Geff and Jerald

Off Track

"Who would buy it?!!? Do you know who bought that hat?"

The guy starts to think. "I don't remember the face, but he says that his hat was all messed up. He kept on saying that an old man should at the least have some good look."

"So it's an old man?"

"Hey, you said it, pal. Not me."

It's an old man. What old man did I know of? I couldn't think anything because I was hungry. "What types of candy do you got?" He takes out a bin and spills it out. We buy a whole bunch of candy. "C'mon, let's go out. We have to investigate this." Gabe reluctantly agreed and came along with us. His phone buzzed in his pocket. "What the— who's calling me at this hour? Hold on. You guys go outside. I'll catch up in a minute.

Gabe POV
"Argh. It's Jane again." I pick up. "Where are you? I was trying to take you with me to the party, but for some reason, you weren't answering!"

"Why did you even call me? You could've just told me in person."

"Well, maybe you weren't in your room, and there was a rope of clothes hanging out the window!"

"Cool off, there. You wanna know something really funny?"

"What could possibly make me laugh right now?"

"I like the orange dress you're wearing."

"I thank you, but—wait, what?" I tap her on the shoulder. "How did you know I was here?"

"Not how, cuz. Who. Geff and the guys met up here so we could grab one of his things back."

"What did he want back?"

"I uh, can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because he probably wouldn't wanna explain the whole thing from the mission—"

"What mission?"

"To the whole corn guy thing. It's too complicated. Anyway see ya J. I gotta go bye!" She grabbed me by the collar. "You're gonna explain all of this to me, Gabriel. And now." I grumble in discomfort.

Geff POV

I was taking a sip from my Dr. Pepper when somebody came out of the the double doors. It was Gabe. "It's about time," I tell him. "It's been an eternity since you left!" Gabe grumbled in frustration. "It's a really long story. Apparently, Jane says that one of us didn't explain the hat situation to her." He was looking at me when he said that final word. "So I anonymously told her about the mission and your hat. I didn't say it directly, but at least she let me off, at least. But another bad thing."

"What now?"

"I have to wait to get my information papers from the basement because I have to wait for Jane to come with me." I smack my forehead. "We need those papers. I can't do them on weekdays, because school piles mountain of homework on me. We need them now." Gabe tried to think of a solution, but nothing came out. "Hey, I can walk Jane home. You can go grab your stuff. I can take care of her. Jerald, you can go home if you want. Or you can stay with me—"

"I'll go home." He leaves. T.J follows along him, since he lives down the road at the intersection. "And hey, Gabe? I want those orange clothes back in my house tomorrow." Gabe nods in agreement. With that, he runs into the darkness to catch up with Jerald. That only left me and Gabe. "I'll grab the papers and sort them out. We can talk about the rest tomorrow. Sounds good?"

"Sure. If Jane asks me where you are, what do I tell her?"

"Tell her we already finished business. I don't like to dance. I have horrible coordination." He waves and walks down the dirt path opposing the road to my house. Minutes later I had to go to the bathroom. Like, bad. I didn't want Jane to find nobody outside, but I also didn't want to pee my pants. Searching for choices, I skitter towards a nearby bush and do my business. I zip up my fly and rush towards the school wall. A single rotting wooden bench stood next to the door. I lay down, waiting. Eventually I lose track of time and fall asleep.

"Hey." I shoot up like a rocket. "Who!" Jane was there. "What are you doing out here alone? And can you explain to me where is Gabe?"

"He already finished his business. He says he can't dance because he has horrible coordination."

"He did his business? So he only came here to eat all the snacks and go to the bathroom?"

"No, you don't understand. We wanted to get something from here, but we already did so, even though the original object we wanted was out of stock. So now we're here. Gabe needed to take care of important matters. I stayed here because I'm guessing you didn't want to walk home alone."

"That is sweet of you, but I will not tolerate Gabe's behavior. Next time, I'll make him stay instead of letting him loose. One time I let him off. Worst ten minutes of my life." She walks to the same path Gabe took. "If I see him on this path, I swear—"

"I know a shortcut. Over here." I lead her to a patch of tall grass. "I can't go here. You're wearing pants, but I'm wearing a dress. The tall grass makes my legs itchy." I went in. "Suit yourself. I'll go home later. Might as well go with Gabe and get the things." I hear a distant groan. "Fine. But if I constantly have to stop to scratch myself, you can only blame yourself." She walks by me. "Hey, what is Gabe up to?"

"Hey, just because he doesn't want to tell you doesn't mean I'm gonna tell you."

"I'm curious."

"Well, I'm not stupid."

We arrive ten minutes later. She goes inside and says goodbye. I was about to leave until I hear a loud banging noise in the background. It came from Gabe and Jane's house. I slowly look around the house walls. In the back, I find out there's a single window on the top floor that had the lights on. The window boards were loose, and they were violently swinging around like crazy. "Maybe it's Gabe," I say to myself. The board swing faster as the wind picks up speed. "Say, I don't remember that room..." I picture the inside of the house in my head. Gabe's room, bathroom, attic, closet, no! There's not entrance to that room, or at least one that I know of. My head was filled with curiosity. It's hard to think I was judging Jane on being curious when right now I'm the same. But I had to know what business was going on in that window.

There was no way up. The ladder was locked up in the shed. I was thinking of entering through the front until something gleamed in the moonlight. It was a shiny water spout. Every time the boards came into contact with the spout, it rattled and made the banging sound. Standing right next to the halfway mark, was the window. There was many metal squares on it. I could use them as grip. I took my chances and decided to wait. After what felt like forever, the lights in the hidden room finally came off. I heard a door close. The wind was still blowing, but not as fast as a few minutes ago. Now was my chance. I put one foot on the metal square. My opposite hand grabbed the other metal square. One. I was almost one-fourth up the pipe. Not very far, but it's progress. Another foot. I move my right hand up to the third square and my left hand to the fourth square. I repeat this pattern to the top. "Nearly...almost...there!" I whisper to myself.

But the pipe comes loose. Soon, it started to dislodge off its original place on the wall. The sound when it hit the ground was beyond loud. I was holding onto the window sill. The side was inches away from my reach, and my fingers were frozen solid. I hear a click. Then some heavy footsteps. I say nothing as the disturbing sound of the front door opening rings into my brain. I look around, panicking where the person was coming from. A light flashed on the left area of the house. The steps became more clear by the second. I clutch the inside of the window sill and hoist one foot up. Thump. My sore arm gets a grip on the inside wall. Thump. My other leg goes up, only to stop. C'mon, leg! Don't give up on me now! I shake it like my life depended on it. The person bends down to inspect the now broken water spout. Almost about to look up, my leg springs to life just in time for me to dive in. And I did it all while being stealthy. I might've spoke too soon, though. I had no control over my cold body. I tumble into the room in an awkward position, causing me to roll over to an old coat rack. I crash into it and it wobbles side to side. The jackets fall off, sprinkling tons of blinding dust in my face. I take off the coats, but when I get to sneak a glimpse of the room, the coat rack falls over, right towards my groin. Before I could say anything, everything went black.