The Weight of The Moon

Chapter One

“Stay for tonight, if you want to,” Kellin Quinn of Sleeping With Sirens sang from my cheap, but very loud speakers.

‘I wish I could, Kellin.’ I thought. ‘But I’m working tonight. Maybe some other time.’

I grabbed my beige, badge-covered canvas bag from its home on my carpeted bedroom floor and emptied its contents onto my bed. A few used tissues and the lip balm I had been looking for.

“There you are!” I said to it, without expecting a reply. Obviously. It was an inanimate object. 

After detaching my iPod from my speakers, laying a sheet of silence over the tiny box room, I threw it in the bag, along with my leather bound book, that I’d carelessly thrown onto my bed previously. I didn’t need to take anything to work with me, just myself, for my job was odd, to say the least. Anything else I decided to take was for my own entertainment, something to save me from the usual boredom that haunted me at work. 

I tossed the bag’s strap onto my left shoulder and bounded down the stairs, in search of food. I eventually found a packet of crisps, a handful of boiled sweets and a chocolate bar, shying away into the deepest, darkest shadows of the kitchen cupboards. I snatched them up and threw them into the bag. 

I glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed that it was ticking faster than I had anticipated. In my line of work, I couldn’t be late. Being late would make NASA angry. But I was more bothered about my boss’s anger. His wrath was something I didn’t particularly want to experience. 

I quickly slipped  my Converse sneakers on and left the house at a running pace. Unfortunately, living in England meant that I couldn’t legally drive a car, so I had to run to work instead. Oh the irony.

I was greeted seven-and-a-half minutes later by my cousin, Troy. He was stood in a long, dark alleyway, next to his car.

“Come on, Selena, come on!” He cried, frantically in his American accent.

“You got the string?” I asked breathlessly, and he handed me one end of a tangle of long string and the keys to his car. He continued to clutch onto his end of the string and he shut his eyes tight. 

“Bye.” I whispered, before he disappeared before my eyes with a slight popping sound.

I picked up his end of the string, whilst cringing because it had landed in the mud, and carefully put it in my bag. Thanks for that, Troy. I knew he had dropped it there purposely. 

Knowing that I had no time to spare, I hopped into his vehicle, a bright blue racing car. I turned the key and switched on the headlights, to check there were no witnesses present. Well, why would there be at this hour anyway? A dark alleyway between two  tall, brick buildings, late at night? Who could be even less sensible than Troy and I?

I reversed slightly, to make myself a runway and I set off at an immense speed. I used to close my eyes at this point, and hope for the best, but now? There was no need. After all, I had to do this every night. Sure, the moment the wheels left the ground still felt a little strange, but it was only like the take off of an airplane. 

With no need to steer, I grabbed a boiled sweet from my bag, and popped it into my mouth. My mother always said it would stop my ears from popping, but it never worked. It had become a force of habit though. 

I kept my foot on the accelerator, and stared at the speedometer, ensuring that I was gaining speed. 

Thanks to the great speed of the race car, it was no longer than a few minutes before an alarm sounded in the car, informing me that I had reached 384,400 km.