Avoiding August (ONGOING)

Chapter 4

Cool breezes flittered about as I trudged through the school gates. One of those cool breezes carried the scent of tobacco, causing me to wrinkle my nose.

Sure enough, there was August with three buddies of his. He kept a loose grip on his violin case for orchestra class. Many girls hanging about in the area swooned at the sight of him. He was handsome. Anyone could see that.

They were shoving each other's shoulders and laughing raucously. His three friends were smoking, and the boy I recognised from  the English class incident offered one of the tawny sticks to August.

I stopped watching to look for Louis, Thandiwe and Gabriel.

I didn't spend much time peering around the front of the school, because I heard a chorus of shouts of "Quinn! Quinn!"

I found the boys waving me over to the right, and we ran toward each other. All four were undeniably excited.

Louis spoke to me before any of the others took the chance. "Quinn! Do you want to have a Stars Wars marathon with us this arvo?"

I would have said yes, seeing their big grins, anticipating eyes and messy hair. "Ah, I can't, guys. I've got work then." It pained me to say it. I didn't want to reject the first offer to hang out with my newest friends.

Thandiwe the gentle giant looked genuinely upset, so I quickly back-pedalled. "How about we have a marathon next Saturday?"

The boys all cheered, and I couldn't help but smile.

That afternoon was uneventful at work, and my stomach was snarling by the time I closed the shop to go home.

The only remotely interesting thing was the text I got from mum saying 'your father and I are wrapping up some stuff back in brisbane and we wont be home until Saturday night. We left some money for you to order some food, and there's left over Chinese in the fridge.'

They were constantly travelling between our new home in Sydney and our city, Brisbane. Mum was a financial adviser and dad was an accountant, and they still had things with work they needed to finish before they find new jobs.

As I got off the bus and rushed home, I decided that I would heat up the Chinese food mum mentioned and maybe watch some Netflix.

I hated walking home in the dark, with only flickering streetlights to keep me company. It was just eerie. Every small sound had me craning my neck at shadows and walking so fast I could have been running.

Fumbling my keys for a second, a feeling of calm began to settle in my stomach.

I shut the door and locked it behind me, taking off my boots and leaving them by the door. Then, I shuffled into the kitchen.

An hour later, there was no fried rice left in sight, and the Mongolian chicken had been devoured. My loose sweatpants brushed against my unshaven legs, but I ignored the feeling in favour of the newest episode of Teen Wolf.

What I couldn't ignore, however, was the chicken stuck in my front teeth.
I got up and meandered into the kitchen to find some toothpicks, and stopped.

Something was shuffling around on the concrete outside. Footsteps were hurried and dragging. There were the clangs of one of the metal bins outside hitting the ground.

I reluctantly crept to the window of the kitchen to carefully peer at the front yard.

The figure outside kicked another metal bin.

I scowled and threw the door open, about to turn on the light so I could accuse the person. But once again, I paused when they turned to me. Even though it was dark, I recognised the delinquent boy, August.

His eyes went round like a doe's. Before I could muster up a shout or a question, he crept up the stairs of my porch and pushed past me. Into my house.

I whipped my head his way, the door still wide open. I gaped at him, when he shut my door for me and raised a finger to his lips.

In a low, quiet voice, I asked, "What are you doing?" This was the second time I had spoken to him. I wasn't sure how to address him in such a peculiar situation.

Before he could open his mouth to answer -if he was even going to- there was a series of loud knocks.

He seemed to melt into the shadows of my dimly lit house. He opened the pantry door and disappeared, not before putting a finger to his lips a second time. I couldn't help but notice the silent threat that lingered in his eyes as he did so.

I opened the door, to be met with the sight of a police officer.

I wasn't sure what I was meant to do, so, with an uncertain voice, I asked, "... May I help you?" I furrowed my eyebrows at the baton in her hand and the handcuffs hanging from her thick, black belt.

"Sorry to bother you." She didn't sound very sorry to me. "I was wondering if you have seen a young teenaged boy dressed in dark clothes and a grey hoodie. He has been vandalising this area."

I realised that she was describing the boy hiding in my pantry.

Trying not to let my alabaster skin turn even more pale, I met her eyes. "I've been watching TV, so I'm afraid I haven't seen anyone. I did hear something outside, but I assumed it was a cat. Sorry."

The lie was smooth, and I held my breath, waiting for the woman to reply.

"Ah, that's okay." Her lips were pressed into a thin line. "Sorry for the disturbance. Please contact the police force if you do see him."

"I will."

She turned her back to me, and I eased the door shut. After a moment and a peek out the window, the uniformed woman was out of sight. A sigh passed through my lips.

"Is she gone?" I started awkwardly and whirled to face August Right. He was directly behind me, squinting out into the darkness of a cloudy night.

"Yeah. She's gone."

I tried not to look at his face, but instead found that his dark pants were ripped at the knees, and blood was trickling down his legs.

"Y-you're bleeding."

He didn't spare a glance at his red knees. "I know." Stalking past me, he reached for the doorknob. I saw bright blue staining his fingertips. "Bye."

I didn't reply, nor did I comment on his colourful hands.

He left my house in silence.

He also left without thanking me.

A/N: I wish I was better at making August more bad boyish and bitchy. He seems too quiet to me at the moment haha. I'll make sure to fix that.
Also, don't forget to vote~