fragile | jelix

chapter 11

i leave the house at 6:55pm so i could give myself time to actually get to his house and then make my way up the tree to get to his window and then be in his room at 7pm, just like he had instructed. as i'm making my way over i put up my hood and sink my hands deep into the pockets of my hoodie, praying that i wouldn't be noticed by anyone. i hadn't told my dad where i was going. he didn't even know that i had left the house. not like he'd ever notice anyway. when i got near jack's house i ran to the tree so that the people inside didn't look out of their window and see me. i had never been good at climbing trees, so the fact that there was a ladder there for me to use was pretty damn convenient. it was almost like they wanted somebody to break into their house.

i climbed up the ladder carefully, trying not to fall or make noise. it was pretty difficult, despite what i initially thought. i eventually reached the top where jack's window was. i looked through and saw him sitting on his bed, just like he was the last time i was there. he was staring at something seemingly at the other end of the room and paid no attention to me. he didn't even notice i was there until i knocked on the window a couple of times. when he heard the knocking he jumped and then made a hand gesture as if to tell me to come in. i pulled the window up, realising it was unlocked. i then proceeded to climb inside his room, again, trying to make as little noise as possible. when i was finally in there i closed the window and looked over at jack, who had been watching me struggle to get in through the small entrance.

"hi again." i say, breaking the slightly awkward silence that had been going on for a few seconds.

"hey..." was all he said back. and then there was another awkward silence. i was about to say something to break it once more, but he surprisingly beat me to it.

"i'm sorry about last time. i was just a little fluttered and i was struggling to process what was going on." fluttered? i assumed he meant flustered and decided not to bring it up. i had already guessed in the past that his language skills weren't great and i didn't want to further embarrass him.

"because of that i told you to leave and not come back. i was just shocked, that's all, i didn't really mean it. at the end of the day, i wasn't expecting a random boy who i had never met before to just walk into my room." he chuckled nervously and i laughed along with him, wanting to apologise, but feeling way too awkward to say anything.

"if you ever can't come in for whatever reason i'll have my curtains closed, so don't knock on the window or anything if they're not open. just leave and come back the next day." i nodded slowly, getting the feeling that he had now run out of stuff to say. it was my turn.

"when i was last here i asked you why you stopped writing to me and you said you got worse. care to tell me what you meant by that?" he started shaking the tiniest bit and he sighed.

"um...alright. i meant my hand got worse. it really hurts to write now and it's not wise to do anything too much with it."

"what's wrong with your hand?" he looked at the floor for a few seconds before looking back up at me.

"i just have some trouble with it." i didn't ask him about it anymore. i believed him for the most part.

"and why is there a line in your room? and why can't i cross it?" a little bit of anger seemed to present itself in his eyes, as if he didn't appreciate me asking that question, which made me feel bad.

"that's a story for another day." that's it? that's really all he was giving me?

"but-"

"i said that's a story for another day." he had now silenced me. i kept my mouth shut and didn't say anything about the line from that point on. after that it was mainly just small talk. we didn't really get into a lot of personal or interesting stuff. i ended up staying for about half an hour before i decided to call it quits and go back home.