Do Mind Maps Ever End?

Chapter 7

I remembered a book I had once read and as I sunk into my world of thought and the phrase "my thoughts are stars i cant fathom into constellations" came into my head. Thoughts ran quickly in and out of my head, thoughts of hatred, not guilt. Suddenly then my thoughts turned to my stomach. How long had I been sitting in this dark alley? This alley that was a path of detruction. I closed my eyes.

"Well Elle."

This voice sounded familiar, I opened my eyes to see my worse nightmare.

"Funny that rhymes." 

"Well done. What are you doing here Gale?"

"Am I not permitted to take a stroll through an alley on my street?"

"You live here?"

"Yep with my big brother!"

"Why are you telling me this? Leave."

"Hmm Elle you look hungry! Wanna come back to mine and grab a sandwich?"

"No, not really."

"Well then, since you obviously know where you are going I'll leave you then." He gave me a smug look and walked on with his hands in his pockets.

"Gale?" I called.

Gale walked over to me and held out both his hands, I took them and he pulled me up. I walked beside him silently. 

"Tough day?" he asked.

"Sorta." 

Gale nodded as if he understood and then opened his mouth to say something but he did not say it.

"Look Im sorry for putting that stuff in your drink today Elle, that was stupid."

"Yea it was."

"I should have known you werent into that sort of stuff."

I mumbled under my breath. Gale flicked his hair and looked into my eyes. His eyes were a deep shade of brown and they held a past which I did not want to look into.

"Oh and sorry for leaving you in the shopping centre. Did you get lost in there too?"

"No." 

He winked at me knowingly and I felt embarassed.

"This is it." We stood in front of a small bungalow with a porch. It looked run down and was very near to the hell street where I had been earlier. Brown, wilted flowers hung sadly in the windows  and the grass was a jungle of weeds. 

"What do ya think?" He looked at me for an answer.

"Wow..its em special!"

"Nah its a kip, Leo is hardly ever home, he does a lot of business and travelling and whens hes home he goes out with the guys."

"Leo?"

"Yea my big bro, closest thing to a Da I ever had!"

"Why are you telling me all this?"

Gale shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno..I feel like I can!"

I nodded slowly.

Gale walked up on the porch and pulled off a necklace he was wearing around his neck. A key was at the end of the chain and he took the key and unlocked the door. He led me into the kitchen and pulled a loaf of hard bread out of the cupboard.

All the walls were brown and the wallpaper was peeling at the ceiling. The ceiling was peculiary low and I felt quite trapped. I almost feared Gale, I did not expect this house, I was expecting more of a cardboard box. 

Gale handed me a piece of the stale bread. It had no butter and he smiled, prodding me to take the bread. My stomach gargled for food so I reluctantly took the bread and nibbled the what tasted like tree bark. 

"So howd you get here?" He asked.

"I walked." 

Gale chuckled to himself.

"Wow your full of conversation. You go to Yellowpole right?" 

I gave him a peculiar look and then looked down at my uniform and realised how he knew.

"haha no I am not stalking you, I go there...occasionaly."

"Oh occasionaly! What year?"

"5th"

"Im 3rd" 

He nodded and smiled.

I didnt smile back.

"I like you, we are very alike."

"I disagree." 

"If ya want a place for the night, we have a sofa."

"How considerate but I must go."

" Home?"

"I dont have a home..." a large lump formed in my throat. It was a humiliating confession to make.

"Well my couch is free!" 

Gale didnt ask questions, he intruiged me, I felt as if we were alike though I would not say it. I wanted to ask him about his parents.

"Wheres your mum and dad?" I blurted.

"Dead." he said bluntly.

"Same. not my dad but he may as well be." Gale didnt  even bat an eyelid.

"Which front do you stay in?" I was starting to take back what I had said about Gale not asking questions.

"Excuse me?" I looked at him, eyes wide.

"Well I.."

"Im not homeless, you moron." I shoved him playfully.

"Oh.." he said, laughing.

"I live in a house."

"Wow thats really interesting" He said sarcastically. He then walked over towards a cupboard,he opened it and pulled out a large grey blanket. Everything in this house seemed grey and dull. Gale then walked through the kitchen and out of sight. A few seconds later his head then peered round the side of the door.

"Coming?"

I followed him into a dark room that smelt like dampness and alcohol. The smell of smoke made me sick. The wallpaper, again, was peeling and there were no windows in the room. A dim light hung from the ceiling giving just enough room to make out the furniture, little as there was.

"Do you smoke?" I asked.

"Yes."

I could not stand smokers. I think its because Mum used to tell me about all my grandparents dying of lung cancer because they smoked. Dad smoked. I remembered the funny smell from the cigerettes he used and as I grew older I knew it was not normal smoke. Plus, he used to always smoke in the green house in our back garden. I always thought it was strange.

"I hope you die." I stated.

"Wow thats nice after me putting you up and all." He bowed out of the room as I gave him a smug smile. I looked around me and at the horrible grey sofa in the middle of the room. The stains on that sofa, not even Vanish Oxi-Action could remove! I walked over and smelled the sofa and I gagged. The smell of sweat and dampness was overcoming and I had no idea how I would sleep on this beast of a sofa. I could see there was once a rosy pattern on that sofa but it was long worn away. I decided to sleep in my uniform and I lay on the floor. No way was I sleeping on The Beast. I pulled the soft blanket round me and thought again.

"My thoughts are stars I cant fathom into consellations."

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