Felixentric

Scene 27

"Are you okay?" Janette's voice came from the bottom of the staircase. She was looking up at him from the end of the swirl and up the railing.

Felix stopped kicking and looked down, his face going red. "I'm great."

He came down the stairs. She smiled, but he walked past her.

"Felix?"

He made it to the bottom and clicked the front door to the complex open, then walked out.

Janette followed. "Hey! What's wrong?"

He began jogging away, and then running, and then sprinting. He didn't want her to follow, but she did and, at that point, he didn't know where togo.

The wind rushed through between the tall buildings, winding down into Felix's hair. He dodged off to one end of the street and raced down it for a long while. Though his energy was often too low to even move, running away felt like his default stress disolver. In random explosions of energy, his nerves were going mad.

Janette was close behind. Her screaming voice was freight-training after him. "I'm not letting you out of my sight today! I know something's wrong and I won't let you make any shit decisions!"

It hurt. What she expected was that his pain would lead to poor ideas. She was probably right, but he wasn't just going to stand there and wait for her to catch up.

When he noticed her, he bolted into the nearest doorway and scrambled in. Inside, there was a desk and sofa on opposite walls. They took up almost the entire room, but an oriental rug covered a doorway leading to another room.

Upon the sound of the bell from the door, a hand with many rings and chains pulled the rug back and a beautiful woman popped out. She had a nose ring and long earrings. Behind her sat a table with a crystal ball and another girl sitting in front of it.

"May I help you?" the ringed woman asked, obviously a palm reader or Seer.

He flinched, lowering his knees and throwing out his hands, like readying himself for a tackle. "Don't let her know I'm here!" he screamed and then dove behind the skinny area between the wall and sofa.

The bell rang and the ringed woman greeted her. But the voice was confused and had a resting annoyance, though she played along.

"Where is he?" Janette's voice came shrilly, but she didn't want for an answer. It only took seconds for her head to pop over the sofa, spotting Felix in the fetal position.

The Seer grunted. "I'll be in back if either of you were planning to make a purchase." And then Felix heard her move behind the hanging rug, signifying her departure.

Janette climbed behind the couch, with her nose to the floor. "I know something's going on with you, and I know I don't see you much anymore, but I still want to be your best friend. Er. The best friend I can be. I want to know what's on your mind, but not just today. All the time."

"Uh-." He fell back into the floor on one of his squished arms, trying to scoot back and give her room. As if she was about to spontaneously combust or other. "Okay."

"I feel..." her usual hesitant nature started to show through, until she swallowed and pushed in closer. "That I'm not working hard enough to make things right for you." Her eyes were sort of wild, but not like a caged dog, maybe just like someone who hadn't gotten any sleep in a few nights. She pushed the sofa back on the floor, away from the wall so the space was more like a nook than a factory press. Then she closed in the space between them with her body, her eyes getting glossy like she was about to...

His heart kind of wrenched, but he wasn't sure if it was because of her torn up features or his recently-torn-up organs. "Your house caught on fire and I didn't invite you to stay with me and I've stopped coming to see you so often and I just feel so-. Like such a bad friend and that-."