✔️| [2] Straight On 'Til Morning

☆ Chapter 4 ☆

"Your parents left again?" 

"Yes." I try to say this as emotionless as I can, for fear that if I don't I might cry.

Tessa scoffs, looking down at her phone. "You and Lily can come stay with us if you want. Actually, please do. My parents are hounding me lately." 

At least you have parents. "Um, I'll have to turn that down." 

"Okay." Tessa doesn't ask any more about the subject, which I'm grateful for. We continue walking down the sidewalk to the immense brick edifice that is my private school. It is a building filled with children but is empty in terms of imagination and wit, which everyone knows but pretends that they don't. No one talks about it. They just go there against their will and exit at the end of the day. 

**********

I unlock the door, the warm heating of the house welcoming me. My backpack drops on the hardwood as I go to unzip my coat. I feel the tip-tap on the floor and see a black fuzzball approaching. "Hi, Luna," I coo.  

"Lily!" I call. "Where are you?"

"Up here," I hear her respond from upstairs. She gets home earlier than me, which I despise.

I take off my boots and go up the stairs. I see the gang gathered around a Monopoly board with stacks of paper money in front of them. "Hey, Valerie," Fred greets. "You guys are so lucky."

"This game rocks," Gogo says in agreement.

"Yeah, well. Monopoly isn't a thing in your world, but you guys also have microbots, so I wouldn't call it fair." I glance at them. Hiro is sitting in a chair that I recognize from the dining room, and his leg is completely wrapped in bandages. A pair of crutches is leaning on the back of the chair. I feel guilty again.

I walk over to him and hug him. "Sorry."

I feel him stiffen from the unexpected hug. "...For what?"

"For breaking your leg."

"It's fine. Oh. Wow, you're cold."

I release him from my embrace. "Yeah. It takes a while for our skin to warm up after we've been in the cold for a while."

Tadashi pipes up. "Oh, there's a solution for that. Mini-Max?"

Mini-Max turns to Tadashi from his perch next to the stack of Community Chest cards.

"Valerie is cold."

Mini-Max sheds his red armor-like covering and waddled across the board, carefully weaving between houses, game pieces, and the occasional hotel. 

Once he was at my feet, he looks up at me. "Please pick me up, Valerie."

I comply and place him on my shoulder.

Slowly you could hear a soft whirring coming from him. He begins to glow a warm orange and I feel a warmth next to my ear. 

"Would you like to hug me?" Mini-Max asks.

"Um, sure." I take him from off my shoulder and wrap my arms around him. He kicks the warmth up to high-gear. Ahhhhh.

"This feels like a towel out of the dryer," I murmur as I press my cheeks against his warm center. My fingers, which were popsicles on my hand, gradually became toasty little beans. I hear Lily chuckle at my sudden attachment to Mini-Max, but I ignore her.

I am warmed up, so I look at the robot again. "Mini-Max."

He turns his head to look at me.

"Go back to the board."