PROJECT: NYNE

Chapter Two: Blaize [Finished]

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Chapter Two: Blaize

The bright television illuminated the dark living room. The curtains were all drawn except for ones that peered into the driveway on the side of the house. I was lying on my stomach in front of a grandfather clock, letting the pendulum drag me into some weak form of hypnosis. A recorded audience laughed at a joke on the TV. The minute hand on the clock announced the passing of another minute as it ticked.

5:47.

I looked up from the clock to check the window. No one. But there was snow. I counted the snowflakes as they fell.

One... two... three...

When were they going to get here? It was taking forever. I groaned and continued staring at the clock.

5:48.

Minutes went by so slowly when you were anticipating something. I decided to try to list words that started with the letter 'x'. My bangs fell into my face. I flicked my head to the side and they disappeared. My foot hit something on the floor. I rolled onto my back and turned around so my feet rested against the clock. Xylophone... xeriscaping... was that a word?

5:49.

An important-sounding voice on the television caught my attention. I tilted my head as far back as the floor would allow and looked. Mm. The screen was upside-down, but I could easily tell it was just some guy narrating a peacock documentary. So the remote was what my foot hit...

5:50.

They were twenty minutes late. Man, I hoped Celie was okay. Were they usually gone this long? I tracked the second hand with my eyes. Oh. Yeah, they probably were. Time seemed to go by faster when I went with. And when I was preoccupied.

5:51.

I sighed and checked the window again. Wait... was that... yes. I sat up straight and waved to my best friend through the window. Sky waved back as she stepped out of the car. Jodiah, her older brother, bent into the backseat to retrieve Celie, their younger sister. He picked her up and carried her around the house to the front door. I scrambled up quickly and opened it for them.

"How is she?" I asked urgently.

"She's fine," Sky replied quietly, looking down. She almost looked as if she felt guilty of something.

"Sky," I said her name, placing my hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "What's wrong?" I glanced over at Jodiah as he silently carried her up the stairs to her room. She was so pale, so skinny...

Sky looked at me, crestfallen. "We can't afford to treat her..."

"Why? How much does it cost?" Out of my peripheral vision, I spotted a male peacock fanning out his tail feathers impressively on the TV. "He only wants to get laid..." I mumbled.

"What?"

"What? Nothing. How much does it cost? I can help!"

Sky shook her head. "It's like $10,000 a month. I don't think you can help."

My jaw dropped. "You're kidding."

"I'm not," Sky retorted, shrugging my hand away and flopping onto the couch. She buried her face in her hands. "Ten thousand... a month..."

I looked around awkwardly. "Do... do you want me to stay here?"

She nodded. I leaned against the door and pulled out my phone to call my dad and tell him where I would be, but I stopped and slid my phone back in to my pocket. He didn't care where I was, just as long as I wasn't doing drugs or anything like that.