Bea & the Broken Record

Chapter 9: Established Colors

There was a small sound coming from the blackness all around me. I didn't know which way to go if I wanted to follow the sound. How would I know if the sound was good, anyway? Maybe it would get me killed and I would know that going the opposite way would take me the right way.

How was I supposed to know that? If have to take a chance and go with the light.

Suddenly, everything was glowing. The darkness turned to bright and shiny objects such as doors, walls, and most of all, a window right behind me. I turned around to look at it and felt my eyes burn from the brightness. I was suddenly missing the darkness.

I felt myself jerk, and then I was awake.

"What the hell..." I trailed off sleepily, rubbing my face roughly. I looked around my room and groaned. It was just a weird dream. It must've been someone up there mocking my inability to make good decisions.

I turned my body and stretched from a bad night's sleep. I fell asleep thinking about Bea and what happened to her and now I'm waking up thinking about the same thing. When my eyes landed on my alarm clock beside me on my bedside table, they grew wider than two Frisbees.

"Brody? Ben? Hello?" I called angrily throughout the house. We were so going to be late for school.

Jumping out of bed and grabbing the first pair of jeans I could find, I pulled on a Nirvana shirt and a sweatshirt to go over top of it. I tugged my shoes on and glanced in the mirror to brush my hair down so I wouldn't go to school looking like Alfalfa from The Little Rascals. I smiled slightly at my memories of that movie.

"Guys! Get up!" I yelled as I banged on each door as I walked by them. They were all shut and probably locked since we learned a few days after living with each other that it was in our best interests to lock our doors while we slept. Bad things happen just as they would if you had a sleepover with your friends. Who knows, you may wake up with permanent marker on your face, or have freezing cold water poured over your body.

There was a slight panic feeling rising in my stomach as I skipped down the stairs. I didn't want to be late for school mainly for one reason - I wanted to see Bea. After the other night, I wanted to make things clear that I was there for her. She told me so much of her painful past. How did she know she could trust me? It also occurred to me that most guys would have already bailed on her. She had "baggage" is what their excuses would be. But I saw it differently. This girl had colors in her personality that haven't even been established yet.

I walked swiftly to the kitchen to jerk the fridge door open and grab a cold apple. Sinking my teeth into it, I turned around only to give myself a heart attack. My apple fell from my mouth and the piece that I had bitten off was an inch away from sliding down my throat without my permission. In other words, I was almost choking.

Bea was sitting at my kitchen table with her eyes stuck in a book. She was so concentrated in what she was reading that she didn't realize I had come down the stairs two seconds ago.

"Um, Bea?" I offered, not wanting to scare her. She casually set her book down and looked over at me with expectant, glowing eyes. She looked different from last night.

"Oh, hey. This is probably weird..." She articulated. "I told everyone else to go on ahead to school." Bea stuffed her book in the same bag she had yesterday night and fell back onto the couch.

"Why?" I asked. It was unusual for something like this to happen and honestly, it was very surprising.

"Because I have plans for you and myself today. We're going somewhere," she grinned at me and rose her eyebrows as if this place would make me so happy. I rose an eyebrow and crossed my arms.