Riddle Middle

Chapter 44: Boston

Pico (1st person)

We had breakfast at a buffet thing that was included with our hotel stay. When we were done, we repacked our stuff and got back on the bus. We'd be driving for a couple of hours. It seemed like something had happened between my friends, but I don't know what. They all seemed tired, except for Smiley, who seemed alright. Zack had the window seat, and he kept resting his head against the window. "Zack, you're gonna melt the window," I said. He didn't say anything, but he took his head off the window. I turned away for a second, and he made a small mumbling noise. I turned back to him, and he was asleep with his head against the window. Again. The glass was beginning to melt. "Zack," I said, shaking him. He jumped and faced me again. He seems to get extremely annoyed if he's awakened. "What do you want?" He snapped. "Zack, you were melting the glass..." I said, gesturing to the deformed glass. He made a small grunting noise. I looked at the seat in front of us, and I felt a small push on my shoulder. I looked down, and Zack was sleeping on my shoulder. My chin was burning, but I didn't want to wake him, so I just sat still through the pain.

Phil (1st person)

I had argued with Phred the night before even though I didn't want to. I just didn't want to blame myself, but I shouldn't have put it all on him. We didn't talk to each other for the whole morning. He's been my best friend for as long as I can remember, but that's starting to change. I don't want it to change. "Phred?" I asked. He turned towards me. He already look annoyed, even though I'd only said his name. "I shouldn't have blamed you last night, I'm sorry," I said. "Yeah, you really shouldn't have, and I don't know why you did," he said. "I just didn't want to accept that anything bad that happened to Lila or Smiley was my fault," I said. "Ugh! Everything's always about Smiley! I mean, Lila I understand, because that's your sister, but come on!" He said. I was about to object, but I didn't want to make him any more annoyed than he already was, so I just stopped talking. We didn't say anything to each other on the rest of the way there.

Lauren (1st person)

Joy was being oddly quiet, so I turned to look at her. She was pale and sweating, and I didn't know what was going on with her. "Joy?" I said. She looked at me nervously. She looked like she was about to cry. I'd never seen her like that before. Even though I didn't want to admit it, I felt a little bad for her, so I turned towards the aisle so I couldn't see her expression. Her breathing was rapid, and I was a bit worried about her, so I looked to her again. She leaned forward and coughed repeatedly. The coughing turned into gagging, and I assumed she was about to throw up, so I leaned away from her. She didn't. She just sat back and moaned. I studied her carefully. "Joy, what's going on?" I asked. "I... I-I... I don't know... I must've have motion sickness or something..." she said. As bad as motion sickness is, in a way, I thought she sort of deserved it. "Well, do you have any medicine?" I asked. She shook her head. I had some tablets in my backpack, which was next to me, but I didn't want to give her any. I made the mistake of watching her for a while. I knew she would most likely be fine, but she looked like she was dying. I gave in and got a pill for her.

I didn't say anything, but I held out my hand with the pill towards her. "Wh-What's that?" She asked. "It's for you, just take it," I said. Surprisingly, she trusted me, and she took it without questioning me further. She was fine in a few minutes. "Thank you, Lauren," she said, looking at me with a kind expression for once. "Yeah, yeah, I did something for you, now you need to do something for me," I said. "What do you want?" She asked. "Please, just give me and my friends a break," I said. "Pff, no way," she said. "Why not?" I asked, annoyed. She didn't respond or say anything else. I don't know why I helped her, but I regretted it.

Smiley (1st person)

I guess Boston was okay, but it was less enjoyable alone. I guess I wasn't alone, but my friends weren't talking to me. Phred doesn't seem to like me in the first place. Phil was trying to get Phred to forgive him. Zack had burned Pico, so Pico wasn't that talkative. Zack was irritable, so I didn't really want to talk to him. Lila was pretty quiet, but she's always like that. Lauren was arguing with Joy. I wasn't paying much attention to what was going on. The way back was boring, the hotel stay was boring, and the continuing drive after was boring. Out of my six friends, none of them would talk to me. My mom reluctantly came to pick me up when we got back. She didn't say much to me as we drove. When I got home, I just lay in my bed and stared at the ceiling, since I didn't feel like doing anything else.

Zack (1st person)

When I got to school, I walked home since my parents were watching Bryan. My dad's finally back, but to be honest, I'm not very excited to see him. Not that I ever really see him anyway. The only reason he seems to be here is for my mom, he doesn't care much about me and Bryan. I went inside, and my dad was just causally making out with my mom on the couch. I thought it was a bit gross, but I didn't say anything. My dad doesn't really feel like my dad. I went to my room and dropped off my bags, then I went to Bryan's room. "Bryan?" I asked, poking my head into his room. He was wrapped up in a blanket on his bed, and he looked sad and tired. "Zack?" He asked. "Bryan, are you alright?" I said. "My belly hurts..." he said. I went over to him. I uncovered him, then I lifted his shirt.

His stomach was bulging a bit, but the doctor had told us that was normal. I gently rested my hand on it, and it was a bit hard and firm. That was normal too. I touched his forehead. He didn't have a fever, but that made sense, since he was always cold. "Z-Zack, I haven't had any medicine," he said. "Mom and dad didn't do anything?" I asked. "No, she was in her bedroom. I couldn't find dad anywhere," he said. He didn't give me much information, but I could guess what they were doing. I felt bad for Bryan. Sure, he was extremely annoying before, but his lack of energy now was somewhat depressing. I gave him his medicine, then I went back to his room.

"Do you want to be alone or do you want company?" I asked. "I don't want you to leave, I've been alone all day..." he said. I had thought my parents were watching him, but I guess not. We went to my room instead. I managed to get Toddler Funtime on my phone, and we watched that. If I have to be tortured for three hours to make Bryan happy, then so be it.