Imperfect Life: Arc 4

Chapter 4

The next few days went over smoothly. Tomas explained what happened at Techno Corp. to Emma, while Emma explained accidentally turning herself into a werewolf to Tomas. Lunch at school no longer consisted of awkward side glances and word choices. Everything seemed to be going great.

It was now February 13th. Brandon was sitting in his room that night, relaxing on the couch. He was playing a video game on his portable system and listening to a movie in the background. School had gone over smoothly that day. Nothing particularly interesting had happened to him, though he did overhear a few people talking about Valentine's Day tomorrow, which-

"Hey, Brandon." Crys said cheerfully, interrupting the relative peace. "Whatcha up to?" She asked, leaning over the couch to look down at Brandon.

"Nothing much." Brandon replied.

"Mind if I join you?" Crys asked.

Brandon shrugged. "Sure." He said, not having any real emotion in his voice.

"You don't sound too happy about that." Crys commented with a cheeky grin.

"I'm just tired." Brandon replied. It was pretty late at night by now. He hadn't really come out of his room since he had gotten home earlier aside for dinner and the occasional snack or bathroom break.

Crys stayed where she was, leaning over the couch. "Something on your mind?" She asked, hearing in Brandon's tone that there was.

Brandon shook his head a bit, quiet.

"Oh. Okay then." Crys said, not really knowing where to go with this. She went quiet for a moment. "You know what tomorrow is?" She asked, changing the subject to what she had come here to talk about in the first place.

"Valentine's Day." Brandon remarked, unenthused.

Crys could hear Brandon's negative tone. "Mm-hmm!" Crys continued, hoping Brandon would cheer up a bit. Brandon didn't say anything in response though, leaving Crys in a bit of a tough spot. "You think we'll get a lot of chocolate?" She asked, deciding to save her real question for tomorrow.

"Maybe." Brandon said. "My parents might get something for us."

"Cool." Crys said without any discernible emotion in her tone. This was not going at all like she had hoped. Silence took hold for a second, which killed whatever remaining hope Crys had. She sighed. "Well, I think I'm going to go and get some sleep since we've got school tomorrow. Night Brandon."

"Night Crys." Brandon replied.

Crys left, going to sleep a bit disappointed while Brandon stayed up for a bit longer before going to sleep as well.

The next morning, Crys woke up feeling cheery, hoping that maybe now she could ask Brandon what she wanted to ask him last night. She got up out of bed and got ready for school. Next, she went downstairs to make herself a little breakfast before walking to school with Brandon. She started munching on her breakfast as Brandon sulked down the stairs.

"Morning." Crys said happily in between bites.

Brandon looked over at Crys. "Morning." He said. His tone wasn't angry or sad, it was just, quiet.

Crys picked up on Brandon's off tone. Maybe he just hadn't gotten decent sleep last night. "Want some toast?" She offered, holding up a slice of toast for Brandon.

Brandon shook his head. He walked over to the fridge and found something to eat.

Crys thought about saying something else, but she decided to just let Brandon be for now. Maybe he just needed to wake up some more.