Synthetic Darkness (MFM)

Chapter 14: Reegan Is Transparent

The next morning Reegan was lethargic. Aiden had been called the previous evening and had to go to an emergency staff meeting that morning. He wouldn't be gone all day, but he was unsure of when he would be home. She had an unknown amount of time to build up a good brood. She did a few chores around the house and set on the couch. The TV was on, but if asked, she couldn't tell anyone what was she had just watched. It was background noise, plain and simple. Her mind was caught up in the events of the previous day. After Kale's blow off, she drove around aimlessly. Coming home before Aiden would worry. He took one look at her and knew there was something wrong. She replayed what happened and he just hugged her. Their plans of visiting friends over the weekend were cancelled. Instead, they spent the rest of the evening cuddled on the couch. A calming quiet enveloping them and settling her nerves.

The now empty house was depressing. She wished Aiden would hurry home. Without him there, her mind was becoming her enemy. Spiraling thoughts spinning out of control and dragging her down. She had to stop their direction and getting lost in mind numbing television shows was not working. Aiden's laptop sat on the coffee table. Why not try get lost on the interwebs? She scooted the coffee table close and propped her feet up and powered up.

After checking various social networking sites, she logged on to C.M. and saw she had quite a few messages waiting for her and Aiden. The message from Syn made her hopeful. He was such a sweetheart. The other messages could wait until she was in a better mindset. Faking enthusiasm was extremely hard when she was on a downward spiral.

She clicked on his message and saw that it had been sent early that morning. Poor thing, sounded like his night must have been a bad one too. She read through his meassage several times. Tears welling in her eyes.

"You know, like when you were a kid and all your favorite movies seemed so magical. You believed. There was no way it was just special effects, it was real. All of it. But now that you're older, you watch those movies and you notice that it was just special effects. There might have been magic, but that magic was inside of you. And some how, some way, it just got lost. That's what I think of when I become disenchanted with...life. Like I've lost that magic. That ability to see with eyes full of wonder. With an unwavering belief that magic does exist and there will always be something to smile about."

How beautifully tragic. For someone so much younger than her, he had sumed it up perfectly.

Life sucked when you lost the magic.

It was one of the reasons she loved Aiden so much. He gave her the chance to get the magic back. Damn this kid was good. Even when they were just shooting the shit he was sincere. He needed more people in his life that supported and encouraged him. A little patience wouldn't hurt either. He reminded her of a certain Bishop's employee. Kale needed encouragement as well. Good thing he had such a good friend like Raven. Reegan hadn't hung around with her much, but when she was with Kale, she seemed to mother-hen him. He was still shy, even after all her visits visits to the store.

When they first met, Reegan just knew she would be able to get him to meet up with her and Aiden outside of the store. No such luck. He would revert into himself and put distance between them. Like it was the first time she was in the store. Yesterday's episode flashed through her mind. Her heart ached. There was more distance between them now. She had no idea what she had done, but it was obvious he no longer enjoyed her and Aiden's visits. Time to stop being a nuisance, she told herself. She would miss him. Or at least the him he allowed her to know.

Three months. And all she knew about him was that he and Raven had been best friends since Kindergarten, he loved his parents, and what types of movies, music, and books he liked. Which was a bit, but she wanted to know more. The boring stuff. The sad stuff. The things that kept him up at night. What his favorite memory was. Just all the things that...oh, shit.