Riddle Middle Two

Chapter 28: The Pressure

3rd person

Phil woke up in the morning with Bagel curled up next to him. Phil stroked Bagel, who didn't move and continued snoring. Phil checked his alarm clock. It was almost eight in the morning on a Monday. He got up, stretched, and yawned. Bagel jumped down and walked to Phil's bedroom door. Phil opened it for him. He closed it again and got dressed. When Phil got downstairs, it was around eight fifteen. Lila was watching a surgery show. Phil decided it was better not to complain this time. He ate some cereal in the dining room, making sure not to even glance at the Tv.

Phil noticed that every five minutes, Lila would ask what time it was and when they were going to leave for school. "Are you alright, Lila? What's going on? Why do you want to leave so bad?" Phil asked, concerned for his sister. "I'm fine. I just want to see 5 again," she said. "Really? 5? Why?" Phil asked. Lila shrugged. "What about Pico?" He asked. Lila's face turned pale. "Thanks, Phil, I almost forgot about him..." she said. Phil couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not, but he assumed she was. Lila's stomach grumbled. Phil noticed it was louder than usual. Lila sighed. She stood up and walked to the bathroom. Ten minutes later, she came back. "Are you okay?" Phil asked. "I want to stay home..." Lila whined.

"But you were so excited to leave. What happened?" Phil asked. "M- My stomach hurts... I feel like I'm gonna throw up..." she said. "Did you?" Phil asked. He wanted to make sure his sister was okay before they left. "No... I just..." she said. "Well, if you're gonna go, we should probably leave soon," Phil said. "Okay..." Lila said. Phil held Lila's hand and walked outside with her. It was raining hard that day, so Phil grabbed two umbrellas. He gave one to Lila. He saw Phred, Zack, and Smiley, walking further down the sidewalk. "Do you want to walk with us or no?" Phil asked.

"I'll pass," she said. "Okay," Phil said. He ran to catch up with his friends while Lila went the other way, back up the street, to 5. 5 looked incredibly lonely. His eyes brightened when he saw Lila. "Hey, Lila," he said. "Hello," she said. 5 wiped his eyes. He hoped Lila would assume his eyes were only wet because of the rain. "Are you okay? Your eyes look red," Lila said. "Oh, they- they do? Um..." 5 said. "You haven't been crying, have you?" Lila asked. 5 started at the ground, embarrassed. How could he, an eighth grader, show that he's been crying around a seventh grader? He shrugged it off, thinking to himself that they didn't have to much of an age gap and it didn't really matter.

"You know you can talk to me, right?" Lila asked. "Yeah... I just... My grades aren't that great. Last night, my mom, she... I... I got in trouble last night... Now I can't focus on anything," 5 said. "Oh," Lila said. She didn't think it would make any sense to ask him exactly what had happened, since he already looked like he was about to cry. 5 let out a heavy sigh. "We only just started the school year. I'm sure you can turn your grades around," Lila said, wanting to make 5 feel better. "That doesn't change what happened last night..." he said, wiping his face with his sleeve.

Lila looked up at 5. He had to be at least 5'9". Sure, Pico was still taller, but 5 was also muscular. 5 whimpered. Lila didn't know how to make 5 feel better. She wasn't used to doing so. 5 and Lila walked in silence. The rain made it almost impossible to hear, so there was no point in making conversation. Lila looked closer at his face and noticed the dark circles under his eyes. Once they'd gotten to school, they took shelter under a huge tree where the walkers tended to gather. 5 leaned against the tree and closed his eyes. When the bell rang, he jumped and nearly fell.

"5, are you okay?" Lila asked. 5 didn't reply. He turned and walked away from Lila, making his way through the crowd of people and towards the main entrance of the school. Lila sighed. At lunch, 5 sat in his usual seat. Alone. 5 didn't mind being alone; it gave him time to think. 5 thought about who he was before. One of the most popular people in seventh grade. A jerk. Joy's boyfriend. Joy's slave. Now that he wasn't associated with Joy, who was he? He looked in front of him and saw Joy, sitting at the table in front of him. She was sitting with two of her friends. Joy turned around. "What are you looking at?" She asked.