Living Or Dying

Chapter Seven

Eventually Trisha looked into the room. Both Sherry and Byern were passed out. An episode of One Piece was just starting so the theme song blared loudly. The noise from the party downstairs was finally gone, as were all the guests. Chocolate ice cream, now melted, spilled onto the floor. With all the expertise of a mother and cafe owner, Trisha cleaned it up without waking up Byern or Sherry.

Trisha smiled silently at the two teens. They were cuddling together. Byern had his arms wrapped around Sherry. It was almost as if he was protecting her. Sherry held tightly into Byern's shirt. They wouldn't be moved. Trisha didn't want to wake them, so she merely grabbed a blanket from a closet and placed it over them. Turning off the TV, Trisha left just as quietly as she came.
The first one to wake was Byern. He looked down at Sherry. She was sleeping peacefully, still clinging to his shirt. Her face was buried in the folds of his shirt and the blanket alike. Byern looked around for the ice cream. It was gone, and there was a blanket where there was none before. Byern pieced together that his mother had been in the room. Gently, he unwrapped one of his arms from Sherry and shook her gently.

"Sherry. Time to wake up. It's a Monday. You have school, right?"
Sherry moaned and pushed her face even more into Byern's chest. Mumbling she answered.

"No, Luffy needs his meat."

Byern rolled his eyes. Girls are weird in the morning. He shook her once more, and repeated his message. Sherry groaned, and cracked one eye open.

"Can't I call in sick?"

"You need your dad to do that though, right?"

Sherry shook her head. "School doesn't accept him as an adult anymore. They trust me."

"And will you break that trust?" Byern asked.

"If it means I can stay comfy here, a million times."

Byern shook his head. Passing Sherry her cellphone Byern pulled the blanket back up. Sherry punched in the number. It rang a few times then Sherry filled in information as needed.

"Sherry Raye. Class 9C. Has been puking. I won't be at school today. Bye."

Sherry hung up and crawled back under the blanket with Byern. She looked up at him with large eyes. They sang of curiosity. "And aren't you going to call school?"

"No need." Byern answered. "I'm home schooled."

Sherry creased her brows in confusion. "Then, how do you know Dean?"

"Easy. His girlfriend came to the center once."

Sherry sat up straight. "Elizabeth is pregnant?"

Byern shook his head. "Naw. It was a girl named Tiffany. She wasn't pregnant."

"How long ago was this?"

Byern creased his face in thought. Sherry thought he looked extremely cute. He even stuck out his tongue trying to remember.
"A month maybe?"

Sherry's face dropped. Dean was cheating on Elizabeth, and he wasn't just flirting. Sherry slipped off the bed and stood up. Stretching, she reached up. Byern followed her lead. Not caring, Sherry did her morning stretch routine flawlessly. Legs, arms, core, and neck. Sherry stretched it all. Finally letting out a sigh, Sherry reached for her suitcase.

Byern sat back down on the bed and watched Sherry. She pulled out a brown tank top with a green miniskirt. Blue thigh high socks followed. Sherry was surprised how much Byern thought of packing in a few seconds. He even grabbed a bra and a few pairs of underwear.

Sherry turned and looked at Byern. "Is there a bath room in which I can change?"

Byern shrugged. "You can change here for all I care."

Sherry waited for Byern to move, but he didn't budge. "Are you leaving?"

Byern pulled back, not understanding. "Why?"

"I am a girl."

"And I'm gay. So what?"

Sherry groaned and pointed at the door. "Out. I'm not changing with a guy in the room. Whether or not he's gay."

"Fine, fine!" Byern surrendered. He walked out the door and down the steps into the kitchen. Sherry closed the door behind him. Changing quickly, she followed him down the steps. She saw Trisha, Ebony, Byern, and the man from last night eating around a table. Trisha looked up and smiled.

"Good morning, Sherry! How did you sleep?"

Sherry smiled back and took a seat next to Byern. "I slept marvelously."

The man put out a hand to shake. "Hi, I'm Byern and Ebony's father, Marco. Nice to meet you."

Sherry shook his hand. Marco had a strong grip, and a just as strong Scottish accent. Sherry found him very hard to understand. When he let go Sherry served herself a portion of pancakes. The pancakes were light and fluffy and the syrop thick and rich. Sherry couldn't remember the last time she had such a good breakfast.

"Hey mom, I was wondering if Sherry and I could go out to the park later today." Byern shoved some pancakes in his mouth as he said this.

Trisha hummed. "Doesn't Sherry have school?"

Byern shook his head. "Not today. It's a PD day apparently."

Trisha nodded, not entirely falling for the lie. "All right. But don't get in trouble. And you still have to get her stuff back."

Byern had shoved another round of pancake in his mouth. All he could do was nod. Swallowing heavily, he nodded. "Gotcha."

Marco laughed. In his thick accent he spoke. "Don't let this nice lass get hurt now, ya understand?"

Byern nodded, for he had shoved yet another mound of pancake in his mouth.

Sherry watched silently as all this transpired. Unsure of what to do she focused on cutting her pancakes. If there was one thing Byern had taught her already it was to never bite off more than she could chew.

With the Godzilla sized bites Byern had been taking he finished in seconds. Pushing back his chair Byern cleaned up his plates. Sherry followed suite and cleaned up her dishes. She could see Trisha's small smile of approval. Both Byern and Sherry grabbed their phones, then headed out.