With a life-changing incident, ten days of proving someone wrong and a burning desire to escape the world, will two boys who never noticed nor talked to each other actually fall in love?
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Sitting down on the couch, foot crossed over the other with a book in hand, Blue's eyes averted from word to word on the book he enjoyed reading.
To Kill A Mockingbird, it was.
He remembered when London use to read that book to him every night, and not once thinking of it as being strange. After all, most kids asked their parents to stop reading to them when they turn ten, but Blue met eighteen on the eleventh of October and never once asked his brother to stop. He enjoyed hearing his voice; he enjoyed his company.
In the far distance, in his house, you could hear the faucet running in the kitchen, and the sound of glass clashing with glass roamed the air. Lisbeth, Blue's mother, stood there washing dishes with tears pooling her eyes. She did not think Blue could hear her, but he could. Her continual chokes and snivels causing his heart to ache in affliction and his fingers to grip tightly onto the hard covered book in his hands.
Just then, the doorbell rang, distracting Blue from his mother's distress. He paused and got up from the couch, making his way to the door. He outstretched his arm and wrapped his long fingers around the doorknob before twisting and pulling the door open. Who stood in front of him was not a mystery to you, but Blue was quite shocked, seeing that he left the boy alone in the cemetery.
That night when Blue agreed to give him ten days, realization hit him, and he scowled and pushed the boy off of him. He swore, became apoplectic, and soliloquized under his breath. Chance did not mind; he saw Blue's reaction before he even displayed it.
Blue wondered why he even agreed when the night before he swore at him and told him to leave him alone. Nausea swirled unrestrained within his empty stomach, and his head swam with brutally formed regrets, but it was too late now because he had already given a straight answer.
Seeing Chance standing at his door sent shivers up and down the spine of Blue. "Hey, " Chance greeted him with a smile.
Blinking, Blue gulped and clenched his teeth. "What are you doing here?" He asked him.
Chance's grin widened and he started fumbling with his fingers. "Reason number one; family." Blue raised an eyebrow, confused at those words.
Noticing his confusion, Chance explained. "Well, you gave me ten days, right? It begins today."
His smile then faltered a little as he looked passed Blue, taking in the surrounding of the house.
It hasn't changed a bit, he thought.
Hearing the mumbles from the two boys, Blue's mother asked from the kitchen, "Lucky, who's at the door?" With no hesitation, Blue replied, "No one, mom."
Chance chuckled and shut his eyes with a faint smile dawdling on his lips. "Hey, Miss Valentine." He greeted loud enough for her to hear. There was a pause before a gasp was heard, and Blue's mother came rushing out of the kitchen.
When her lifeless eyes met his, she grinned and quickly rushed over to him, her hands drenched in water. "Chance!"
Engulfing him with a heavy sigh escaping her nostrils, she asked as she examined him,"It's been a while! How are you, darling?"
Chance shrugged and let out a nervous laugh. "I'm fine, you know, the usual. Still as troublesome as ever, Miss Valentine, " He replied. She laughed. Not a happy one, but a laugh that sang how she sorry she was.
Blue's mother grabbed hold of Chance's shoulder, pulling him in for a hug. "I'm so sorry," She uttered softly beneath her breath. Those words confused Blue. Why was his mother sorry? Did she do something to him? Was it because of London? If so, why was she the one to say sorry?
Pulling away, Chance beamed, his eyes shutting halfway as the dents in his cheeks deepened into warm dimples. Blue never noticed them until then. After all, they only saw each other at night.
"May I come in?" Chance asked. Blue's mother nodded and opened the door a little wider. Chance stood there for a few seconds examining the middle-aged woman. Her eyes were bloodshot and turgescent; there were bags underneath them as well. The color in her once lush, sun kissed skin now lost it's tan due to staying inside for days. Her hair was half-done; she looked worse than she was the first day without her son. Her dressing changed as well. She would usually wear dresses or shorts and crop-tops that would show her curvy figure even though she was just in the house, but today, she was wearing a grey, baggy sweatpants and a snow-white shirt three times the size of her. She was barefooted, her skin dry from not caring for it for so long. It wounded Blue to see her that way.
Turning back to Chance, Blue cleared his throat and rolled his eyes, catching his attention. Instead of saying something, Blue clutched the book in his hands and turned on his heels, heading back to the living room. He dropped himself on the couch and glued his eyes to his book.
The sound of the door closing sent waves of irritation through Blue's body, and he fought back the urge to sigh heavily and dramatically. He wasn't in the mood to take on a boy not that older than him, who wanted nothing but to have a conversation with him.
Blue licked the tip of his index finger and turned the page of his book. "You saw how she looked, right?" He raised an eyebrow at Chance who stood in front of him with his lips curved downward.
Not getting a response from Blue, Chance proceeded to say, "She looks like hell, Lucky. If you left as well, she'd die."
Blue's shoulders tensed up, and his finger gripped the book once more, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. His muscles contracted at those words, and he gulped, trying to push the emotions which were begging to come out away.
"Okay, " Blue muttered underneath his breath. He knew that his answer was a bit cold, considering that she's his mother, but at that moment he wanted nothing more than to get off of the topic.
With a sigh, Chance sat down next to Blue, shut his eyes, and thought about other reasonable reasons for Blue.
