space adventures and invisible girls.

chapter two.

The second I entered in the URL, my phone threw a hissy fit and was reluctant to do just about anything. I refreshed and tried again. I had to see if it had anything to do with the Other Kids. I had to see if it had anything to do with Celine. I knew I already used up all my data, but I was usually able to go over it with the sketchy plan I had.  Nothing happened. Figures.

The trees were starting to mumble around me, murmuring in a way that seemed like they were contemplating methods of killing me. My tired bones and brooding blood would make pretty decent nutrition for murderous trees, I mused as I got up and eventually left the ledge.

I never wanted to go back there. To the ledge at the end of the park. To that stupid spot of cheap nostalgia I never bought in the first place. I've had enough of Boone, the way he bathed in attention at any chance he got. Those kind of people disgusted me. They were like celebrities in the making, desperate and fake and trying to clamber to the top of some unfathomable pyramid.

I distantly told myself that I could still go back to school, be present for my last classes. My conscience isn't loud, but it's always there, no matter how often I've ditched class. I wondered if everyone's was like that.

However, on this particular day, I did not return for two reasons: a) I didn't want to run into Boone again, and b) I needed to get onto that site.

I took a pathway that twisted along the backyards of my neighbour's houses. I always looked in them. I don't know if that's a social faux-pas thing to do, peek into your neighbours' backyard whenever you pass them, but I do it anyways. God, though, do I hate it when they have dogs.

It was still scorching hot in the blinding white light of the sun, but in the shady cover of the trees, it wasn't so bad. Tipsy shadows slipped over my skin, covered my eyes.

My mom's car wasn't in the driveway, which was usual for that time of day. She didn't come home from work until 6:00.

I hooked the tips of my shoes into the fence, awkwardly climbing over it. I strolled through the garden of dead flowers and rotting veggies. Plants curled up in crusty brown curls of death, decorating the backyard for a Halloween bash. We even had a dead tree all shrivelled up and naked under the blinding sun. The yard was like that when we moved in, but obviously no one had enough of a green thumb to do actually make it look okay. The state of ugliness and death was only made more apparent by the surrounding backyards bursting with colour, as though the whole block were preparing for a flower parade. Mom was embarrassed by it sometimes. In the summer, she reads all these gardening tips.

The key to the house was kept hidden under a brick beside the porch steps, because I always lost mine and was tired of locking myself out of the house. This happened one time in the winter, and I decided to huddle up on the patio furniture while I waited for my mom to come home. I fell asleep and my mom called my phone a million times, freaking out and wondering where I was when I was really just in the backyard. I got moderate hypothermia from this event, which Frankie thought was hilarious when I told her.

When I unlocked the back door and slipped inside, I felt as though I had entered into the heavens. Chilly air curled around me like an icy friend.

I tossed my backpack and kicked off my shoes, fighting the urge to collapse on the floor and sleep for a few years. You never truly appreciate air conditioning until you're outside for a few hours. Outside kind of sucks.

I raided the kitchen until I found some leftover pizza wrapped up in the fridge. I popped it into the microwave and crossed my arms as I waited for it to heat up. I plucked a few askew hairs on my forearms.