fragile | jelix

chapter 6

me and jack continued to write to each other. we wrote to each other every day for weeks. we never ran out of things to talk about, he was just so easy to have conversations with. we talked about things we liked, things we want to do when we're older, funny stories from our childhood. i didn't tell my dad that i was sending letters to him, or anyone for that matter. i thought i'd get laughed at and my dad would stop me from talking to him somehow.

i wanted to ask jack about his situation. why he was locked up in that house. but i never got round to it. because one day, i sent him a letter, and i never got a reply. i waited for days and i got nothing. those days turned into weeks, and eventually, it had been about a month and i still hadn't heard off him. i was starting to wonder if he was ok. i'd sent him several letters over that period of time asking him if he was alright, but i never found out the answer to that question. i even wrote to his parents and they didn't answer back either.

it was a sunday afternoon. i was looking out of my window, staring at the house opposite me. supposedly there was a boy in there who i had talked to for weeks, and just suddenly stopped talking to me. i was starting to think he was just ignoring me, that he was having second thoughts about the whole friend thing, or that his parents suddenly changed their minds and said no to talking to me.

my eyes quickly widened when i saw their front door open: the first time i had seen it open in quite a while. i looked to see if a boy came out, but it was a man and a woman instead, who i assumed were his parents. they closed the door behind them, not locking it, and headed towards their old, rusty car. i watched as they climbed inside, started up the engine after a few tries, and reversed out of their driveway into the road. soon enough they were driving away and they were long gone.

i did think jack would be on his own for a few seconds, until i saw another car in their driveway. it belonged to his aunt, who would look after him when his parents went away. well, she barely looked after him. most of the time she was asleep in the living room or watching tv.

that's when i had the idea. the riskiest idea i'd ever had in my entire life. i remembered that the couple left the door unlocked, which meant i could easily get in the house. and his aunt was probably in the living room asleep or watching television, so either way she probably wouldn't hear me or see me.

wow. it was a pretty good plan. i'd sneak into his house, go up the stairs, find his room and say hi. then i'd sneak back out again and act like i was never there. the only problem was, i had no idea which room was seán's. he had never described his room, so i had no idea which one he stayed in, meaning i would have to try every single one, which would give his aunt time to find me if she noticed that somebody was in the house. and if she found me, she'd probably kill me, along with my own father, and i would never be able to speak to seán again, not even via letters.

but that was a risk i was willing to take. just to see him once.