Some Cuts Never Heal

Chapter Four

*Chris’s POV*

I heard him before he ever reached my room. The front door closed loud enough for me to realize it was morning.

And I was not ready for the day.

I crammed my eyes shut, hoping I was imagining the faint steps that were getting closer and closer to my room, and for a second I actually thought I did imagine it when they stopped.

My attempts were for nothing, though, when Jake jumped on me directly, knocking the air out of my lungs.

I had him off of me in a matter of seconds, coughing as I sucked air down.

“Good morning,” he said, bouncing up and down on my bed.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” I scolded, blinking into the light to adjust and rubbing the spot where he’d landed on me.

“Its 10:30,” he clarified, hopping off the bed, “And Kevin’s waiting for you in the kitchen.”

I groaned as he disappeared out my bedroom door and flopped my head back down onto the pillow, rolling over to go back to sleep.

Jake’s voice suddenly came through the door way again. “And he says not to go back to sleep,” he called.

Groaning even louder, I rolled myself out of bed and grudgingly made my way to the kitchen, only to find it empty.

Confused, I glanced around before peeking my head into the living room and spotting him on the couch, playing a video game.

“Is that Halo?” I asked, shuffling in to sit on the couch beside Nathan, who was playing with him.

“Sure is,” Kevin answered.

“And he just lost,” Nathan grinned, hitting a series of buttons on his remote.

“Damn it,” Kevin swore under his breath, “How are you this good at this game? I play this all the time.”

Nathan laughed and put his remote down to stand up and stretch.

“Good morning kitten!” he said cheerfully.

“What are you so happy about?” I asked suspiciously.

He shrugged, but the smile didn’t drop from his face.

“We’re due at the clinic at 11:30 for a pick up,” Kevin reminded me. I groaned internally, but he must’ve seen it on my face because he smiled.

“It won’t be that bad, you just need some time to get used to it.”

I rolled my eyes and turned to walk to the kitchen.

“It’ll take a little under an hour to get there, so I’m guessing you have about five minutes to change and be in the car,” he also told me.

Swearing I sprinted to my room muttering and yelling about him not getting me up earlier, probably waking up the entire house even though I didn’t care.

A groggy Seth and a half-asleep Dylan filled my doorway while I was flinging through various articles of clothing.

“Why are you yelling?” Seth asked, yawning and stretching. Dylan punched him in the arm when he started to yawn right after him and stretched too.

“When do you have to leave?” Dylan questioned, sitting down on the bed.

“In about four minutes and twenty-three seconds,” I answered, “If I have to be up now, so does everyone else.”

Seth rolled his eyes, either at my selfishness or the principle, though I couldn’t tell which.

“Ready to see your dad?” he asked, leaning against the doorframe.