troubled souls ~ Steve Harrington

*six*

By the time Barb usually pick us up, Dustin has lost his backpack. 

Again.

I try to help him look for it, but an anxious Mews darts around my feet, anticipating his breakfast. 

"Did you check under your bed?" I shout as I scoop Meow Mix out and toss it into the cat bowl. Several pieces scatter across the floor with an echo, but Mews doesn't mind a bit. 

Dustin pants into the room, throwing up his arms in defeat, "Yes. I looked everywhere!"

He begins to plop down in his designated seat at the kitchen table, but quickly jumps back up. "Oh, you've gotta be shitting me."

He pulls his backpack off the chair and holds it up with a tremendous eye roll.

My lips are pursed together in an attempt to hide my amusement. "You looked everywhere, huh?"

"Shut up."

The two of us settle down to wait in the living room where a Bonanza rerun plays in the background. Mom still softly snores, her mouth gaped open.

Barb usually honks her horn twice to let us know she's there, but we wait for several minutes and I never hear it. 

Dustin and I alternate look out the window, worried that maybe we missed her. But she never comes.

"Did anyone call this morning while I was in the shower?" I whisper to Dustin. 

Maybe Barb called to let us know she would be late but we were just too busy and missed it. 

Dustin thinks a moment, then shakes his head apprehensively, "I don't think so."

"Let me know if she get's here," I request as I get up from our recliner. "I'm just gonna go call her house."

On autopilot, I dial her number and lean against the wall. It rings over and over, but no one answers, not even her mom. 

I hang up the receiver to its rightful place, I walk back to the living room to bear the bad news. 

"Maybe we should just play it safe and bike." I tell Dustin. "She didn't answer."

"If we wanted to bike, we should have left 10 minutes ago," He hisses, "I have a science test today. And I cannot be late."

"Well, we better get pedaling. I'm not waking mom up for this."

He considers the idea for a minute and his head in agreement. "Yeah, she wouldn't be happy."

By the time we get to the school, my lungs are on fire. I only have a few minutes before the bell rings, and I still needed to grab my textbooks.

I speed walk to my locker, I almost miss Nancy at her own.

"Hey!" She waves. She catches on quickly and hustles to catch up with me. 

"Why are you so late? Last night... well, I have so much to tell you guys."

"Barb didn't come this morning," I utter breathlessly. "Dustin and I had to bike here, like, super fast, and I feel like my lungs are going to explode."

She furrows her eyebrows. "Barb didn't pick you up? That's weird."

"That's what I was thinking," I confess. "I tried calling their house, but nobody answered. Did she take you home last night?"

"What? No, she went home. Right after you did."

I've tried my locker code five times now, but my brain is too distracted to fully focus on it.