. The man was wearing the same suit as the man I saw at my old residence and he had the same stature as well.

"Oh no dear, this is Mr. Edward Lanittle. You'll be spending time with Mr. Lanittle in the near future. Is there something you would like?"

I examined Edward's face, and I was sure he looked familiar. He had a good bone structure, neat eyebrows, a wide nose, bright green eyes and jet black hair. His skin was pale and his lips a soft shade of pink. He resembled someone I knew.

Someone very familiar.

"Oh I just ordered pizza." And right on cue the doorbell rang again.

He nodded and smiled as I turned and shut the door again. The delivery guy started knocking to the beat of the Game of Thrones theme song.

I switched on the outdoor light and pulled out my wallet. As I opened the door, a familiar face was shifting impatiently from foot to foot. He was wearing a blue and red uniform and a Dominoes Pizza cap, holding two pizzas in his hands.

"Dylan?"
-----------------
°Vote ° Comment ° Follow °