Lonely

Chapter 17, Hanger

i would love any comments or suggestions, or any of my mistakes pointed out!!! Thanks!

The door opened and I turned my back on the old man sleeping in a chair in the corner of the lobby. Sadie strode in, and I k new something was wrong. She was trying to hide it, trying hard, but was failing. She walked up to me. “You got rooms for us?” she asked curtly. I held up the key on my finger. “Where’s the other one?” she asked. The other key?

“I only got one room.” Sadie threw her hands up in the air, obviously annoyed. “You didn’t tell me get more than one.” I said, trying to defend my self. She shook her head. “What ever. I call the bed.” She muttered, snatching the key off of my finger. She looked at the old man in the chair, then at the clerk who was paying no attention to him. She put a twenty dollar bill on his chest and motioned for me to follow her. She trotted up the stairs in front of me, and I followed. The dusty wood paneling was falling off the walls in places, and the mustard yellow carpet was matted won, weird stains covering it. Sadie stopped in front of a door that had a dent in it, looking suspiciously like a shoe mark, and unlocked it.

Inside, there was one twin sized bed, a grungy looking arm chair in front of dirty window, and a small T.V. which I doubted would work, seems as how the back was smashed out. Sadie threw her loaded bag on the bed and pulled out a Twinkie. She sat on the bed and stared at the floor eating her Twinkie.

“Sorry I only got one room.” I said, coming closer. She glanced up at me, obviously deep in thought. “It’s fine. It would have just wasted money to get two.” She said, trying to paste fake smile on her face. I frowned. She was sad, troubled. It bothered me. I wanted to make her feel better, to make her pain go away. It was an absurd feeling. “Did you call your dad?” I asked. She looked away.

“I talked to my mom.”

“And what did she say?” Sadie stood up and faced the window. “She doesn’t believe me. She told me to leave you.” She said, choking on the words. My frown deepened. “You can go, you don’t have to stay. I can take care of myself.” I said. She tugged on her hair, her back still facing me. “No, I can’t. Besides, I have nowhere else to go.” She said. I wanted to move closer, to touch her, but I couldn’t. “I just wanted to be like every other kid, with normal parents who came to my soccer games and cheered me on, and grounded me when I failed tests, and worried about me. They don’t even trust me.” She whispered. My heart thumped painfully in my chest. She suddenly turned around, tears streaming down her face, and held her arms open. It took me a minute to figure out she wanted a hug. I strode across the room and gathered her in my arms, wanting to melt away all of her pain.

She wrapped her arms around my waist and buried her face in my chest, her shoulders shaking. I stroked her back, trying to soothe her. After a few minutes, the shaking stopped, and she pulled away, wiping her face. “I ruined your shirt.” She said. The corners of my mouth tugged. “You can ruin all my shirts. You don’t have to worry. We can deal with your parents.” I said. She smiled a little, her eyes still red and puffy. “I’m getting in the shower.” She announced. She grabbed something from her bag, then walked into the small bathroom and shutting the door.

“If you’re hungry, you can get something out of my bag.” She called through the door as the water turned on. I stood there for a few minutes. I had never been so close to any one, as far as I could remember. Physically or emotionally. Her parents enraged me. I had never even met her mother and I hated her, and her father. After a moment, I opened her bag and dug around for some of her junk food, as she called it. I grasped the picture she had taken from her house, the one of her and her parents. She looked so happy, so carefree in that picture. I wanted to make it like that for her all the time. I couldn’t though. She wasn’t my job to take care of; she wasn’t mine to feel protective of. Yet I did. I did, and I knew it was wrong. I put it back and settled on a bag of chips, staring out the window as I ate them.

After a while, I heard the water shut off. A few minutes later, Sadie came out, dressed the same except with sweat pants on. Her hair was soaked, hanging down around her shoulders. The dirt and grime had been washed away, and a few of her freckles were gone. I realized it must have been dirt.

“What time is it?” she asked. “Are you asking for me to give you the time of day?” I asked, referring to the comment she had made earlier and trying to sound innocent. “Are you trying to make me mad?” she asked, glaring at me.

Yes. “No, just saying.” She rolled her eyes. “You should take a shower. It’ll draw less attention to you, if you know what I mean.” She said with a smile. I shook my head and followed her advice.

After ten minutes of boiling water, I was back in the same clothes I had always worn. Sadie frowned at me as I settled myself in the chair in the room.”We’re gonna have to buy you some new clothes.” She said. I didn’t answer, and she lied down, turning the light off. After a few minutes, I heard her deep breathing and new she was asleep. Rex seemed to appear out of nowhere, and I remembered seeing him crawl under the bed when we got in the room. He crawled onto the bed and curled up at her feet. I leaned back in the chair, anticipating a quiet night. I was wrong.

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I was still awake when there came a familiar sound in the hall way, just slightly muffled by the rug. The sound of scaled being dragged along the floor. Rex stood up and started pacing the room, growling. I silently walked over to Sadie, kneeling over her. “Wake up. We have to go.” I said. Something started pounding on the door, and I knew it would only take a few blows before it opened. Sadie’s eyes snapped open and she sat up. “Wha’? I’m up.” She said, throwing herself out of the bed and grabbing her bag. I looked for possible escape routes. There was only one window, and we were two stories above the ground. It might be too far…

The door suddenly fell in and a hideous, yet familiar monster slinked in. Sadie’s breathing sped up. “Calm down. I can take it. Stay very still.” I said in her ear. She nodded her eyes glued to thing with green, slimy scales. It sniffed the air with its alligator like head, a low, rumbling growl erupting from its chest. It took a step closer, its muscular back legs tensing when it caught our scents. Rex was positioned right in front of us, not moving. The creature’s eyes rolled back and forth separately in its head as it searched for us. It nose flared and its forearm grasped the bed post. It ripped it off easily and sniffed it, then tossed it aside, growling again.

“Very, very slowly, go around the room and towards the door. Stay behind it.” I instructed. Sadie nodded slowly again, her eyes still stuck on the thing. Very slowly, we began inching our way towards around the perimeter of the room. We almost made it too.

Rex, that stupid creature, got excites and tried to dart for the door. The monster missed him, but spied. It still stood between us and the door. I didn’t want to have to resort to what I was about to do, but I didn’t have a choice. I positioned myself between it and Sadie. It launched its self at us, slobbering and blowing hot, stinking breath into our faces. I felt Sadie clutching my shirt behind me and I mustered the strength to do something I hadn’t done in a long time.

Just before it hit us, I flicked my hand.