How I See It

Chapter 15 - Preparations

Trees. Everyone loves trees, right? I don't see why they wouldn't. I mean, trees give us life and they can also feel lonely. Just like us, we have friends and scream in pain but no one can hear us. Because we are underground. Also we are bullies and we are cruel to those who are innocent. To be honest, not one single person is innocent. We all lie and sin, but I know for a fact that I did not kill David.

Keys jingling and struggling to open causes me to wake up. My neck and back are probably the only things on my body that is hurting like hell right now. I get off the metal bed with no pillow and watch the police officer as he opens my cage. "You're out. Let's go."

Confusion takes over my mind as I leave the cage. "What do you mean? Why am I getting out?" He stops and turns around. "Stop asking questions. All I know is that they have a bigger lead with more evidence. That means that you are free for now. All I can say is don't leave town." He continues to walk and I follow him. We get to the front and he removes the cuffs. My mother is sitting on a chair with a magazine in her hand. She looks up and drops the magazine. "What happened!" She stands next to me and looks at the officer. "We found a new lead and we believe that you're son is innocent. But we have to keep him around if we want to ask some questions. We can't say who the new suspect is, but we have quite the amount of evidence leading to that person. For now, you can go home and once again, the police station apologizes."

We left the station and my mother drove me back home. I was too humiliated to go back to school. She dropped me off and she went back to work. I changed into more comfortable clothes and got rid of the shit we have to wear to school. I turned on the TV and drank a cup of coffee. I almost fell asleep from watching the boring movie that was on. My eyes were barely closed when my phone suddenly buzzed it's way off the table next to me.  My eyes went open and I picked it up. I saw a message from Rose that said to meet her and Brian at the tux shops after school. It was a surprise to me because she had dodged me and ignored me after my first arrest.

I went up stairs and changed into comfortable long pants with my white t-shirt tucked in and my sneakers. I went back down and called my mother to come and get me. I waited outside for almost 10 minutes and when she finally arrived, we took off.
We arrived at the mall and I saw Rose with Brian. I thanked my mom and she took off again. "Hi Noah! How are you?" I frowned a bit. "I'm doing alright thanks. So umm.. what exactly are we doing here?" "You and Brian are going to buy your suits for homecoming!" I looked at him and he looked a bit dodgy. "Great." My answer made Brian roll his eyes and take Kylie's hand. "Let's just get this over with, please." Wow, some asshole.

We went into a few tux shops and saw a bunch of nice suits but the prices were insane. They all looked exactly the same except for the colors. We finally found a shop called Tux Deluxe. The prices weren't too bad. I saw this fine black suit and I immediately tried in on. It was the suit of any man's dreams. I purchased it in my size and when I looked around for Rose and Brian, they were gone. Typical. I remember that having a corsage would make prom even better. I got my phone out of my pocket and texted North which color dress she's wearing. Surprisingly, she answers me back in seconds. 'Purple.'

"Excuse me?" The guy who works at the shop approaches me. "Good day, sir. Is there anything I can help you with?" "Yes, please. Do you sell corsages?" He smiles. "I see you're getting ready for prom or homecoming , right?" I nod. "You know it." He laughs. "Right this way." He leads me to the back of the shop where the shoes and corsages are. "Thank you. I'll take it from here." I spot the purple corsages and I take two of them. I exit the shop and then the mall. As I wait for my mother to come get me, Rose texts me. 'Sorry we left you. Brian wasn't feeling well.'
Sure. Let's go with that. My mom arrives and I get inside the car. "How was it? Did you find what you were looking for?" "Yes, mom. I actually found the perfect suit for homecoming ." She looks at me and smiles. "You're going? I thought you said you didn't want to go?" I look outside the window. "I changed my mind. You remember North from grandad's funeral? I'm going with her."

"Is she in your school? I thought she didn't live here?" I look back to the road in front. "Her parents got divorced." "That's sad. They looked so happy together." My mom turns up the music. I whisper to my myself, "No one is ever happy."

Saturday afternoon

As quick as possible, I get in the shower and put on deodorant. I stop and stare in the mirror. I take the deodorant again and spray some more. I blow dry my hair just to add a bit style and change into my suit. As I go downstairs, I can already hear my mom babbling with her camera ready. "Oh my God mom, I swear if you take pictures..." "Oh don't be so sour! It's homecoming." I get downstairs and she fixes my bowtie. "You look very handsome, young man." I try to flinch away. "Okay, okay thank you. Goodbye now. I'm going to be late." "Can I please get one picture at least?" I stare at her. "Fine, one picture." I put on a smile and try to look my best. As soon as my mom takes the photo, I head for the door. "Wait one more!" "Bye." I close the door and hear her shout to have fun.

The driver of the limousine is on his phone and resting against the car. "Sorry for the wait. We can go now." He turns his phone off and opens the door for me. "Thanks man." He closes the door and gets in as well. He takes off and fixes the mirror. I have no idea why I'm nervous. I didn't even want to go in the first place. After my stress talk in my head, we arrive at North's house. I get out and ring the doorbell. Patiently, I wait for the door the open. Finally her dad opens it and reaches his hand out. "Good to meet you, Noah." I shake his hand. "Likewise, sir." "Please, please come inside. North will be down in a minute." I enter the house and sit on the couch. As I admire their house, North's dad offers me alcohol.

"Oh no thank you." He stares at me. "That's what I wanted to hear. Let's cut the bullshit okay? I want her back at 10PM and not a minute later. And please treat her well." I look at him with fear and nod as many times as possible. "Yes sir, you have my word." He stands up as he urns his head to the staircase. When my head turned too, it was like an angel walking down those stairs. She was so beautiful and I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

"You look very beautiful." She smiles. "Thank you. You look very handsome." I smile back. "Let me take your photo outside, kids." We exit the house and her dad takes our picture. As soon as she turns her head to the car, she gasps. "Holy shit! You got a freaking limo?!" I look into her eyes. "You're worth it." She smiles and our eyes lock together. A flash interups out moment. "That's a beautiful picture. Now off you go. You don't want to be late. Have fun and be responsible!" We walk towards the car and I open the door for her and take a bow. "You're majesty." She laughs and I join her. She gets inside and I enter by the other door. We pop the champagne that I got and she squeals. We both laugh and pour ourself's a drink. "Cheers!" We take a sip and look at each other. "Let's fucking do this."