Orphic

Spring six 2/2 - Elliot

I was beyond tired, wishing I'd been able to sleep a little while longer, rather than the five minutes that I got. The sound of the rain would've knocked me out if it weren't for the thunder and the way the wind was making the old community center creek. I was pretty sure Cass had smoked every cigarette he had on him and even he was beginning to pace as the wind picked up.

"My parents are probably freaking out." Abigail muttered. She was sitting next to me, our backs pressed to the wall that had begun to heat up after the fire started.

"They know you're smart. I'm sure they're trusting you right now." Leah gave a small smile that wasn't at all encouraging before returning to pick at the skin around her nails. If I wasn't already terrified, I would've tried to comfort her. That, and I knew how Leah acted when she was on edge.

Abigail considered her words and sighed, "I just hope they don't go looking for me."

I silently agreed with her. I've noticed that parents tend to do whatever it takes for their kids, even my father, who I haven't spoken to in months, still sends me money once a month. It's insulting that he still doesn't think my books are making me any money but it's also sweet that he's looking out for me.

Cass continued pacing but tugged his phone out of his pocket. "Do you have a signal?" I asked.

He was still soaked and probably freezing, he refused to sit by the fire, even for a few minutes.

"Barely." He replied, holding the phone to his ear anyways.

He tried multiple times but either never got a reply or the signal wasn't strong enough.

Finally, he let out a few colorful words and shoved his phone back into his pocket. Leah rolled her eyes and gave us a look.

I forced myself to ignore her and stood to talk to the other boy.

"Who are you trying to call? Your parents?" I asked. He paused and turned towards me, a smile appearing on his face, "god no." He replied.  He almost returned to his pacing but I quickly grabbed his arm.

He glanced back at me, his expression completely blank. "Come sit."

He didn't budge.

"Please, Cass."

His expression changed, it was the same look he'd had when he was on the phone the other night. When he'd been talking to god knows who and told them to beg. When my heart accidentally flew into my throat because he'd surprised me yet again.

It disappeared as quickly as it had come and he motioned for me to lead the way.

I brought him in front of the fire, hoping it would help him dry faster and I did my best to keep Leah as far away from us as possible. I was way too tired to deal with any more arguments.

"How's the farm look?" Abby asked, joining us.

Cass didn't even look at her and shrugged, "I haven't done much."

She seemed content with his answer and he didn't offer any more information.

"Hey, farm boy, we're not gonna have a fire much longer unless you have more wood." Leah called out, interrupting our not so exciting conversation.

Cass glanced up at the fire and hummed, seemingly agreeing with her, he stood and grabbed his bag and then his ax from the floor.

"Wow, wait, where are you going?" I called out, catching up to him just as he reached the front door.

"Too get wood." He replied, pulling the door open. I could see that the storm had gotten much worse. He wouldn't be able to see two feet in front of him let alone chop down a tree.

He continued and before I'd fully processed what I was doing, I followed him out the door.

He turned towards me, his hair blowing all over the place and an annoyed look on his face.

"Go back inside Elliot." He sighed.

I almost listened, because I was freezing, but I stood my ground.

"You're half asleep. Your body is done, go back by the fire. I'm not taking care of you when you get sick." He warned me before turning and heading away from the community center.

He only made it a few feet before I couldn't see him anymore, forcing me to keep moving before I got lost in the rain. He stopped at the first small set of bushes he found and chopped them down, carefully grabbing as many twigs as possible and finding quite a few more than I had expected.

When he looked back up at me I was shivering, standing still had only made the cold feel worse. I probably should've listened.

He tugged open his backpack and started filling it with the small twigs, the wouldn't last long but hopefully the storm was almost over.

By the time he threw his bag back over his shoulder and was ready to go back, I felt like death and struggled to follow.

~

Leah scolded me for going outside and silently accepted Cass's jacket to help warm me up. Abby slowly added sticks to the fire and Cass lit another cigarette that appeared out of nowhere while I sat as close as I could to the heat without burning my skin off.

Cass had been more than right, the lack of sleep meant my body was far too tired to fight off the cold and the wind combined with the rain didn't help. I wasn't surprised that he didn't seem too bothered by my condition, I was however, surprised that he'd noticed how tired I was.

After I finally started to warm up, I let myself fall onto my side, and switched to using Cass' jacket as a blanket. I let myself drift off trying not to think about what Leah would say and silently giving Cass permission to hit her if she tried to wake me up.

That's how tired I was.

~

"Hey, let's go, the storm is over." Cass' breath tickled my neck as he whispered into my ear, just loud enough to wake me.

He was leaning over me, his hair had mostly dried and it had been pulled back into a half pony.

I forced myself to sit up and glanced around the room. "Where did the girls go?"

He shrugged, "home to check on things I guess. They left a few hours ago."

I glanced at the window, surprised to see that it was dark out.

"How long was I asleep for? Why didn't you wake me up?"

He stood up and ignored my questions.

"Come on, you can sleep at the farm, it's already midnight."