~Chapter 10~
I'm on the sidewalk walking towards Will's buliding. As promised, I timed my date to end exactly at 7:30 so I could make it for the dinner Selena's preparing. When Selena gets behind any kitchen applicance, make sure you make it for the result. Speaking of my date, it was pretty good. But I sorta felt that Jeylani was nervous. I mean seriously, every movement she made around me was so damn jittery.
We went to go see an upcoming poet, her idea, don't ask. But man, Lay wasn't at all focused, and this is totally her type of thing! She LIVES for this stuff, so much like Selena. Sucks how'd I never get to introduce Lay to her though. They'd so get along, become as close as Will and her are even. I sigh, take a deep breath, and oddly enough I decide to step on the cracks in the sidewalk to busy my mind.
It's scary, really scary, how I have this....inkling of apprehension. How I just KNOW, deep down in my gut, that something's going to go wrong. Something, sooner or later, always has to go wrong. We're not your everyday 17 year olds afterall. We're Keepers of the Earth. I feel heavier all of a sudden. I don't....enjoy carrying around this burden of having to protect the universe on my shoulders 24/7. I don't like it at all, in fact, I hate it. I want nothing more than to be normal. To be able to wake up in the morning and the only thing on your mind is being late for first period, instead of worrying over that AND contemplating how and when to rush into an upcoming thunderstorm in order to "borrow" some of the lighting's charges.
Yeah, I do that sometimes. But it's never a good idea to say that around Will, she has this crazy theory that if I keep on stealing..ah...*cough* *cough* BORROWING charges, the area of downtown Toronto and some parts of Scarbourgh will run out of lighting during thunderstorms. I mean honestly, what the hell? I actually snort out loud at the idea, causing the man next to me to look at me like I'm going looney tunes. Taking the situation into consideration however, I should look like quite a sight. A teenage boy skipping lightly in an overly girlish manner on the sidewalk cracks instead of the pavement, talking under his breath, and grinning and laughing and snorting at random intervals. If I saw someone like that, I'd think they're going looney too. I smile to myself. Excellent, I've succeeded in taking my mind off of my date with Lay for the meantime. A oh, why'd I have to think that?!
See, it's at times like these where I truly think I'm looney! Why oh WHY did I have to think that last thought? A picture of gorgeous Lay looking all nervous and....and....ah, nervous fills my head. Every aspect of her body language this evening seemed to just emit the notion of empending doom. Gosh, six minutes until I reach Will's buliding. Perfect. Selena and her Martha Stewart cooking will take my mind off of Lay. Hopefully. Because each and every time I close my eyes, I picture a soft oval face with blue eyes biting on her nails in anguish. Oh and that's not a great picture for my mind to paint. Seeing Lay in any pain, any pain at all just breaks my heart in two. I love her.
I glance down at my watch again. 5 minutes and 35 seconds until I reach Will's building. I know for a fact that Selena is already there, duh. And Will is in there with some guy, Adam I think. Oh and I better remind Blaze to make it, or he'll probably forget all about it and go boarding with his skater friends. I roll my eyes, Blaze and his memory issues. I find myself laughing out loud yet again as I dig into my pocket to retrive my cellphone. I press 4, my homie's on speed dial, and wait for him to answer. Odd. It's already on the 3rd ring and he hasn't picked up. "The phone you are trying to reach is currently switched off. Please try again later." Huh?!?!?! I put my phone back in my pocket and continue skipping on sidwalk cracks. However I do have a thought banging up there repeatedly like a pair of cymbols in the hands of a 4 year old in my head. An awfully distrubing thought.
Blaze never switches off his cell.
I ring the bell to Will's apartment. Instantley, Selena's at the door. She turns her face so quickly, I don't even get a chance to look at her or ever say hi. What the hell? What'd I do to piss her off? I walk into the hallway and I'm immediatly hit with delcious aromas of lasagne, cake, and other undescriable unrecognizable aromas because...woah.....she cooked alotta food! Just when I'm about to give up on trying to figure out the other scents, I'm completely and utterly flabergasted. I take a soul searching wiff...and...and...and-NO!-homeade bread! Damn! Only time I ever even heard someone ever MENTION homeade bread was on TV! Gosh I love Selena!
Hey...I see Selena sneak into the kitchen door. Yeah, sneak, as if she doesn't want anyone to see her. And her shoulders-NO!-are slopped. Selena is big on posture, like, really really big on posture. She has been training Will as far back as I could remember to keep "your back straight, head high, and walk with long and graceful strides," blah blah blah. Recently though, she's been thowing Blaze and I into this "posture is everything" regime as well. If our backs aren't straight and our shoulders aren't pointed in her presence, she soaks us in ice cold disgusting gutter like water. Which I find to be purely evil, yet as I grudgingly admitted to Selena awhile back, does the trick.
That is why, amongst other reasons posture realted, that Selena's shoulders slopping are a big deal to me. And to anyone who knows Selena as well as Blaze, Will, and I know her. Because heck, the only time she slouches are when there is something really bad is going on in her life. Her personal life. She slouches when she's depressed.
Something is going on.
I make my way into the kitchen, silently preparing for the worst.
