Sugarcane Chronicles Volume I: One and Lonely (ryden)

Stranger Danger!!

Ryan didn't come back until 2 seconds before class ended and went as quickly as he came. The rest of the school day was basically a snooze-fest and I wanted to get home as soon as possible.

I was just about to start waking home when I was jerked aside and into a bush. I started flailing around in an attempt to hit my kidnapper and run away.

"Stranger danger! Stranger danger!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

"Dude, shut up!" my kidnapper whisper-yelled.

"Stranger danger! Stranger dan-" A hand was clamped over my mouth. I thought quickly and licked the hand that was over my mouth. He pulled away immediately and made noises of disgust.

"Eeuuhh, man that's gross!" the kidnapper said. I finally looked at the guy and saw Spencer.

"Oh hey, Spencer," I said, smiling. He breathed a half sigh of relief and said 'hi.'

"So, why did you kidnap me?" I asked.

"I didn't kidnap you; I just wanted to invite you over to our house," he replied.

"Alright, cool. When?" I said.

"Now."

"What?" I gave a confused face before thinking for a second. "Yeah, I'll come. Just let me call my parents." I pulled out my phone and called the house phone.

"Hi sweetie! How was school?" Mom said on the other line.

"Boring as usual. Hey, could I go over to a friend's house for a while before I come home?"

"You have friends?" she asked, sounding a little too surprised.

"Yes, mom. I have friends," I said, trying to keep it low enough that Spencer couldn't hear, but mom could. "So can I go?"

"Yes of course. Just be home by five. Love you," she said.

"Loveyoutoobye," I said quickly before hanging up and turning to Spencer. "She said yeah."

"Great. Follow me," he said before disappearing into the woods behind him.

"Wait for me!" I said, running after him.

"Hurry up, slow-poke!" his voice came from somewhere to my left. I ran towards where it came from.

"Where are you?" I yelled.

"Over here!" Spencer called from far away from me.

"Where is 'over here'?" I called out, turning in every which way.

"Right here," he said from right behind me. I yelped in surprise, fear and happiness that I finally found him and turned around.

"Don't do that," I said, placing my hand over my poor fragile heart.

"Just follow me," he chuckled. After a whole lot of walking, we finally made it to the outskirts of the house.

"Hey, Pete!" Spencer shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"What is it, Spencer?" a dog walked from behind a tree and looked at us.

"Oh, is this dog yours? I met him the other day," I said.

"Y-Ye-Yeah. This is our dog, Pete," Spencer said, picking up Pete.

"Ruff," Pete said.

"Is Pete ok? You should take him to a vet or something; that bark doesn't sound right," I said, looking at Pete.

"We took him to a vet the other day. It's just a little a bit of a dog-cold," Spencer said, stroking Pete. "He should be fine in a few days."

"Well that's good. I didn't know dogs could get colds," I said slightly confused.

"Me neither. But apparently they do," Spencer said before putting Pete down onto the leafy ground. Pete whimpered, standing on his hind legs, pawing at Spencer's pant leg.

"No, I'm not picking you up again," Spencer said. Pete stopped and scampered over to me, doing the same.

"Awh," I cooed, petting his head and scratching behind his ears.

"Pete, sit," Spencer commanded. Pete whimpered and did as he was told.

"C'mon, Brendon. Let's-"

"RUFF! RUFF! WROFF!! WROFF!!" Pete barked like a car alarm.

"Pete! What happened?!" Patrick called, running from the house. "Oh, hey guys." Patrick picked up Pete after he stopped barking.

"Hey, where's Ryan?" Spencer asked as we walked into the house.

"He's already napping," Patrick said, placing Pete down on the porch.

"Well that's no fun; let's go wake him up," Spencer said.

"Baaad idea. He's exhausted," Patrick said, opening what I assumed was the back door.

"Hey, do you guys have any more pets?" I asked, noticing the strong scent that surely meant pets.

"Uhm, yeah. We have a cat upstairs probably napping with Ryan right now," Patrick said.

"Really? What's his name?" I asked.

"Ryan," Spencer replied simply.

"You guys really like naming things after yourselves, don't you?" I said before I heard a quizzical meow.