Mafia: Neo Zone ► Lucas Wong ◄

Chapter 5 - Another World ✔

By the time I reached my room, I realized I hadn't eaten anything, but there was no way I was going back downstairs anytime soon, because as far as I was concerned, I was going to remain in my room for the rest of eternity to avoid facing the problems I'd made by agreeing to go with Lucas in the first place. It was after noon anyway, so there wasn't much time left to the day. I could survive without eating. I made the resolve, but Heidi had other plans.

I couldn't have sat in my bed in a ball of misery for more than a couple hours before someone tapped lightly on my door. She slid into the room almost before I had the chance to look up at the sound. Clutching her laptop in one hand and a large, fuzzy blanket—a corner of which was dragging on the floor—in the other, she regarded me with a smirk.

"I come bearing gifts—and I'm not just talking about my amazing personality and good looks." She wriggled her eyebrows, tossing the blanket onto my bed to reveal the snacks she had brought. "We didn't quite finish our show, and I'm tired of hanging out with the guys." She tossed me a bag of chips. "Lemme get the ramen."

She was gone before I had the chance to fully register what was going on. I'd planned to distance myself from everyone here, but it didn't appear they were going to make that easy on me. Besides, would it really hurt to just hang out for a little longer? I could simply shut off the part of my brain that was building the bond between us, right?

"I brought kimchi, too~" Heidi interrupted my train of thought, bearing two steaming bowls of ramen. "I'm finished picking all the clothes, so now we just have to wait for them to bring them over to try on." She kicked the door shut.

Handing me one of the bowls, she climbed onto the bed and began setting up the laptop. Once she pushed play on our show, I forgot I was supposed to be distancing myself from her to save myself pain later, and when I looked up, it was already dark outside. Heidi left before midnight, and I was left on my own. I remained awake for what felt like an eternity, but at some point, I managed to fall asleep.

Somehow, I slept through the night, but when I woke, I felt no more rested than I had been the night before—rather, the few hours of sleep seemed to have the opposite effect on me, making me feel more drained. Unsure what else to do, I got out of bed and kept myself busy in my room for a time until the necessity of nourishment finally kicked in, and I couldn't push off my need for a drink any longer. When I got downstairs, there was no one to be seen.

I got my drink, but the house remained utterly silent, so I wandered around as quietly as possible. As much as I wanted to avoid seeing anyone, I'd gotten used to having a companion without realizing it. Finally, after my searching produced no fruit, I grabbed some food from the pantry and retreated back to my room. Uncertain what possessed me to do so, I left my door open, and despite my best efforts, I listened intently for any sound that might indicate someone else was in the house.

The day passed in long, excruciating increments until I was close to losing my mind from boredom. Due to lack of any other, more entertaining activities, I went to bed early, but, exhausted as I was from my lack of sleep the night before, I only slept fitfully at best—probably in large part because I was still waiting for any hint that I was no longer on my own. But no one came.

I must have finally drifted off into deeper sleep in the early hours of the morning, for the next thing I knew, a loud knocking on my door brought me back into the conscious world. I sat quickly upright at the noise, but as had become her custom, Heidi opened the door and poked her head inside before I had the chance to answer.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty! We've got a long day ahead of us." She grinned. "Get some clothes on—and make sure they're semi-decent, cause the boys are here—and hurry downstairs for lunch." And then she was gone.