Breaking Away

Chapter X: Circus Monkey

Piper

I am suddenly awoken by a presence on my chest. Is this a jacket?

How long was I sleeping?

I stand up, slipping the jacket over my shoulders. It's Felix's jacket. It is made of brown faded leather.

The best part about it is the warmth. It's like the heat surges through my veins, making me tingle. I also like the smell, it's how he smells of hickory wood. Since last night, I've grown to love the smell, wanting to just bury my head in his chest and.....wait. What am I thinking? I just met this guy!

My train of thought de-rails as I see Felix leaning over a bridge in the distance. I jog over to him, ready to interrogate. My heart skips a beat as I stop dead in my tracks. Felix turns around, a sly smirk on his face.

"Hey, sleepyhead."

I walk quickly up to him, "Why didn't you wake me up?! More importantly, this!"

I hold out an arm and tug at the leather fabric. I sound way too overdramatic...

"Look," he waves his hand subtly to silence my rant, "I didn't want to wake you, you we're just too..."

There's slight trace of a held-in laugh in his deep voice.

"What?"

I cross my arms and lean on one leg, making my hip pop out.

I swear if he tells me that I'm.....

"Adorable."

All at once, the muscles in my body contract, and I project myself onto his back like a circus monkey. Note, I say circus monkey, because if anyone was passing by, they would have thought I belonged in a zoo.

"Am I so adorable now?"

I talk through my teeth as I hit him on his back and shoulders, my efforts having no effect on his lean, but muscular back. I swing my legs in front of him to get a better grip as I keep thrashing. Felix starts to laugh.

"Nope," he pops the "p", "You're still pretty freakin' adorable."

I eventually get tired of hitting him, and just sit there on his back. I put my arms over his shoulders, and take in the smell of wood.

"Uh, Piper?"

"Yeah," I jerk my head up.

"You can get off now."

He stifles in another laugh.

My face gets hot as I jump off of his back and land firmly on the sidewalk. I brush off my clothes, and look down at my boots, my ebony hair providing some sort of shield between us. I don't even ask about the jacket, he might want it back and then I'll be cold again.

Instead I feel my shield of hair move out of my face. I hear his deep voice again, telling me, "Let's go find Marina."

I look up, and my eyes focus on the highway beneath the bridge. Not many people have cars anymore, so most of the time the cars are just passerby's from a different city. I would do anything to live there, where there is no pointless laws. Maybe none of this would've happened then. Micah would still be with me.

Realizing that I was thinking for too long, Felix pulls me with him by the arm, and I return back to earth.

This walk wasn't silent, we talked almost all the way there, telling stories to each other. He even threw in some jokes. I changed my mind about living in a different city, because I would've never met Felix.