Remember Sunny Days

3

"And he totally ignored us!" Kel whined in between bites.

"I know that you're torn up about it, but could you try to chew with your mouth closed?" Marla Thompson asked, gently wiping her face with a napkin. "I'm sure he'll come back around, considering he let you guys sign his cast."

"I'm honestly surprised he did," Hero admitted as he poked his head in from the kitchen, "considering how he's drawing back from everyone. If I'm not mistaken, didn't you say you had to chase him down a hall to even get him to agree to that?"

"Well, yeah. He didn't seem upset that we did it though!" Kel said, refusing to let the situation get him down.

"Well, just keep checking on him. Your father and I are going over to check on Charlotte later, so keep Sally company while we do," their mom said, getting up and pushing in her chair. Kel looked at his little sister who was playing with some cheerios in her high chair, occasionally looking up and smiling. Kel returned the smile and made silly faces at her, getting her to squeal in delight.

"Oh. Before I forget to ask, will you be coming with me and Basil tomorrow?" Hero asked, pulling out a chair at the table to sit down across from Kel.

"You guys are going somewhere?"

"Oh, I thought you knew. Basil wanted to visit Mari, but his grandmother wouldn't allow him to go alone. It's a pretty big building."

"Oh, sure then! It isn't my day to check on Sunny, so I won't have much else to do once I pretend to answer all my homework," Kel cheered, letting himself lean back in the chair, eyeing his empty plate with content.

"You mean after you properly finish your homework?" Hero rose an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah. That." Kel laughed nervously. He didn't want to admit that he was planning to climb over the backyard fence to throw rocks at Sunny's window to get his attention, especially since he didn't think to ask for help from the others with it.

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Crickets chirped as Kel threw himself over the fence, grunting as he struggled to make it over without tearing his clothes. He fell on his hands, but quickly scrambled back up to his feet, his eyes trained on Sunny's window. The curtains obscured his view into the room, but he figured the noise would be enough to get Sunny's attention. He scrounged around the backyard, finding decent sized rocks and putting them into a pile. Aubrey came up behind him, picking up a couple of the rocks.

"What... what are you doing?" She asked. He turned quickly with a scream rising to his lips before he saw her curious face inspecting his work.

"Jesus, Aubrey! First Hero, now you-" He started before stopping himself, shaking his head. "I figured I'd still try to make contact with him. If I throw enough rocks and I'm loud enough, maybe he'll open his window!" He watched Aubrey's face fall flat as he explained.

"That's a stupid idea," she said, turning around and examining the ground closely. She quickly picked up some pebbles before placing them on his pile despite her words. He laughed as he saw her face start to flush lightly, but chose not to comment on it. After a while, they'd created a decent sized pile.

"That should do it!" Kel smiled, holding out his hand for a high five from Aubrey. She looked away as she slowly rose her hand to his, tapping it lightly. Kel picked up a few of the rocks before hurling them up to the glass.

"HEY, SUNNY! Open your window!" Kel yelled carelessly before Aubrey smacked him on the head. The window didn't open from the initial noise, so Kel went back to picking up more assorted rocks as Aubrey followed his lead. They pelted the window repeatedly until the curtains shuffled around lightly. For a moment, Aubrey thought she saw Sunny's curious eye peeking from between the pieces of fabric. She held Kel's arm as she bounced around.