Take Me Away | ✓

» 22

K A D E N

In the middle of town, there was a clearing in the shape of a ring. One side had a series of trees lining it and the other side had ascending stairs. The stairs extended outwards to make a long platform but they had the purpose of being makeshift bleachers.

There was a smattering of people on these stairs as they looked at the game going on in the middle of the circle. A basketball court had been drawn into the available space which now had a ball being bounced on the concrete by a few kids. Sam was among them.

I watched as he jumped to make a shot and the ball go in. A few cheers were heard including Noah who sat beside me and clapped to his heart's content.

"Never thought you were such a big fan of basketball," I commented.

"I'm not. I'm writing an article about this for extra credit."

"Right." I rose a brow in amusement.

"I'm going to go down and get some statements."

"You know this game is just for fun."

"Not to them." He stood up and went down the steps, where the players were sat taking a break for halftime.

I returned back to my paper which had more messy strokes than writing on it when a shadow fell across the page. I looked up to see Chloe. She smiled and lowered herself down to my level, her posture slumped inwards and closed off.

"That's pretty close to the original." She peered over my shoulder at the drawing and suddenly I felt my ears start to heat up.

"Pretty close?"

"There's a vine that goes just behind her earlobe. Just a loop. There." She pointed it out on the page.

"Thanks." I said gruffly, correcting it with my rubber and feeling my face warm even more. I continued to move my pencil across the page, increasingly aware of Chloe's watchful gaze."

"You plan on giving her a mouth?"

I looked at the empty spot and the faint lines of my attempts. "Can't seem to get it right."

She nodded in understanding. "So, is this like a hobby?"

"Something like that." I folded up the paper, returning my attention back to the game and watching Noah animatedly talk to Sam.

"Phoenix and I were close, you know. We uh. . . used to be at least." Chloe looked down at her hands.

"What changed?"

"The accident." She swallowed, "I was the one driving. Her brother died. I lived."

"And you think it's your fault." I finished.

She winced but nodded anyway.

"I knew a boy like you once." I began. "He and his sister went to the arcade one day. As they were coming back home these black cars started to roll up-- rows of them just surrounding a little park area. The windows opened and bullets started to fly everywhere. They hit the trees, the other cars and then his sister. She died instantly."

"That's horrible." Chloe whispered.

"It was." I continued. "And you can see why the boy would blame himself for it. If he hadn't taken her with him then the whole scenario could have been avoided. But it still happened and it was all a case of them being at the wrong place at the wrong time."

She thought about it for a second. "But wouldn't it have been the same if the boy had gone alone? Instead of his sister, he could have been hurt."

"I never thought about it like that." I turned to her. "Would it have been the same if it was just one of you in the car?"