Chapter 12

Lightning. Damien Reyes.

Time/Area: SOS. Lunch time. Science Club room. July 7-8th.

“That’s cool!” Jason said, responding to Selina’s story.

I laughed, “The only thing I’ve ever climbed is a playground rock wall.”

Selina chuckled, “It’d be cool if we could all go sometime.” She suggested. It had become apparent that she was comfortable around us. She didn’t act shy around me and Jason and she actually spoke her mind.

I smiled as we reached the club room, “Alright,” I said, looking at Jason’s broken project, “Let’s fix your project.”

I opened the door, expecting the lights to be off.

Imagine my surprise to find Sarah standing there.

“Ms. Reyes?” Selina questioned, the three of us walking inside.

I raised my eyebrow at her, “What are you doing in our.. pathetic excuse of a lab?” I asked, smirking.

Jason set his project down on a nearby table, securing its many parts before glancing at me, “Um, imma try to find some stuff to start the repairs.”

He rushed off towards the back of the room to begin searching cabinets.

Sarah looked strange. She was sweating, and her smile seemed forced.

My smirk faded, “Hermana..” I started to worry, “¿Qué pasa?”

She stopped her fake smile, “Nothing Damien,” She lied, “I-I just have to go check on something.”

She averted her gaze from mine and headed towards the door. She had never acted this way around me before.

I squinted at something in her hand.

It was a tablet that said..

“Energis?!” I realized. I looked back at Jason. He looked at me,

“It’s like everything went missing!” He yelled, tearing through drawer after drawer, “Ugh, we might have to check the other sci club rooms.”

I looked back at Sarah, who was already halfway down the hall, then at Selina, who was leaning on a table awkwardly in the corner.

“Can you guys go check the other science rooms for parts?” I asked.

Selina stood up, “Yea, sure,” she agreed, “But what about you?”

I started towards the door, “I’m going to talk to my sister for a minute.”

Before she could protest I quickly ran out into the hallway.

“Hey!” I yelled, sliding next to Sarah, who was now speed walking down the hall. We were gliding through the science hall now, most of it empty, with the exception of a few janitors since most people were in class or at lunch. I matched her pace, but when she didn’t stop, I grabbed her wrist.

She stopped, both of us now in the main corridor, “Hey Damien!” She exclaimed, as if she hadn’t seen me before.

“What’s wrong?!” I asked again, tightening my grip, "Why are you avoiding me all of a sudden?"

I stared directly into her eyes, using that strange but super real ability that siblings have to read her mind.

She was totally hiding something.

“N-nothing Damien, I-”

“Yeah right,” I lowered my voice, “You’re not making any sense. Why do you have an Energis tablet?”

She gulped while looking around, “Listen Damien,” She started, “Something very bad is about to happen, and I have to go deal with it.”

Her tone made me nervous, and to be honest I wasn’t exactly expecting that one, “D-does this have to do with you losing the internship?”

She nodded, “Just promise me something.”

I tilted my head, “What?”

“Stay away from Jordan J.” She ordered.

Her expression changed, “Actually, just stay away from Energis in general.”

I froze, my ‘super ability that totally exists’ failing, “Care to explain why? What, is there an alien invasion or something?”

She paused for a moment, as if actually contemplating that before shaking her head, “N-no...I’ll explain everything once the... ‘everything’ part has happened, okay?”

She moved my hand and began walking again.

I stopped her once more.

“Dami-”

“Now you have to promise me something.” I said firmly, very confused and very concerned.

She went silent.

“I-if you’ve gotten yourself into something dangerous,” I started, “You promise that you’ll be fine?”

She didn’t answer,

“Promise?” I tried again, “It’s nothing that could like..hurt you right?”

She nodded, slowly hefting her eyes towards me as if it were a struggle to do so,

“I promise.” She agreed, bending on her knees to reach my height.

I refused to believe I was short: she was just tall,

“What’s happening?” I stuttered, deciding to try one more time.

Right when it looked like she was about to tell me something, her eyes dropped and her mouth sighed, “I-I’ll talk to you later..Look, you just don’t understand-”

RING RING RING!

That was the Bell.

Then Sarah stood, turned around, and immediately took off down the hall.

The heck?

I didn’t know what to think. Why was she even still involved with Energis?

She was just an intern!

