Beyond The Curtains

4

"Didn't you say that there's some kid who's been here for a long time and still remembers what was before the curtains?" I ask, leaning up from my bed nearly after I woke up from my slumber.

"Yeah...why?" Sara asks, while doing the dishes. She's been up a lot longer than I have. I guess she's used to waking up early compared to me. Usually my parents wake me up.

"Well maybe he know's how to get out of here. If he remember everything, he must be pretty wise and wise people tend to know the answer to things," I explain to her, using the educated guess technique on her.

"You do not want to meet with him, he's a jerk. The first time I met him, he wouldn't even let me get near him. Meeting him would be a terrible experience for a newbie like you. Ugh he's so rude," she exclaims, frowning at the thought of him.

"He can't be that bad, and come on, maybe he can help us get out of here. We need all the help we can get. We should try everything and see what works. You never know, he might have changed by now. People change quicker than you think. We should go," I rise up from my bed and walk towards my box and start changing into my clothes for today.

"He's bad. But if you say so, I'll let you torture yourself. You'll regret it, he's one of those people who doesn't change, but you'll learn that for yourself," she shrugs.

"He'll prove you wrong, people do that sometimes. But I assume you've never heard of that," I say, annoying myself.

"Okay...I'll let you believe what you want to believe. You can believe that people change. And people do change, just not people like him," She tells me, satisfied with her point.

"Everyone can change when change is needed and I firmly believe in that. So we'll see," I tie my shoes as quickly as a rabbit and get ready to go see the so called 'jerk'. "What's his name anyway?"
"His name is Jake."

*****

I look up at the solid blue sky, while we venture out to Jake's house. The air is mildly humid with no wind. Sara looks at me with nervous, puppy dog eyes. I can tell that she thinks I'm going to hate Jake. No one can be that bad? Right?
"So you said that this Jake guy is a jerk, he can't only be a jerk," I say, wishing to gain knowledge on him.

"Jake's hard to explain without using the word 'jerk' because that's what he is. But if you insist, Jake is just Jake, yeah that's what he is, he's Jake. That's really all I can say about his personality. Here's some background knowledge. Jake thinks he's been here the longest and was the first to come here, even though he is one hundred percent sure that he's only been here for a few months. Which is impossible because I've been here my whole life, so he's totally lying. But that's besides the point, he thinks he's the wisest of the bunch, like how you thought he might be wise. He acts like he rules this place, like some sort of awful king. And trust me, he is no king. So yeah, that's really it," She finishes her rant by ending in a sorrow sigh.

"Wow. He sounds interesting, but like I said, people can change," I explain, sticking to my beliefs. Come on Jake, please prove her wrong, don't let me lose faith in you. "When was the last time you saw him?" I ask, wanting to grasp onto evidence that people can surely change.

"About a week ago," She exclaims loud and proud. Oh... I don't know if people can change that quickly, that would be an unbelievably quick change, too quick.

"Oh, no problem. One week's totally enough time for people to change," I veer away from sounding sarcastic, even though that's what I should sound like. Why in the world did you say that? That's totally wrong! I can't expect this Jake kid to have changed in one singular week.

"Okay...I guess if you witnessed it. But I'm still going to believe he hasn't changed," She assumes as we continue heading toward Jake's house.

"Uh, yeah, okay. Good luck with that." Why do I keep saying these meaningless words? Sara abruptly stops in front of another wooden house.

"We're here," she says. Okay, we're off to a good start, I don't see any jerks in sight. The only difference is that there is a long stone pathway, prettier than any other pathway here. I plod up the pathway, hoping that Jake pulls through for me. I made just a big point about change, if I am wrong, that would just be embarrassing.

"Okay, I can't wait to meet this Jake kid. Hopefully he's as wise as I think he is, we need all the help we can get," I say, putting my hair behind my ears.

"It's okay if we don't make it out of here, but it would be nice to leave. I've just come to terms with being just here, so I'm fine staying here, but I guess you're not," She stares down at the green ground, not looking up.

"I need to leave," We near the door, finishing walking up the long stone pathway. "Staying here is not an option for me," I race up to his door and vigorously knock, not caring if it bothers him or not. Sara steadily follows me, not staying too far behind or in front. I hear footsteps behind the door.

The door swings open ad reveals a similar to ours . The difference is that it only has one bed and there's a throne made of toilet paper and clothes. "Hello," he looks us up and down. "Ew, girls have cooties!" He shouts, slamming the door in our faces.

"I told you," Remarks Sara. She knocks one more time. Ugh I hate being proven wrong...I guess it's how you learn though. Mom why do you always have to be right?

The door, once again, loudly swings open. This time a boy, who appears to be a few years younger, welcomes us through the door. "Come in, I'm sorry that Jake was so mean...He's intimidated by girls, not to offend you," he says, staying polite with amazing manners. He gestures us through the door.

"Thank you," I step through the door with Sara behind me. I pivot around to check up on Sara, she does not seem impressed. I saunter toward Jake, who now resides in his makeshift throne.

"What do you want?" He asks, giving us the stink eye. I fake a smile, hoping that he'll change his approach.

"Hey Jake, I'm Sara. I'm new to this place and want to find a way to leave. Since there's a way in there has to be a way out, right? So I've heard that you've been here the longest," Sara gasps quietly. "Since you've been here the longest and remember everything, maybe you'd now how to get out of here." I explain, trying to sound as nice as possible.

"Um, yeah, no," He says, glancing all around the room in attempt to not look at us.

"What do you mean? I'm trying-"

"Listen, I think you have the wrong person, I have been here the longest. And I do remember everything but I can't help you. You can probably figure it out, you're pretty smart for a girl." Was that supposed to be a compliment.

"But-" I inch a tiny bit closer to him, trying to make my point and get some help.

"Can you guys just leave? You're wasting my time. Johnny get them out of here," He demands, nodding toward Johnny.

"We came all the way out here, the least you could do is get off of your little butt and listen to us you jerk!" Screams Sara, shaking the whole room. I knew she had it in her.

"Woah there! You're pretty loud for a girl," Wow, Sara was right, he really is a jerk. Sara nods, accepting the fact that that's the closest thing to a compliment from him she'll ever receive. There's a pause as Jake clearly reconsiders telling us something. Sara looks at me and I look at her. 'We got this in the bag', I mouth to her. Cynically, she slowly nods her head, nearly laughing. "I kind of told you what I know, so bye!" He shouts, gesturing for us to leaving.

My mouth drops wide open, I can feel the breeze of the air conditioner fill my mouth. "Are you kidding me?" Johnny steps in front of us, blocking us from seeing Jake. He gently pushes us through the door than quietly shuts it. At least he's nice.

I look at Sara disgustedly, "What a jerk!"