"how old are you?" ethan asks noelle while searching the ground for something unknown to her. she brought the boy to the basement, planning on blowing up an air mattress for him to sleep on.
"i'll be eighteen in june."
"perfect." the boy mutters, but she hears him perfectly well. without giving the comment much thought, noelle goes into the closet, pulling out the mattress and its pump. she plugs it in and lets it inflate. noelle stands up, hands on her hips, while she watches ethan walk around the room, stretching his arms out in various directions, wincing while in some positions, and she assumes it's from pain.
"what's that?" he asks, nodding toward the mattress. this kid doesn't know what an air mattress is? she thinks.
"uh, a mattress for you to sleep on?"
"oh! i remember those. vaguely, though." he says it so innocently that she can't help but sympathize with him in her mind, not knowing any reason as to why he's here. or who he is for that matter.
"can i...ask you something?"
"sure." ethan replies, a little smile tugging up the corners of his mouth. noelle turns the mattress off, hoping that it's good enough for him. she wrings her hands out in front of her before making eye contact with the boy standing before her.
"who...are you?"
"you'll find out, i promise. and i never break my promises, i can assure you of that." he says coolly, and she's a bit taken aback.
"well...my parents will be home, and i would prefer that they don't hear or see you. so, try to be quiet," another thought pops into her head before she's ready to go upstairs.
"do you have a phone?"
"well, no. that'd be absurd." his tone makes her feel lesser for a moment, but she convinces herself that he meant nothing by it.
"if you need anything from me...umm...there's a door on the far wall over there," noelle points to a wooden door against the most bare wall in the basement.
"it leads to the backyard, and i've got a balcony outside of my bedroom. you can come up the stairs to it if you need anything, but be careful if you do." she turns to leave after putting some blankets and pillows out for ethan.
what had compelled her to help him?
she doesn't even know him.
"thank you, noelle. from the bottom of my heart, thank you." he says to her softly, and she thinks about looking over her shoulder to smile at him, but instead, walks upstairs and shuts the door to the basement, her stomach churning.
♡♡♡
