Ashes Of Angeline

Part III

            Downstairs, Noah was sitting up on the kitchen counter, his feet dangling in the air. The rubix cube was positioned beside him, a jumble of colors once more. I noticed the others things around him too of course, like the food. There was a small pile of granola bars, three cans of soup, a pack of dried noodles, a few packets of what looked to be instant oatmeal, and three containers which contents resembled flour, brown sugar, and regular sugar.

            He had collected other goods from around the house as well; a couple rolls of toilet paper, toothpaste, shampoo, a hairbrush, a box of used pencil crayons, my copy of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, and soon after I took inventory I realized he was wearing my friend Emmet's hoodie that he had forgotten at my place. The dark blue material hung off him and the sleeves draped past his finger tips.

            “Not much left, but I dug a bit deeper and found us some stuff.” Noah said, grinning.

            You and Dem came to stand beside the counter, looking at each item he had foraged. “Nice job Noes.” Dem praised as she poked him on the end of his button nose, making him laugh and bat her hand away. Your gray eyes scanned over the counters contents, probably mentally rationing things.

            “Not bad kid.” You admitted as you began to divide the food into piles. They waited for you to finish, watching as the three piles grew larger and the single grouping of food diminished to nothing but miscellaneous things.

            “I can carry the sugars and flour.” She offered.

            “That would be good, thanks Dem.” You said. “I'll take the pencil crayons, shampoo, toothpaste, and book.”

            Noah bit his lip during this, keeping something to himself. You caught on though, the edges of your mouth tugging ever so slightly upward as you did so. “No worries Noah, you can keep the book and pencils. I just didn't think your pack would fit much else.”

             I knew you were only telling part of the truth because of the way you spoke. He was a child, easily deceived. You were not doing it for bad reasons of course, but rather the opposite. You merely didn't want to give Noah a heavy load, so you left him with a comb and rolls of toilet paper. Noah bought into the lie though, nodding. “Okay, thanks Logan.”

            “No problem.” You replied while filling the remaining space in your messenger bag.  Adapting to the new weight, you adjusted the shoulder strap and stretched out your back. The shirt you were wearing crept up as you did this, revealing a small constellation of freckles on your lower back.

            I looked away quickly, catching Dem watching you as well. A faint pink rose to her cheeks after she decided to look away, forcing her attention to the window and the world outside. Seeing this made me glance between you, befuddled by your relationship.

            Noah didn't seem to notice though; he had picked up my rubix cube once more and was in the process of backtracking his previous steps. His thick brown eyebrows pulled together in concentration.  

            You saw his focus and not wanting to disturb him, began packing his few new belongings into his children's backpack. It was green and had a plastic surface on the one side with a glossy image of the Ninja Turtles. I smiled, remembering a time when my own classmates wore such things in elementary school.            

            Where were those Ninja-Turtle-backpack-wearing boys now? I couldn't help but look at Noah in that over sized hoodie; I couldn't help but think of Emmet, his crooked smile and shaggy hair.