Middle

Chapter 25

That night, I lay awake, staring out at the street. There was virtually no one out this late at night, so it was peaceful. I got up, feeling restless, and slipped my shoes on to climb to the roof of the house. I'd often gone up there to think when my brothers and I first moved in with Aunt Cass. I was lost in thought when something caught my ear, and I turned slightly, tilting my head to catch it. There it was again, the whisper of slippers over shingles. I looked back and Tadashi was there, scratching his head.

"Hey, Sakura," he said quietly. He sat down beside me. "Couldn't sleep?"

I shook my head. "I-I'm-I guess I'm still in shock that Gladys thought so highly of me. Imean, I knew she liked my company and valued my friendship, but I didn't know she would think of me in her will, much less to the extent that she did," I said.

"Mm," he said. He put an arm around me, his bare chest brushing against me. He yawned.

"You'd best head inside. You need your sleep," I said. "Even if I do go inside, I won't be able to sleep." I chuckled half-heartedly. He smiled, but didn't move. His arm fell from my shoulder after he gave it a final squeeze.

"I-" he stopped speaking and fell silent. He was clearly struggling with himself.

"Go on," I coaxed.

He sighed. "I'm having a hard time with some programming for college. I've built the robot, but the programming is glitchy and I can't figure it out," he said at length. "Would you mind taking a look at it?"

"Sure," I said with a soft laugh.

The window below us opened and Aunt Cass' voice reached us. "If you two don't get down off that roof this instant there will be consequences!" she demanded. I pulled my feet up and we both bolted inside, using the maintenance ladder we'd both used to get up to the roof in the first place. Aunt Cass was waiting for us. She growled and pointed, both to our individual beds. I ducked my head sheepishly and went to bed, though I knew I still wouldn't be able to sleep.

Much to my pleasant surprise, sleep met me not long after I went back to bed. I had bad nightmares that night, though. Dreams where Gladys was alive but I hadn't gone to see her daily so eventually she forgot me and then called the police on me. For some strange reason Bridgette was in my dream, and she was the police chief, ordering the officers to shoot me on sight. Several of them cornered me in a dark alleyway, guns drawn. I backed up until I felt the coarse bricks of the building behind me. In a static of gunfire, I screamed and raised my hands. Oddly enough, the gunfire didn't sound right. It sounded like my alarm.

I bolted upright in bed, panicked. Tadashi came down the stairs, Aunt Cass not far behind him with coming out of her bedroom. It was six AM, the time I usually got up to go help Gladys. I started getting ready until I remembered that she had passed away that week. Tears flooded my eyes and I curled up, struggling to keep quiet.