Wings

Could You Help Me With That?

I sighed sadly as I just sat there, staring up at the blank white ceiling of my bedroom. I didn't know what had gotten me into such a foul mood today, but it probably had to do with the fact that I hadn't slept good again. I frowned and turned over, reaching for my radio. I flipped it on and pressed play on the CD that was inserted. I smiled as I heard my favorite song come on.

When I was a young boy,
my father took me into the city.
to see a marching band.

He said 'Son when you grow up,
will you be the savior of
the broken,
the beaten
and the damned?'

He said 'Will you defeat them,
your demons and all the non-believers
And the plans that they have made.

Because one day, I'll leave you
a phantom to lead you Summer
To join the Black Parade!

I smiled to myself as the rest of the song played. This was the kind of music that got me into a better mood. Well... Music in general got me into a better mood. I carefully sat up and leaned toward the wall. My cell phone was plugged in there. I gingerly picked up the sleek phone and held it in my hands. I was debating whether or not to text Chris and see if he wanted to come over. I thought for a moment more, when suddenly, my phone vibrated in my hands, signalling a text. I quickly put in my passcode, opened my texts and saw that it was Chris! I frowned and I opened his text.

Chris: Hey Isabelle. Wanna come hang at my place?

I quickly typed out the first question that came to my mind.

Me: Is your brother going to be there?

There was a moment as I waited for Chris to reply.

Chris: No. I made sure he's not staying here. Hopefully he'll be out of town soon.

I sighed and quickly texted back.

Me: Yeah. What's your address?

After a while, we finally got it to where I knew exactly where I needed to take a taxi to. I wrote the address down and stuffed it into my pocket. I went to my closet and pulled a black and white flannel shirt over my tanktop. I turned and grabbed my satchel bag off of my desk, hurrying toward the door. I entered to hallway and walked past my sister's room, my parent's room and into the living room. I looked around the empty penthouse. Everybody was gone. I frowned and went toward the elevator.

The cab smelled like someone had thrown up their throw up. It was gross. I pressed against the door, trying to keep my nose outside the window. I had handed the driver the address and he had taken it in his greasy hands. I bit my lip as we turned onto the street that was lined with suburbia houses. I watched as we passed identical house after identical house. The cab drove along at a gentle pace and we turned another corner. The cab slowly came to a stop in front of a house. It wasn't different than the other houses.

"Alright kid, get outta my car." The disgusting man ordered.

You don't have to tell me twice.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a 50 dollar bill, handing it to him. I then slid out of the taxi and slammed the door behind me. I looked at the house in front of me. It was painted a bland tan color and it had lots of windows. The front porch had a small wire table with a wire chair beside it. I heard the taxi drive away and I glanced to my left and right. I was surprised to see that there was a group of guys playing football a couple yards over. Half of them weren't wearing any shirts. I watched for a second as they ran a play. Suddenly, a familiar blonde guy received the ball and I watched as Chris ran the ball toward me. I almost laughed at when he got the ball over the front walk of the next door house. He did a victory dance and I giggled slightly. He was such a dork. Chris turned his head at this small sound and his face instantly became more happy.

"Isabelle!" He cheered. I giggled again as he bounced over. His bare chest was covered with a sheer sheet of sweat. He suddenly hugged me tightly and gave me a big, goofy smile.

"Did you see that play?! I'm awesome, aren't I?" He seemed awfully pleased with himself. I just giggled again. Chris' friends walked towards us and I noticed with a blush that they were all very handsome. Chris put his arm around my shoulder and turned to face his friends.

"Alright guys, this is Isabelle. She's the awesome one I was telling you about." Chris told them with a huge smile. I looked up at him in surprise. He'd told his friends about me? I looked back at them and saw that they were all beaming at me. I gave a little awkward wave as Chris held me close to him.

"So do you wanna get in on the football action or do you want to go inside?" Chris asked with his big, goofy grin. I shook my head and pointed at the football then pointed at him. Chris looked at me sternly.

"If I play football, you're playing too." He ordered. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Fine. If you're going to be difficult, we'll go inside. Besides, my Mom made us brownies." He told me. I sighed and nodded. The other guys in the group all began saying bye to Chris and he began saying bye to them. I just stood there awkwardly and waited for Chris. When he finished, Chris put his arm around my shoulder and started to lead me toward the house. I looked up at him.

"How was your night?" Chris asked quietly as we reached the front door. I was released and Chris opened the door. I followed him into a dark mud room and he removed his sneakers. I quickly slipped off my flip flops and followed him down a hallway. We passed a living room, a bathroom, and a small home office. We entered a nice kitchen and my nose was instantly filled with the scent of the brownies. Chris went toward the counter and he picked up a plate of brownies. They looked absolutely delicious. He offered the brownies to me and I smiled, taking one. He turned and grabbed a brownie before putting the plate down.

"So I was hoping to talk to you about yesterday." Chris said as he leaned his lower back against the counter. I stared down at my brownie and pressed my lips into a firm line. There was so much that I wanted to ask. But I couldn't. I just nodded slightly. I was so confused about all that was going on.

"My brother... He's in some real deep trouble and he came by yesterday to warn me. He's in debt or something. He told me that he wanted me to make sure I kept you safe and make sure that we didn't get hurt. I'm thinking that it's some sort of trick for him to attempt to get me to forgive him." Chris explained. Instantly, a flame of anger burst forth inside me. Why was Chris so unforgiving to his brother? Did his brother do more than just get in trouble with drugs or something? I sighed and looked out of the small window that was above the sink. The backyard was perfectly green. The grass was mowed and watered. It seemed perfect. I closed my eyes for a second then looked up at Chris. I then pulled my pad of paper out of my back pocket and pulled the pen off of the page.

Why don't you just believe that he's trying to protect you?

I held the paper up for Chris to see. He frowned.

"Because he... He isn't the right person to forgive. He'll just turn around and betray you again." His tone hinted at sadness, and his eyes were far-away. Like Chris was somewhere entirely different. I bit my lip and put my pad of paper back into my pocket. Chris looked at me and I noticed that he was forcing a big smile.

"Anyways, my Mom bought me this box of books and I need your help to know which ones will be the best to read. Could you help me with that?" Chris asked in a cheerful voice. I took a bite of my brownie and chewed it thoughtfully. I then nodded and Chris grinned.

"Cool, thanks." He said in excitement.