nomad | k.t.h ff [HIATUS]

2 - LANE

A white blouse, a sky blue frilly skirt, and bare feet, with curly hair gliding through the processed wind by the swings. Laughter filled the air, smiles stretching across unfamiliar faces. Giggles erupt from a young girl, gazing at me.

I tilt my head, thinking of my confused feelings that I have that scream 'familiarity', yet, I don't recognize. Two boys, both with dark brown hair and hazelnut brown eyes- enough to look like siblings, however, there was a difference. From afar you'd think they were raised the same, but the difference that you couldn't really see is underneath. If you look beneath every laugh, every smile, you can find a desperate call for help with his laugh, and  the same lips that quiver at night are the same with the painted smile in the day.

My heart begins to quicken its pace at the sight of the ball. My surroundings turn black; the girl from before hollers, running away. For no deliberate reason, I begin to chase her into the black abyss. Midway into the chase, my feet land in a sinkhole. For a while, I struggled, until I finally pulled and dragged my feet out, then I realized I was too late. A screeching noise is heard from afar; no sign of the little girl. Searching for her, I find a ball bouncing.

"Lane! Lane!" An unrecognizable lady yells, shaking me in horror.

Her voice begins to get deeper, sounding like Winston.

Winston.

I wake up, realizing it was all just a dream. Tears of sweat run down my whole face, hair sticking to my forehead. My panting slowed down, my body succumbing to reality and slowly stopped shaking.

Winston supported my back with his right hand as he gave me a cup of water with his left.

"Your nightmare came back, huh?" Winston questioned.

I continued to sip, not answering him, making that his cue to know it was. Two years ago, was when I shared my nightmare. Usually, I don't tell people, but for Winston, he portrayed the look of 'safe'. Since then, he's always been there.

"My mom wants to know if you'd like to stay for dinner." His eyes inquired for my acceptance. Bobbing my head up and down, I make the way out of the guest bedroom, inhaling the strong aroma of spices.

"Oh, you woke up! This was supposed to be a surprise so I could keep you here!" She laughs, causing me to display a sheepish grin.

Observing her cooking skills, Lilly (Winston's mom told me to call her by her name) begins to panic. "Gosh darn it!" She sighs.

A loud splash coming from the kitchen, causes me to break from my train of thought and rush over to the disaster. The ground was covered in milk, including the cupboards.

"Is everything okay?" I ask frantically.

As she brushes her hair back behind her ear, Lilly tries to clean the pearly white mess. Not knowing what to do, I suggested to go buy new milk. Agreeing, she hands me five dollars.

"At least someone helps around here!" She cocks her head to the side, trying to earn a reaction from Winston.

"I heard you!" Without even looking, I could tell he was rolling his eyes.

It only took ten minutes for me to reach the convenience store, and once I reached it, it was almost empty, except for the fact that it consisted of three people: the cashier, a tall man around my age sipping on his broth from his ramen, and me. Not caring who's in here now, I infiltrate the dairy section and latch my hand onto the carton of milk.

After twenty-three minutes (but who's counting?), I enter the house to discover mother and son whispering to each other. Before I could ask what is going on, they begin to sing "Happy Birthday". I don't know why, but I start to smile. For two years, they've done everything for me, but something feels different- I like it. Establishing the milk on the counter, they finish singing, and Lilly starts to clap with joy. Motioning me to come closer, Winston hands me a gift.

"What is this?" My whole face lights up with joy as Winston hands me a small gift. Gesturing with his eyes to open, I carefully unwrap it as if were glass that was going to break at any moment. It was a silver key.

"We got you an apartment!" Lilly wailed.

I froze; I didn't know how to feel. I didn't expect to live with them forever, but I only had just started staying here for a couple months. Do they want me to leave that bad? Am I too much?

Waking myself out of my trance of shock, I shake my head to show that everything is okay. Winston's mom claps her hands together in delight most likely thinking she got a great gift. Not able to say a word, Winston wraps his arm around me, happy.

- - - - -

A couple days later, Winston and Lilly helped me move into my new apartment right above the convenience store from the other day. It is great having my own place, but I feel like they were rushing- not that I have a lot of stuff anyway, but it would've been nice if they seemed a little sad that I was leaving. Maybe I'm asking too much.

Dusting off our hands, we set the last box down into the living room and rest in the kitchen, guzzling water down our throats. Both of them were having their own conversation, while I was thinking about how I was going to pay.

Both leaving in a hurry for work, I was left with myself and the hollow apartment. Being broke and hungry, I grab my bag with my wallet and decide to head downstairs and enter the convenience store. There, beholds the same people from before. The tiresome student cashier and they the extremely tall guy with the same tracksuit as before.

Going down the few isles hoping that they have what I want, I look at the price; realizing they upped it, I knew I didn't have enough.

Maybe I should? No, I shouldn't.

Biting my lip, I contemplate whether or not I should five finger discount it, but my stomach rumbles in pain, giving me the "go". I'm sorry.

Rummaging through the packets of ramen, I decide to take most of them and some other snacks. Next thing I know, the extremely tall guy in the track suit rips my bag from my grasp, and I storm out embarrassed. It takes a few minutes for him reach the outside, and when he does, I take off with my bag.