Noticing You (On Hold)

Chapter 4

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A loud bang made me wake up suddenly and I sat up quickly. My book fell into my lap and I wondered how I had fallen asleep. After glancing out my window, I realised it was light, and I guessed it was about 9:00am. Groggily, I checked the time. The clock read 11:34. I groaned and stood up, which was quite hard seeing as I was stiff from being in the same position for a long time. I was still in my school uniform from yesterday and I realised what must have happened. I had fallen asleep reading. I shrugged out of my uniform and was about to put on some clean clothes when an un-godly stench hit my nostrils. Curiously, I sniffed my school t-shirt and gagged. It reeked. Without hesitation I hopped in the shower and let the hot water run over my stiff muscles, easing up all of the knots that had been starting to build up. After my shower I chucked on some shorts and a t-shirt and checked the clock. 11:37. I had to hurry otherwise there wouldn't be enough time. I padded out of my room and peeked in my parents' room. The bed was empty and made; they were already up. I stole a look into my brother, Toby's room to see his bed also made and empty. I started to wonder where everyone could be so I dashed up the hallway into the kitchen where I saw a hastily written note tacked to the fridge.

Fey

Mittensknocked over a lamp and cut his paw on one

of the shards. Don't worry, he's alright, but I am

taking him to the vet anyway. Toby is coming

with me and we won't be back until around 1:00

as we have run out of milk and other things.

Remember Fey, you are still grounded.

Mum xxx

Silently I applauded Mittens; his escapade would give me just enough time. I bolted downstairs and out the front door onto the driveway and sure enough, both cars were gone, Mum at the vet's and Dad at work. I dashed back inside and I grabbed my mini back-pack (which had all the essentials; keys, Swiss army knife, bobby pin, notepad, pen, binoculars, compass and a tattered copy of The Hobbit) and ran into the kitchen. I raided the pantry, and put together two sandwiches; one with turkey and mayo (my favourite) and another with peanut butter, lettuce, egg and light chocolate sauce (his favourite). I stuffed in the sandwiches, two apples, two juice boxes and cookies before heading out the door. Jake's house was only a couple of streets away from mine so the walk didn't take long and I reached his house in under 20 minutes. I walked around the driveway and noticed that both of his parent's cars were gone; his dad, like mine, worked from early in the morning, but his mum must have gone out for some reason I didn't know, but even so, the less parents roaming around, the better.

I couldn't use the front door because it was most likely his parents had locked Jake in his room and taken the key with them. (His parents were a little over protective and had installed a lock on the outside of his door for precisely this reason) Slipping through the back gate, I skirted the patio and looked up to Jake's window way up on the second floor. It looked pretty high. I gulped. For the first time I considered turning around and going home, but I remembered the look he had given me yesterday and I knew I couldn't leave him when he needed me. I swallowed my doubts and stepped in the flower bed.

One of the reasons Jake's parents chose this particular house was because of the priceless 17th century lattice French windows. It was these I was now using for my climb into Jake's room.

Carefully, I positioned my left foot in one of the holes of the intricate pattern. I then gripped the top parts of the window and lifted my body up, putting most of my weight on my left foot as I positioned my right further up, trying not to think how old the wooden frame was. I reached higher with my hands one at a time and put my body weight onto my right foot as I pulled myself up. Then the whole thing creaked and I froze, not moving a muscle. For 10 minutes I must have kept in that same position, just waiting for the wood to break and send me crashing down to my doom, but it didn't, and I began climbing again. It was slow work; and it felt like I had spent hours up here. Without really knowing it, my hands touched something other than the intricate wooden patterns of the lattice window. I looked up and saw I had reached his windowsill. This was the hard bit, and I had to hope and pray that he had left his window open. I held on to the edge and shifted the positions of my feet so they were both higher up and nearer my hands. I prepared myself for what I had to do. And then in one fluid motion praying I wouldn't slip; I let go with one hand, shifted my whole body weight onto my feet and attempted to launch myself into his room.

I slipped.

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