Drawn To You (boyxboy)

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Peter

I woke up with a splitting headache.

I pressed my palms against my bed, pushing myself up as I opened my eyes. I looked down. The blanket lay rolled up neatly at the bottom edge. The bedcover had not been moved, either. I frowned. Why would I sleep on top of the bedding in this kind of weather?

I shook my head, questioning what had altered my state of mind the night before. I swung my feet off the bed and placed them on the floor, and as I did, I reflexively pulled them away in response to the cold tiles. But after a second, I realized they weren't all that cold. Come to think of it, I wasn't really feeling cold in general.

I stood up from the bed, staring blankly at my slippers for a few moments, and then walked off to the closet. I grabbed my towel and shut the door, as usual, and I was about to go to the shower, before I felt a sting around my neck. I pawed at it, and felt the links of a chain. I looked down, and groaned as I saw the amber-colored stone at the end.

There had to be something messed up about ending up with Christian's necklace twice in a row. I tried to recall how it had even happened this time. After a few ticks of worsening my headache, I realized that the events of my day that happened after leaving Kayla's house were non-existent.

I picked up the end of the pendant. The same stinging that was on my neck was on my fingers. It wasn't necessarily painful, but it was enough to make it impossible not to notice. I wondered what about it made that feeling, but as I prepared to figure it out, I smelled something. Something that was really bad.

I turned back into my room and looked around. There weren't any dirty dishes or clothes lying about. It was relatively clean, so it couldn't be stuffed away somewhere. I rarely ever brought up food up to my room, in any case, so it wouldn't make any sense for the smell to be coming from there. I sniffed a little bit. Yes, it was definitely coming from outside the room.

I dropped my towel and walked out into the corridor. I fixed my eyes on Pam's door. He'd definitely still be asleep. I quickly walked towards it and stopped, placing my face near the door. My nose wrinkled. There was definitely a wide variety of odors coming from inside, but not the one I was looking for.

It was weird. I'd actually expected it to be from Payton; a pile of dirty laundry in the corner of the room, maybe. I stepped away from the door and made a turn, heading downstairs. I shook my head in confusion. How far away was the source of this odor? And how on earth could I smell it from such a distance?

I walked into the kitchen, where my mother was standing before a pan, drizzling in some batter. A plate of beautiful, golden pancakes sat beside it. She looked up and smiled. "Oh, morning Peter."

"Hi," I mumbled distractedly, reaching for the cupboard closest to me. I opened it, scouring the inside quickly before closing it and moving on to the next one. I checked both the top and bottom row, and the fridge and microwave for good measure. There was nothing spoilt there.

My mother watched me with careful consideration, but it took only a few seconds to deplete her patience. "Honey, what are you looking for?"

"You don't smell that?" I responded as I opened the food processor, and the blender, inspecting every inch. "Something's gone off."

She took in a breath. "I don't smell a thing," she said, shaking her head. I frowned. If I had been able to smell it from my room, surely she should have been able to catch it down here.

I stopped, sniffing the air again. I turned around and walked to the cupboard beside the oven, where the bread tin was. I opened it, and there was a loaf and a half of bread. I picked up the full loaf, and underneath was a crust, already white and green with mold.