Twelve

ch 13: Terrible First Impressions

Sci gently knocked on the door of a quickly ageing apartment. The paint was peeling off in unattractively large chunks. The door to the apartment itself had worrisome stains randomly splattered across it.

Sci knocked again. "Hello?" he called cautiously.

Ra rolled his eyes and pushed him aside. Without much thought, he banged his fist on the wooden door. "Hey! Let us in."

The door, restrained by the safety latch, opened a crack, revealing a young boy around the age of 18.

"What's your name, kid?" Ra asked roughly.

The boy hesitated and looked warily over the strangers gathered at his front door. "Cori."

Sarui ungracefully pushed Ra aside. "Good. Come with us."

Sarui was met with silence as Cori continued to stare at them in silence.

"Look, kid. You're in a lot of danger so just come with us. You can trust us, really. All we want to do is help."

Sci looked hopelessly back and forth at Sarui and Ra. They were terrible at this. "Please just talk with us," he interjected suddenly. "Hear what we have to say and then decide after."

Cori suddenly shut the door. The trio let out a defeated sigh in unison. As suddenly as the door had closed, it swung open again. The door was opened fully and Cori stood awkwardly by it.

He was as tall as Ra and had a strong chin. His structured face was paired with dark brown hair that was cut short. His sparse apartment revealed nothing about him except that he was either incredibly organized or broke. "Well," he said with an ever so slight hint of annoyance. "Talk."

Ra grabbed him by the shoulders and muttered something along the lines of "We don't have time for this." He abruptly slammed his head into Cori's, effectively knocking the boy out cold and leaving Ra stumbling. Cori slumped to the floor while Ra precariously leaned on a wall.

"You moron!" Sarui scolded. "Was that really the best way you could think of?" She tenderly examined Ra's quickly forming bruise.

Sci scrambled through the freezer, searching for ice packs. Finding two small ones, he tossed one to Sarui and gently placed the other on Cori's scarlet forehead.

"You're going to have to drag him out. Hoist him up and bring him to the car. I'll help this idiot," Sarui ordered.

Sci nodded as he slung one of Cori's arms around his shoulders. He followed Sarui and Ra out the front door and into the car. As gently as he could, Sci lay Cori in the backseat while Sarui threw Ra into the passenger seat.

"Eran is going to be so pissed at you. You're supposed to be the driver," she continued to scold the groaning boy next to her.

Sci couldn't help but snicker from the back seat.

"What?" Sarui demanded.

"It's just that, you two are kind of like a married couple on a sitcom."

Sarui's blush was visible via the rear view mirror. "Whatever let's just get home."