Like Orion & Spark

23: To Be Fair, It Was a Really Long Ride

(Kid, I know what your friends are like, and I'm sure you've experienced your fair share of awkward car rides. In case you've forgotten how pitiful my situation was, allow me to set the scene for you.)

The sky had gone dark by the time I started on my journey to Astoria with Kieran. Taking the bus at night was wildly different from travelling in the daytime, and I was carrying a backpack the size of a boulder on my shoulders, so I received my share of confused stares. If that wasn't bad enough, it was difficult to make conversation with Kieran when I could tell he was unimpressed with me, which meant I mostly kept to myself. When we talked, it was about casual topics, skirting around the subject.

(Your Grandmother would say this situation was like bâtir des châteaux en Espagne. An impossible task, much like how the castles in Spain were destroyed in the Middle Ages to prevent their invaders, the Moors, from resting there.)

(I would personally skip the idiom and just tell you that I felt like an utter asshole for allowing the tension to fester. Sometimes your father acts like a jerk, what am I supposed to tell you?)

(Anyway, where was I?)

Right, we arrived in Astoria a few hours later. I dismounted the bus, and as soon as my shoes touched the ground, a sense of peace settled in my bones.

The fresh scent of pine mixed with the breezy open air. I had missed this town; the gravel crunching underneath my feet, which kicked up a cloud of dust with every step I took. The gas station and corner store with its faded paint and flickering neon signs.

"I could walk this street in my sleep," I told Kieran, pointing him towards my house. "My middle school is back that way. I took this path every day for years."

A small smile graced his features. I turned halfway in his direction and kept backpedaling without looking. I knew where I was headed, and I kind of wanted to prove that to him.

"Don't walk backwards, you're making me nervous," Kieran said.

I raised an eyebrow. "That convenience store sells candy, right? When I would go there after school, I brought some back for Halley. I think that's why she likes me so much; I accidentally used Pavlov conditioning on her or something." I'd figured out he wasn't listening to me, so I added: "Ah, and I stole from there a few times."

He really wasn't listening. I grinned and said, "Kieran."

"Yeah?" His eyes were stuck to the ground, staring at my feet intently. "Sorry, you're... about to trip over a rock."

"Sapphire rock?" I said. "Oh, yeah, I know. I'll avoid it. I told you, I could do this blindfolded."

He cleared his throat and clarified, "Does that rock have a name?"

"There aren't a lot of things to do in a small town," I replied, stepping aside and checking the pavement to ensure I was veering off onto the correct street. "You wouldn't know, you're a big city kid."

I stumbled. In a flash, Kieran grabbed the strap of my backpack and held my arm, keeping me upright.

"What did I tell you?" he teased.

I grumbled, trying to play it cool. I cast a look to the house; the two-storey high building with circular windows and built with oak wood. The cobblestone path leading to the doorway ended at the balustrade where Halley was perched.

"Halley?" I called out.

She whirled in my direction and leaped to the grass below, running at full speed. She engulfed me into a hug that squeezed the air from my lungs. I gasped for air; it was as if she thought I had died.