The Freaks | Sally Face

Chapter 35: Road to Michigan

Sal's POV:-
*2 weeks later*

"Sal! You ready?" I hear Larry calling from the living room.
"Just a second!" I reply throwing my medication into my suitcase.

I look around my room, I was so excited to go to Michigan with Axel, Larry and River but I also had a wave of anxiety looming over me. It was the first time I was going to be out of Nockfell since moving here, I hadn't even been back to New Jersey since we moved in so this was something new for me too. I don't even know if Larry has ever left Nockfell and he's lived here all his life. I grabbed my last remaining things, gave gizmo a sweet heat butt and a stroke before leaving my room for the next two weeks.

When I came into the living room, Dad and Larry were chatting away about the latest song from Sainty Falls. As I closed my door, they stopped conversation before turning to me.

"Ready to go bud?" Dad asks with a smile on his face.

"Yeah I think so. You ready Larry?"

"Sure am dude. I can't wait to scope out Michigan! Do you reckon it will be snowing and shit?" He paused. "Oops sorry Henry..."

"It's alright Larry. You're an adult now, it's absolutely fine by me" Dad chuckles. "You two better get going before Axel looses the plot!"

Dad comes over and gives me a firm hug. "Will miss you buddy. Explore and enjoy yourself"

"Thanks dad..." I smile behind my mask and hug him back. "I'll do my best"

"And you Larry, look after yourself and my boy. Can't forget River too! Bring back our happy little firework!"

'Happy little firework', my Dad adored River and everything she's done for me and Larry over the past few months. I've never heard him refer to her as that before but it was the perfect way to describe her. More so now than ever, especially with these new powers she was acquiring. Both Larry and I waved goodbye to my Dad and heading down the hallway to meet Axel and River. We both knocked on the door, we heard a slight fumbling from the other side until an out of breath Axel opened the door.

"Boys!" He chuckled. "Pleasure to see you both, please come in, I'm just grabbing the last few things. River is in her room, you may want to go and hurry her along" he smiled.

"No problem Axel, we can do that" Larry chuckled. "Out of breath dude?"

"No kidding. I stupidly left all my packing till last minute. What a tool!" Axel chuckled. He seemed a lot better spirits today, it seems he managed to get some sleep over these past two weeks.

We hadn't seen much of Riv, she had been in and out of school. Sometimes only popping in to speak to Mitchell. I don't know if she actually spoke to him, but we would cross paths in the hallway and she would shoot me a weak smile. My thoughts trailed off again, thinking about what on earth was going through her mind. Why couldn't she speak to Larry or me about it... we were there.. we could help her. I wondered if it was the shock, whether it was something like what she experienced back in Michigan or whether or not it was something deeper than that. I sighed quietly and followed Larry to River's door. We knocked gently and slowly cracked opened the door, seeing her beauty standing there not noticing we were in the doorway. She had her headphones on, swaying with the music as she collected her things. The windows were wide open, her platinum blonde hair getting caught in the breeze and her sweet perfume filling the room. I looked to Larry who was staring so intently at her. We both watched as she continued to sway, losing her mind entirely to whatever song she was listening to. If it wasn't for what happened a couple of weeks ago, we would've thought she was absolutely fine.

We didn't say a word, we listened carefully as she began to hum and sing along quietly to the words. Her voice was beautiful, like no singer I've heard before. It was unique, raspy and slightly deeper than her normal voice. She would make a perfect rock singer. The best way I could describe her was like a Hailey Williams sort of singer, so passionate and soulful that it made everyone want to sing along too. The sunlight began to sneak into the room now, highlighting her pale skin and long thick lashes. She still had no idea we were standing there, eyeballing her beauty. As she turned to grab her bass guitar, she instantly stopped, eyes opening wide and her mouth slightly opening.