Rocco was the first one up, waking up at a crisp 05:30. He delicately made his way down to the ground, watching Astral and Damien carefully. Confirming that they were still resting, he turned his gaze to Strawberry. From the way her sheets were not yet overturned, he could tell that she'd just fallen asleep.
His mind recalled the pictures on the corkboard. He had said he hadn't looked at the pictures, but when he first looked at them, they seemed...familiar. Resting his knees at the side of Strawberry's bed, he carefully peeled the pictures off of the corkboard one by one. Rocco could tell by the age of the photo that they were fairly old. He tried to make out the silhouettes of the people in the pictures, but in the darkness of the room, he couldn't determine who he had seen in the photos that night.
Rocco made his way as quietly as he could through the chutes, hoping the noise of air blasting through them wasn't enough to awaken his friends. Slowly, he made his way back to the cabin.
As he cracked open the door, he could hear the TV running.
"Ah, Rocco?" Damien mumbled, wiping his eyes.
"OH GOD-" Rocco started, jumping. "I thought you were in your bed!"
"Heh, you fell for the doll," he giggled, stretching his abdomen out.
"Seems so," Rocco sighed, making his way to the bed.
"Want some spare noodles or something?" Damien asked, standing up from the couch.
"That'd be nice," he answered, resting the photos on the bed. Rocco stared up at the wall full of pictures of more people. As tap water ran into the cup, Rocco held up pictures of similar people together, trying to find some similarity.
"Whatcha tryna do?" Damien peeked, a microwave whirring nearby.
"I found these photos on Strawberry's corkboard," Rocco grumbled in reply.
"Woah, woah, you took Strawberry's pictures?"
"Yeah, what it to ya?"
"Dude! That's her shit! You can't just take it, man. What if it's important to her?"
"Listen, Damien. These photos got something in them that's bothering me. It won't leave my mind alone."
"You gonna return them when you're done?"
"Maybe."
"The hell you mean maybe? Damn, I betcha 10 discs she wakes up to a mental breakdown in the morning when she finds those missing."
"Geez, okay! I'll give them back when I'm done, just quit being the big spender you are." Rocco rested a picture of a sweet-looking brown-haired white girl by a photo with a person of the same qualities. He scanned their posture deeply, checking their clothing for discrepancies.
The picture fell from his loosened hands. "Rocco?" Damien worried, grabbing the noodle cup.
"Cecelia."
The cup of noodles was lucky that it was on the table, giving it some room before the spill got to Damien's body. "What?"
"Strawberry has a picture of Cecelia."
"You mean the second girl you crushed on before-"
"YES, HER, GODDAMMIT!"
Jumping onto the mattress, Damien grasped the photo Rocco dropped and consulted a comparison.
"Don't you see it? Don't you see her, Damien?" Rocco gasped, a slight grin washing over his face.
"That...is Cecelia. Wow...," Damien's jaw dropped.
"Maybe she has some pictures here of Molly!" Rocco cried out, his face breaking into a manic smile. "M-Maybe even...maybe she has pictures of Nana too!" He broke out into tears and sobs.
Damien wrapped his arms around Rocco, providing him with as much sheltering comfort as he could.
"G-Goddammit... Nana," he whimpered, wetting Damien's arm with tears.
"Shh...It's okay, man..."
"I...I have to...I gotta find out...I gotta figure this out..." Rocco muttered out, covering his eyes as if to hold his tears.
"I'll find you...Nana..."
YOU ARE READING
An Itsy Bitsy Strawberry
Teen FictionStrawberry has always been on the run with her friend Driver, running a store all the while. However, when someone strips her away from this "normal" life of hers, she has to learn to adapt to the place, including learning skills such as talking to...
