Saving skies

Chapter 8

“So was the farm alright?” Nick asks me, as I serve them bowls of pasta from the stove top. I nod and hum an ‘mhmm’ as I move to the small table that Bryce, Nick and I are sitting around.

“Yeah, Mr Dune and his wife are really nice” Bryce lifts his head at the name Dune.

“You do know that kid at the party was Olly Dune” he comments, with slight sarcasm in his voice.

“Yeah…” I start awkwardly “That is the downside”

“You met Olly Dune at a party?” Nick asks me, raising an eyebrow

“You could say that” Bryce remarks and I look down at my bowl of pasta. He was being so nice yesterday, why has he suddenly changed moods again?

“I thought we’d been over this Bryce” I state, my voice monotone as I quickly tire from his taunting. Today had been really long, I only worked for four hours but I was beyond tired.

“Woah, did our baby Anna hook up with Olly?” Nick laughs

“Yes, but that’s all!” I defend myself, laughing a bit too.

“Well, you haven’t thanked me for saving you yet” Bryce adds in, his voice slightly lighter.

“Ugh, fine… thanks” I mutter awkwardly.

“What did Bryce do?” asks Nick.

“Well…” I start

“I got his tongue out of her mouth, so she could talk again”

“Gross”

“Yeah”

“So what’s it like working with him?”

“He’s a massive pain in the arse” I reply, and I join in when Nick starts laughing. Bryce stays quiet, looking at me questioningly.

“Has he done anything to you?” He asks me worriedly.

“Not really” I answer “And I told him to back off when he did” I smile at him to reassure that I was unharmed.  He smiles back, but it doesn’t look real. I can see that something is bugging him.

I stand in the bathroom, brushing my teeth, when I feel a presence behind me. I look into the mirror to see Bryce’s tall figure and I turn around to face him.

“I’ve got something to show you tonight” He tells me “Come to my room when you’re done”

And then he walks out of the bathroom and across the hall to his room, before closing the door.

I quickly rinse out my mouth, and tie my hair into a knot at the top of my head. I walk out and into his bedroom, where he is waiting, sitting on the edge of his bed.

He is still wearing his work uniform, whilst I stand here in pyjamas. When he sees me waiting for him, he quickly jumps up from his bed and walks out the door.

“Follow me” he whispers as he walks past me. And I do just that.

Before I realise it, we have walked outside into the cool autumn air, and I feel grateful that I decided to put a jumper on over my pyjama top.

Bryce walks down the drive way and onto the path on the side of the street. He stands with his hands in his pockets waiting for me. I didn’t realise before, but he has pulled a black hoodie over his orange top.

When I step onto the footpath with him, he takes my hand and drags me down the street, to a park on the corner.

“What are we doing at the playground?” I ask as he plonks onto the chair in front of it. Instead of answering, Bryce just smiles at me. A brilliant smile. Then he jumps out of the chair and runs up to the top of the slide.