» 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 «

C H A P T E R 21

"That guy..."

As soon as I got inside my house. I immediately slid down the door out of exhaustion when Royce suddenly came out of the basement with Kiel in his arms. "Welcome back." He said. Kiel started squirming in Royce's arms, making him let him down. Kiel was smiling as he walked in my direction while I remained seated on our doorstep. 'Kiel's coming towards me.' I squealed in my thoughts as I put my arms out, waiting for him to reach me. I hugged Kiel tight and looked over to Royce's direction, and saw him scratching the back of his head looking in a different direction.

"What would you like for dinner?" I asked him. He smiled at me and walked towards us when he saw Kiel looking behind for him.

"Pizza is fine. Let's just buy this baby some mac n' cheese." Royce said as he poked Ezekiel's nose, making Kiel giggle and grab Royce's finger. Royce smiled and I stood up from the ground with Kiel in my arms. I put out my phone and dialed the pizza place nearby. Once they answered the call, they immediately asked for our order. I told them and asked for a Mac n' cheese on the side, giving them our address soon after.

"Is that all, miss?" The man asked through the phone, making sure that all our orders were there. I hummed in response and hung up the phone. I went over to the living room and saw him sketching on the couch with the sketchbook that I bought him before walking towards his direction—I handed Kiel a maraca that he plays often.

"What are you drawing this time?" I asked. He didn't respond and continued to stroke the pencil onto the paper. I then noticed he was drawing a guy. I watched him draw while waiting for the pizza to arrive, letting Kiel play and crawl on the floor. The guy in his sketchbook was facing the window with no eyes whatsoever. It's just a guy with clothes looking outside with his hand against the window.

Kiel then stood up in front of Royce and got in between his legs, touching the sketchbook and interrupting Royce. Royce smiled and placed the sketchbook aside, making Kiel sit down on his lap. "Just... a classmate." He answered, his voice hinting that he was hesitating. I just shrugged it off and didn't bother asking him again.

"I see..." I muttered as I glanced at the sketchbook again before standing up. "Keep an eye on Kiel for me. I need to bring my bag to my room and fix my things." I told him as I left the living room and took the bag that I had left in the doorway, bringing it with me to my room. As soon as I closed my door, I immediately pulled out of my bag the book that I borrowed from our school library.

I sighed as I sat down. I then laid my head down on the desk and remembered the way Zenji's band performed awhile ago. I then received a text, it was from Heather. She sent me a picture of me staring at Zenji as they sang at the studio the other day, and texted me again saying. "Do you like Zenji!?" I stood up straight and was shocked by her text, making me reply in an instant.

"I don't. What made you think that?" Along with a confused emoji. That thought didn't even cross my mind. Zenji even asked me if I liked Clayden. 'Both of them are my friends!' I thought as I scratched my head, letting out a sigh. As I realized, how close the three of us were. I placed my palm on my forehead and groaned.

"So that's why those girls were giving me death glares." I muttered. Then I noticed Heather was typing, so I waited for her text. When the doorbell suddenly rang, I turned off my phone and ran downstairs to get it, knowing that it would be the pizza guy. I opened the door right away without looking through the peephole.

The guy wasn't wearing a uniform. He only had a cap on his head and a pizza box on his head. I glanced over behind him and saw the motorcycle of the same pizza place. It was odd. "Order for Rae... Raven Blythe." He corrected himself. His voice was kind of familiar. I groaned when I realized that it was Clayden.

"Cut it off, Clyde." I glared at him as he started laughing and removed the cap on his head. The actual pizza guy was actually behind the motorcycle fixing something and smiled at the two of us. I then grabbed the box of pizza in Clayden's hand and looked away from him.

"I'm sorry, okay?" He half-assed and continuously apologized to me as he returned the cap to the delivery guy, chuckling while walking back to our house.

"Why are you here anyway?" I asked.

"Mom called me when I got home, and she told me that she left home to meet Dad at the airport." He answered. I then opened the door wide enough for him to get inside as he walked towards the door. Clayden doesn't usually talk about his father, but when he does, he looks off.

"I see..." I muttered as he headed inside. I closed the door and followed him to the living room where Royce was. "Let's have dinner?" I tried to change the topic. Royce looked in our direction with a smile on his face, but when he saw Clayden, that smile on his face tuned into a frown.

"Why are you here?" Royce asked Clayden with a disgusted look on his face, asking the exact same thing that I asked Clayden earlier.

Clayden pouted and went over to Royce as Kiel got down the couch, approaching Clayden. "Can't I come here?" he asked as he hugged both Kiel and Royce at the same time while my brother was trying his best to get out of Clayden's arms. I chuckled while walking towards the center table, my eyes on them as I placed the pizza down on the table.

"Let go of me already!"

Once that fuss was over, Royce took two slices of pizza and headed straight to the basement, while he left Kiel in the high chair eating mac' n' cheese by himself. Clayden had already finished a slice of pizza and laid down on the couch as I ate my second slice of pizza while keeping an eye on Kiel from a distance.

Clayden then suddenly let out a yawn, making me glance in his direction and asked him. "Are you going to sleep?" He turned around to my direction and hummed in response, closing his eyes. 

"I did head to school as soon as I was done. I'm really exhausted."

I then heard Kiel let out a burp. I turned around in Ezekiel's direction and walked towards him with a smile on my face as I saw him yawn. The high chair was a mess, thanks to the bib that he was wearing, he wasn't dirty. 'He has cheese all over his mouth.' I chuckled as I put out my phone and took a picture of Kiel's face being messy, and sent the picture straight to Aunt Shelvie. I also wanted to take a picture, so I could show it to Kiel once he is old enough. As soon as I placed the phone back in my pocket, I carried Kiel in my arms and brought him to the guest room that we prepared for Kiel and Auntie to stay in, whenever they visit us.

As I laid Kiel down on the bed, he already had his eyes closed. I smiled as I placed his favorite stuff toy on the other side while I patted his tummy gently as I closed my eyes.

• • •

I opened my eyes slowly as I got up from bed. I saw a tall figure by the window, somehow it reminded me of the guy in Royce's sketchbook. That guy turned around and smiled at my direction. I felt a pang on my chest as I suddenly felt tears pour down my cheeks, I looked down and saw tear drops falling down my hands. 'That's odd.' I thought. I don't know who that guy was—He had Ash-brown hair and a masculine body, but his whole face was a blur to me. I rubbed my eyes to get a good look at him, but as I looked up. He wasn't there anymore.

I got up from bed in shock and I couldn't help but cry as I grabbed my hair, and frantically tried to remember that guy's face. 'I was dreaming.' I thought as I glanced at Kiel, who was sleeping soundly beside me. I then carried him and placed him inside a crib, and kneeled down on the floor while looking out at the window where I saw that guy.

To Be Continued. . .