Pieces

17. The Village

"I know you're tired. But we've got places to go to. And the most important one too, today." Antonio's soft voice pulled me out of my semi-dreamy stage. I'd been up too late, just staring at the ceiling and thinking, and I was exhausted, and in need more sleep. 

"What time is it?" I mumbled into my pillows, turning my back towards him, not wanting him to see my morning face. I believed that a person, was even more vulnerable when he had just woken up, as compared to when he was sleeping. Because it takes time to gather your thoughts and surround yourself with reality, when you've just woken up.

And Antonio seeing me in my most vulnerable state, was the last thing I wanted. 

"It's nine. We've got to be on the move in an hour." He whispered into my ear, and I immediately felt his warmth over my shoulders, the same one that I'd felt late last night. Had that been a dream?

I groaned, wanting nothing more than to sleep for five days. I could feel a major headache coming on. I was in no state to go anywhere. "Do we have to?" I whined. 

I felt him chuckle against the side of my forehead. Then I felt his hand in my hair, gently stroking it, making it even harder for me to not be lulled back into immense sleep. "Sorry, but yes, we do have to." And with that he got up, and I felt him tug at my arm, trying, in the literal sense, to drag me out of bed. 

I panicked. There was no way I'd let him see me like this. "Okay! Okay! I'll get up! Leave me alone please! Just go away and wait okay, I'll be down in fifteen!" I yelled frantically, grabbing the bed post, to save myself the embarassment of revealing my morning face. 

"Fine, calm down. I'll be down, waiting for you. Hurry, if you can!" He let me go and I didn't get up until I heard his footseps down the stairs. As soon as he was gone, I got up and got dressed, wondering where the hell he was going to be taking me. I'd forgotten for the moment, what we'd been brought together by and why I was here and so I was taken aback when he told me, as we'd been gobbling down cans of juices for breakfast, that we'd be visiting his parents today. His house. 

Marcus. House. 

I couldn't help but feel annoyed. And guilty that I felt annoyed. Last night had been such a fairytale and now, with that one mention of Him, it'd all been shot down, locked up somewhere, and now we were back to reality. To the situation at hand. For the first time, as I sat silently behind him, on his bicycle, watching the streets pass by, I wondered how many pieces I was supposed to find. One look at the map, said that we'd already covered most of them. The only two places left were his house and his school. Though I wondered how I was supposed to find a small piece of paper, at a school. 

But then again, how could I know for sure that there wasn't another map? I had a feeling that our visit today would reveal a lot more of his past. And definitely a lot more of his present. To see him standing there no longer, to see his room nothing but just that, a room, would be hard. Even more so for Antonio who'd been in that same room countless times, just goofing around or playing video games or talking or whatever. And yet, he was doing this for me. Staying strong for me. And I couldn't help but feel a little bit special. And a little bad. What had I done to deserve so much? What had I done to deserve these two boys in my life and the way these boys treated me? Nothing. I was lucky. That was all.

It could have been any other girl that Marc would have talked to that day on Gmail. What, in it's specific sense, had he seen in me? It could have been any other person. Why me?

"About what happened last night..." I heard Antonio clear his throat. I looked at him, but I couldn't see his face, and he was staring straight ahead, his cheeks flushed. I could tell he was embarassed. Why was he embarassed?