Arabella Academy: Perfectly Imperfect

39. Mission Retrieval

Nothing makes a room feel emptier than wanting someone in it.

~Calla Quinn

***

Marcus and Michelle stood at the front porch of Michelle's house. They had agreed to pick her up late in the morning so that they could go to Sheila's house. They also called Luis but he excused himself as he had to babysit his younger sisters. The sun was already high up and scorching on the two boys. Jeff rang the bell and they stood impatiently waiting for someone to answer.

They immediately stood upright when the door opened. It was Sheldon, Michelle's dad and Middlewood's sheriff. He was surprised to see the two at first, but then he eyed them threateningly.

"What do you want?" he growled, sending chills to the boys.

"We-we-we are here to pick Michelle up, " Marcus spoke, his voice soft but scared.

"She's not in. You can leave now," her father spoke in a tone that said he didn't want any further interruption and was already closing the door when Michelle appeared, putting her foot along the door's path.

"Hey, Marcus. Hi Jeff, " she began with a smile and went ahead to hug each of them, mortifying her father. Marcus and Jeff stood there awkwardly, trying to prevent their knees from shaking profusely. The old man was giving them a stare that probably said he would hunt them later and personally butcher them.

"Bye, dad! I'll see you in the evening, " she waved him goodbye and shoved the boys down the steps. Her father was about to follow her when a small boy appeared, Michelle's younger brother, and began pulling his father to come inside and feed him his breakfast. Sheldon unwillingly closed the door, but not before looking back at the three teenagers who were trotting away.

"Your dad's quite the bully," Jeff spoke after they were out of sight.

"And overprotective. He thinks I'm not old enough to make decisions by myself!" Michelle added.

"With that kind of parent I'd even be happy if Philip Banks was my father," Marcus joked and they all burst out laughing, making jokes along the way about Sheldon's parenting skills.

Their joy died down when they arrived at Sheila's house. A feeling of sadness crept up back to them, each suddenly nervous about what they were about to do. They glanced at each other and nodded, each one of them aware of their role. They then marched forward to the front door and knocked, anxiously waiting to see who would answer.

Sheila's mother answered the door. She looked dejected but forced a smile on seeing Michelle and her company.

"Mish, what a surprise! Come in, will you?" Samantha greeted her using a nickname she had given her, but the words that came out were as good as dead.

"Thank you, ma'am. Hope you don't mind that I've brought along some friends," she looked over at Marcus and Jeff, who awkwardly waved their hands at her. Samantha smiled at them and shook her head, indicating she had no problem.

Sheila's home was a comfortable one. It was a two-storey mansionette that looked quite modern. Plants in pots had been placed on every corner of the house to extend the nature inside. The walls were painted colourfully, although ironically, the atmosphere in the house wasn't quite as much. There were still many pictures of Sheila hang on the walls as if the family was trying to prolong the misery. The decorations used from the funeral we're still there; maybe they were too sad to muster up enough energy to dispose of Sheila. Samantha led them inside and they sat on a couch in the living room.

"If you would have come earlier you would have found Sheila's father and brother, but Sheila's dad has travelled, as always, and my son has gone to work," she told them.