The Risks

September: Chapter 30

We first visited the high school library to gather some reading material to keep ourselves busy while Parker healed. Afterward, Parker told me to head on upstairs and that he was going to stop to get some things for supper so that we could eat in tonight rather than be ogled at in the cafeteria/gymnasium.

Upstairs, I dumped our collection of borrowed books onto the coffee table and sifted through them, trying to decide where to start. I picked up a book of short stories and began to read.

After some time, the door creaked open and Parker stuck his head in.

I set down the book and looked at my watch. It was almost six o'clock. "Damn. It's been two hours. You'd better have something good for supper."

"Close your eyes," he told me with a small, secretive smile.

"What? Why?" I demanded.

"Just- please?"

I sighed and closed my eyes. I heard the door shut and him set something down on the small round table by the kitchenette. Then I felt him take my hand. I let him lead me.

"Okay," he said slowly, "open."

On the table sat a cake. A real cake. It was sloppily covered with white icing and in dripping, brown letters were the words "happy", "birthday", and "you". A yellow candle shaped like the number two sat in between the last two words so the cake read, Happy Birthday 2 You.

"They didn't have the number nineteen," Parker explained, "and a cake needs a candle so... I improvised."

I bit my trembling lip. "You made this?"

"Yeah," he shrugged.

I touched my pointer finger to the runny scrawl.

"That's chocolate syrup."

"This is the best cake I've ever seen," I whispered. I failed to mention to him that it was the first cake anyone had made for me since my mom passed away. I didn't want to ruin this, but my mind began to swarm with negative thoughts. I gave him a sideways glance and a mischievous smile. "It's poisonous, isn't it?"

He raised his eyebrows impishly. "Let's find out, shall we?"

...

Thanks to the calendar hanging in our room, I could keep track of the days. On Friday morning, Parker and I went to visit Dr. Shepard again. She examined the stitches, then decided it was time to take them out.

At lunch, we ate in the gym. The novelty of our arrival had worn off for the most part after the first few days, but we spent those first few days with lots of eyes on us and lots of questions being thrown at us. Now we sat at a table, finishing our food with a small group of people who we'd started talk to. The group included the man with the pale brown eyes who brought us here, whose name was Chris, a few of his friends, a woman named Leila, and Hannah, the pregnant woman.

"So," Parker said as he pushed a piece of broccoli around on his plate, "do you want to go to this bonfire thing tonight?"

"You've got to come," Hannah smiled. "They're lots of fun."

"I'm bringing the booze," Chris whispered slyly, then looked to Hannah. "Sorry, Nans. No Shirley Temples. Just good 'ole hard liquor."

"Oh, darn," she said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes with good humor.

"Do you want to go?" I asked Parker quietly while the others chatted.

"I think it'd be good for us," he shrugged.

I pressed my thumb against my mouth and bit my cheek. Now that he was doing better, I was thinking of what the next step was. In all honesty, I didn't think we should stay here. But I couldn't talk to him about this here, now. So I agreed to go.