Wild

Chapter 9

Astrid's POV

My eyes fluttered wide open. Glancing at my phone, it was seven in the morning. I turned over to the other side to see if Xander was still sleeping. But he wasn't there. He was already up. Maybe having breakfast outside. I am still worn out by all the running yesterday. I slowly picked myself out of bed and pulled the bed sheets so they look neat.

Cameron was wearing an apron over his shirtless torso, humming as he whipped up scrambled eggs served in front of me in the blink of an eye.

"Thanks, Cam." I paused. "Is it okay if I call you that?" I asked and ate a bite of my breakfast. "These are really good!" I mumbled with my mouth full.

"Thanks, and yes you can call my Cam. Everyone calls me that." He laughed and threw me a napkin.

"Where's Xander?" I haven't seen him around the whole morning. His jacket and hoodie from last night were still sprawled on the bathroom floor, his phone on the nightstand, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Oh, he went out this morning. Didn't tell me why and where. He'll be fine." Cameron splattered as he sat across from me at the breakfast counter.

"Mm." I nodded. "So how did you guys met? I mean, he was sent to Mt. Werth since he was nine." I noticed I was being nosy, but I couldn't help it. When I was done with breakfast, I attempted to wash the dishes but Cameron offered to put it in the dishwasher.

"Well, how we met is a rather long story. Ask Xander to tell you, I'm horrible at telling stories."

"You can't be that bad. You know how to make scrambled eggs!" I exclaimed and sat on the comfy couch, playing with the ends of my robe.

"Wait till you taste the spaghetti for lunch. And I insist that you ask Xander to tell you, Astrid." He smirked and threw a dark blue shirt over his head. Cameron and Xander looked alike. A lot. The have the same almond-shaped eyes. I must be imagining things though. Xander said Cameron was just a friend. Plus he's an orphan so it's impossible for him to have a brother. Even so, Xander seemed to be cold towards Cameron. The way he talked to Cameron last night was as if he hated him. Maybe something bad happened when they were younger? I wondered.

Xander came back storming through the door. I recognized that look. He was mad. His eyebrows were furious, his eyes carried fire, bursting flames every second. I stood up from the couch and just looked at him. I was going to ask him if everything was okay. Or maybe I should ask him where he'd been, but that would sound like I'm bossing him around.

"It's gone." He buried his face in his palms as he collapsed on the couch across from mine. "My watch is gone." He said. I then realize how the black digital watch he wears every day is not on his wrist. I never really knew how important that was to him, but seeing him like this, it must carry a memory from before.

"Xander, I'm sure we can find it." I placed my hand on his shoulder, rubbing his back softly.

"No. I've been to the restaurant, the payphone, the bus station, there's nothing. I must've left it back at the academy." He refused to lift his face up.

"We can get a new one, I can help you find the exact same one." I tried to calm him down.

"Astrid, why don't you get it? That's the only watch I want, nothing else can replace it! I need that watch! It means a lot to me!" He stood up and towered over me, glared me in the eyes and marched back to his room, technically, our room, and slammed the door. I froze, staying in the position he'd left me. Cameron walked over to me. He had been witnessing everything from the counter since Xander walked in.

I felt a tear rushing down my cheek. Why would he treat me this way? I was trying to be nice, that's all. Even if the watch was something from the Queen of England or Bill Gates or is worth a thousand bazillion, he doesn't have the right to scream in my face.

Cameron squatted down a little so he was at my height since I was sitting on the arm of the couch.

"It's okay. He does that all the time."

"No, he doesn't. At least not towards me." I protested. I took my clothes out of my backpack I left sitting in the living room since last night and changed. Putting on my makeup back in my room, I resisted the urge to ask if Xander was okay, or even look at him. I shoved my phone in my back pocket and exited the loft through the staircase we came from last night. I told Cameron that I was going to make a call because my phone was dead. Of course I was lying.

But I ended up calling Veronica on a park bench similar to the one that was near my house. The house where I lived with my parents.

"Hey Veronica, I don't know what you're up to lately but I figured I'd leave you a message to tell you I'm doing well and I miss you and Darwin. Text or call me back. I have loads to tell you. Love you." I left in her voicemail. I didn't tell her that I ran away from school because she will freak out and give me a thousand reasons why I should stay at her house.

The wind was less strong than it was yesterday and the sky was clear. There's a hundred to one chance that it'll rain today. When the day is happy, I usually would be too. But on the contrary, I wasn't. There was a rock inside my head. Maybe my heart. When Xander screamed in my face my heart beat was rising. It's like I could hear the heart rate monitor beep at every millisecond. The only times I would feel that in life is when I get my test results back and when I run for my life just like I ran from Mt. Werth.

The carousel stopped lately and I don't know why. I find myself asking 'why' questions without answers instead of analysing questions. It was a sea filled with questions and the answer seemed to be buried deep in the unexplored parts. I know it's there, but I can't find it.

I spent quite some time alone in the park. It's a shame not much of people came out. I met an old couple having a walk in the park, they were loving, helping each other in case one of them falls. A mother, pushing her baby in the stroller. I smiled at the baby, who smiled back. It surprises me how a smile can really affect someone. I never really believed in the whole 'the only way to multiply happiness is to divide it' thing. A boy taking his dog for a walk. He stopped in front me and said 'have a nice day', which I responded with a light grin and 'you too'.

When I felt better, I made my way back to where I came from. The place Cameron lives in is fancy. It was about 5 floors tall and every floor seemed spacious. Cameron is on the third floor which already seems like a luxurious loft to me. I bet he's very happy with his life. I climbed up the stairs without difficulty and went in. I sat by Cameron who was watching soccer on TV. Liverpool versus Manchester United. I used to watch those with Darwin after school. He would make me sit down through the whole game with him. At first I hated it. What is it with twenty-two people chasing a ball? But then it got interesting so it was kind of a hobby. It's probably weird for Americans like us to be watching soccer instead of football, but hey, it's an Astrid thing, don't judge.

My eyes were fixed on the screen but my mind was not. I started having delusions, thoughts, chimeras, daydreams, hallucinations and head trips of a lot of random things, such as the kiss at the payphone, the first day I met Xander, the time I went home to mom getting mad, when I first met Veronica, Darwin... I was backtracking when the whole game was playing on TV.

Cameron noticed I was spacing out and waved his hand in front of me. "Are you watching?" He asked.

"Yeah. Liverpool is leading." I responded. I knew because I had faith in them.

Does Xander have faith in me?

The picture above is how I imagine Cameron's apartment would be and I took the picture! I have limited knowledge about soccer so don't judge. Also, from where I come from, football is soccer. Just an FYI. xxAllison