Cipher

Chapter 21: Rain

Rain tapped angrily against the house making Isaac thankful that the car was in the garage and not waiting outside. It was going to be bad enough getting from the parking lot and into the school without getting drenched.

Isaac grabbed his bag, ready to head out, and Cipher... wasn't there. That couldn't be right. Cipher was always waiting on him.

"Hey, Mom, where's Cipher?" he asked as she tried to wrangle Aaron into his shoes.

"I haven't seen him this morning," that seemed to give her pause, like she hadn't really thought about it either. A look of concern crossed her features. "Could you go check his room?"

"Yeah," he said, making his way back up the stairs.

"Hey, Cipher?" he knocked lightly on the bedroom door. "Everything okay?" when he didn't hear anything he slowly nudged the door open. "Cipher?" It took him a moment to realize that the large pile of blankets on the floor hid his friend among them.

"Cipher, you okay?" he asked from his place just inside the doorway. He wasn't sure what to do. This definitely was not normal, even for Cipher.

"I am fine," came the quiet, muffled voice from within the mess.

"Do you need help or something?" Isaac asked, shifting from foot to foot. He really had no idea what to do.

"I do not need assistance," A few blankets shifted to reveal a concerningly pale Cipher with alarmingly dark marks across his cheeks.

"Cipher!" he took a step forward, but stopped, unsure. "Are- What's going on?"

"Nothing," Cipher partially hid his face again, not meeting Isaac's eyes.

Isaac kneeled down on the carpet. "This isn't nothing." he sat down. "What's wrong?" he asked gently.

Cipher took a shaky breath, "it is... raining."

Isaac blinked. What? Yeah, it was raining, but it was monsoon season after all; a particularly dry one at that. Then he remembered his conversation with Joss. She said she didn't think he'd ever seen rain before, the same day he had nearly drowned. And now water was falling from the sky. Suddenly, Cipher's distress made a lot more sense as well as his place on the ground. He was as far from the window as possible with the bed and every available blanket separating him from the black-out curtained glass.

"Cipher..." he trailed off.

"From here, I can almost pretend it is just a sandstorm." He could hear Cipher trying to keep his voice light, like it was no big deal, even as his hands tightened around the blankets. "I am trying not to think about it," he murmured.

"It's okay." Isaac reassured him. "I'll let Mom know you want to stay home from school today."

Cipher winced. "I should not be absent. I am fine."

"Cipher," Isaac sighed. "It's okay to stay home." He stood, "I'll let Mom know and get your work for you. It'll be fine."

"Okay," Cipher sounded both worried about missing class and relieved to be staying where he was.

"Do you want me to let Joss know what's up?" Isaac asked. "I could just tell everyone you're sick."

"I suppose Joslyn could know what is going on," he said weakly. "But I do not want it to get back to Drake or Matt."

Isaac knew exactly what he meant. One or both of them would only use this as another way to torture Cipher in the future. "I understand," he nodded. "Try not to stress too much, and don't forget to eat today. I'll see you after school."

Cipher lifted his chin, indicating he understood and relaxed a little more into the blankets surrounding him. Isaac honestly didn't know how he wasn't suffocating under the heat of so many blankets in the summer.

He pulled the door closed behind himself and went to tell his mom about the newest development, adding to the long list of things he'd learned about Cipher.