The Consequences Of...

8.

"Should we knock on the door?" Simons voice says. "No, her parents will wake up" Dylan says. "You distract her parents and I'll go find her" Simon says sounding urgent. "No, Well I have to do something" he mutters. I'm leaning out my window at 2am, watching the Strood brothers standing by my tree house talking about me. They can't see me, but the moon is gleaming at them, making them, almost too visible. At first, when I heard a sound out by the woods, I thought is was that raccoon that they dumped back there, was waking up from his dirt nap, but I looked out to see the three boys contemplating knocking on my door or throwing rocks at my window. I pray that they think of a new plan because either one would be destructive in my house.

"This would be easier if you asked her for her phone number before you made her hate you" Curtis says to Simon, who in return punches him in the arm. "Alright how about this, there's a ladder in her shed, we still have the keys, Lets get the ladder, climb up to her bedroom window, and just tap on it" Dylan says strategizing. "How do we know which one is her window?" Simon asks, I can already see Dylan and Curtis carrying my dad's ladder. "I bet it's the one with the pink curtains and the Princess lamp in the window" Curtis says. I Quietly shut the window and sit down on my bed just a few feet away. I watch the top of the ladder move slightly, and then I hear Simon climbing up the ladder. I lay down on my bed and watch the window as his face appears. I can see his eyes Even in the dark, they're electric yellow. I shudder at the sight of him. Such a weird sight, Simon Strood a boy I barley know, looking through my bedroom window, waiting to tell me something that apparently couldn't wait until school on Monday.

He taps lightly on my window. I pretend to be a sleep. He taps harder and I slowly Sit up, when he sees I'm awake He taps harder. "Mouse" he says. "Shh, you'll wake up the neighborhood" I say opening the window. I'd taken the screen out a long time ago because I liked sticking my head out when it was really windy. Now Simon Strood was sticking his head in and smiling. "I don't care who I wake up" he says. "I do, if my parents here you..." I trail off realizing I have no fricken idea what they'd do. But it wouldn't be good, I know that much.

"What do you want?" I ask. "I just..look you know the word Sorry?" he says asking the weirdest question I could imagine. "Yes, I know that word" I whisper. "Well, that doesn't even cover half of it" Simon says leaning in even more. He's talking too loud, I was glad for once that Emily is always staying over people's houses on weekends, because she would have waken up by now. My parents would be up soon if he didn't talk quieter. "Talk quieter" is all I say. He looks disappointed in my response but I don't care to apologize. "I'm sorry for everything, not just getting mad, but what I said and did to try to get you to tell me your name was bad. I shouldn't'a done that, and I'm sorry. And I'm sorry for getting you mixed up or getting you in trouble with your parents about the keys, which I have by the way, here ya go" He says handing them to me. He seems to ramble off allot, but it's okay. it's kinda cute. He's kinda cute. "This could have waited until daytime" I whisper. He laughs a little sad laugh at my comment, and shakes his head. "You shoulda seen me at home. I'm usually fine with guilt, but you...well like I've said before you're peculiar" He whispers. "So is that it?" I ask. He shakes his head and leans in closer. "I'm sorry for dragging you into my world, and I might be saying that again real soon, because I'm not ready to let you out just yet" He says, his face is so close to mine, our noses not touching, but so very close to it. Our lips an inch away. I shiver, but try to keep it contained. He's o close, I can almost taste him, his strawberry lips, his near-glowing eyes, his blue hair which looked damp as if it had just been washed. He's so beautiful, but I know better. I've read the love stories. I'm only fourteen, I'm a freshman. Yes he's a sophomore, but he's already sixteen. I know I know, "Age doesn't matter" but I still think it's weird, he's just so....tall, it's more like he's five years older than me.

It surprises me how much I already know about Simon Strood, but then he's been on my mind allot lately. He was right about dragging me into his world. His world was full of excitement and adventure, mine was quiet and always plotting. I always have a plan, but Simon just does things. I can't be like that, I can't get attached to something when I'm about to leave. I'll be running away, soon I'm sure, and I can't break his heart like that. That is of course, if he even likes me at all, which he has clearly stated that he doesn't, at least twice. But still, here he is, Inches from my face in the middle of the night. He had dragged me into his world, but I had to get out, even if that went against what ever he has in mind.

"If you're not going to let me out, I'll just have to run" I say. I slowly blink my eyes, but when I open them he's still smiling. "Well, I'll just run faster' He says. "You can't run faster, I'll run away before you notice I'm, even gone. You'll never catch me" I say, horrified and a bit confused. Did that mean he wanted me to stay right were I was?, Or maybe even an inch closer?

"You won't scare me like that Mouse" He says, I can see his smile is twitching, like he's trying hard to keep it up. "I'm fully capable of running away, I'll just slip out from right under your nose" I say. "You'll never even see me."

He moves his head away from my face for a second, but then puts his lips to my ear "I guess i'll have to stay close by at all times then, in case you try to run" His voice is soft, a whisper, it makes me shiver all over again. Something about him always makes me shiver. He notices. "Why do you shiver so much?" he asks laughing. "I only shiver around you" I say truthfully. He's facing me again, his eyes gleaming, and his smile spread across his face, his teeth are a little crooked, but very white.

He doesn't say anything but his smile is bright. And so are his eyes. I look into them deeper, trying to see behind them, to see what color his real eyes were. The curiosity was bubbling inside me, whatever color it was he didn't want anyone to know what they were. That was his secret, and I found it frustrating that I didn't know the real color of his eyes.  That must be how he feels about my name,  I think to myself.

"I'll Seeya soon Mouse" he says and moves in as if he's going to kiss me yet again. But stops himself, and smiles brightly. "Seeya" I say. He winks and quickly drops down the ladder. I don't dare smile as he and his brothers leave. I watch them cross off of my property and back to their own house, which I never noticed how clearly visible it was from my bedroom window. Just a few houses away. Simon Strood just a block or two down the road. Simon Strood. So very close to me. I remember his breath from only a minute ago, cold and minty fresh, as if he just brushed his teeth. his teeth, so white and in need of braces. He had a gap on the side of his mouth, and his front teeth leaned in spate ways. But that made his smile seem more complete.

His smell. His blue hair. His smile. Those eyes of his. Everything about him burned into my mind. I loved the idea of it, just...so truly him. He's such a person, and I'm glad he's not more than that. He's awkward and funny but also mean and easily angered. He's such a person I can barley stand it. Everyone lives in fear of The mighty and  ferocious Strood brothers. They aren't people in everyone else mind, just something to avoid so you don't get hurt. But they're people. I feel a new thing in my veins rushing, it's joy. They're such people! They're people like me, and I'm one of them. I'm one of them. I'm in with them, Simon sais it himself. I'm stuck in his world, and his world is the same world as mine. We're stuck together, it a world full of people, just like we're people. It's so very overjoying that he's a person like I am a person. It may sound silly but, well, it is silly but I can talk to him like a person...and I can't do that with most other people.