Kids started to rush by, but I stood still, thoughts running rampant like wild dogs through my head.

I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew that my sister was in danger of something, and there wasn’t anything I could do.

-

I slowly began to walk towards my next period, millions of questions still swimming through my mind as I moved through the white halls of the school. My class was upstairs, so it was really far away, but I didn’t care at the moment. Plus, third period Precalc is a “catch up” day, and I was already caught up.

For some reason I had to stay away from Energis, mainly its director Jordan J, which suggested that he was the one putting my sister in danger.

I clenched my fists, angry at myself for not understanding as I reached one of the school’s staircases at the end of the science hall.

I mentally slapped myself as I treaded up the blue painted steps, just now remembering something.

In my haste to talk to Sarah, I had completely forgotten about Jason’s science project,

“Well this isn’t good..”

Once I had finally found my class, I found myself slow to knock on the closed door,

“The bell must’ve rung already..”

It was never a good thing when you got to class and the door was closed. Whenever a teacher did that in highschool it was basically an unspoken sign that meant ‘Hey, you’re late, now I’m not letting you in’.

I took a deep breath before I knocked.

Knock

Knock

Kno-

I heard Mr. Fencer pause his lecture from inside.

Shuffling.

The door opened to reveal Jason.

I dropped my head slightly.

“So much for my project, huh?” Jason said, making no effort to conceal his annoyance.

“Sorry,” I began, “Something cam-”

“Mr. Reyes!” Mr. Fencer interrupted my apology, clearly annoyed, “How nice of you to finally join us!”

Mr. Fencer, our Pre Calc teacher, was skinny but excessively tall. He always wore glasses that he claimed helped him see even though they looked more like shades, and talked in such a heavy Australian accent despite teaching here for years.

The older kids snickered while I found my seat in the back with Jason. At the beginning of the year, Jason and I asked Mr. Fencer to put us next to each other, but seats are permanent, and it was clear Jason didn’t like that at the moment.

Wow. Everything went from really good to really bad in a matter of lunch.

My sister was in danger (maybe...probably...I don’t know), I failed to help with the science project, and I still had tons of stuff to do tonight.

But I was mainly worried about Sarah.

She seemed really scared about something and all I wanted to do was find out why.

I gritted my teeth absently.

But she wouldn't let me. I was the reason she was scared in the first place.

I didn't notice but my eyes were now staring daggers at the small number two pencil sitting in front of me. Mr. Fencer had just dismissed everyone to go around the room, find a spot to work in, and begin catching up on homework.

I also didn’t notice Jason coughing to get my attention.

I only did when I felt him slap my right shoulder.

I released my accidental glare of doom to glance at Jay,

"H-hey D," he said, eyeing the writing utensil, "I'm not actually mad, you know.."

I calmed down, looking at him, "Oh-okay?" I coughed, "I'm fine, it's just er.. I was thinking."

Another hand slapped my left shoulder from behind. Apparently, there was no other way to begin a conversation these days,

"Right. Totally." Selina teased sarcastically, "Cause nothing says fine like that."

She pointed at the pencil,

I scratched my head, "Um-wha-?"

“Oh,” Selina laughed, “I thought it would be burnt from whatever lasers you were firing into that thing.”

"What’s going on here? Freshmen club?" Mr. Fencer asked, his accent just as sharp as ever. He looked down on us with his 6’7’’ height, suspicion evident even through his ‘glasses’ , "Have you finished everything?"

Jason was never good with talking to our teachers, and neither was I. Jason was typically really good with adults, being rich and famous and all, but talking to upperclassmen instructors while being freshmen just felt weird.

So we just stayed silent.

Selina glared at us when we didn’t answer, but put on a billion dollar smile for Mr. Fencer. "Hi Mr. Fencer!" She practically yelled, "As you can see, Damien is quite sick."

She pointed at me.

“What?”

Mr. Fencer looked at my healthy face, not looking like he bought it.

Jason discretely elbowed me in the ribs, causing me to groan.

"Oh my," Mr.Fencer sounded astonished, rubbing his red haired beard and straightening his glasses, “Caught the morning cold, did you?”

Selina continued, "Y-yes, and since me, Jason, and Damien are finished with all our work, we thought it best to take him to the nurse."

I glared at Selina.

She returned my glare, only scarier.

Mr. Fencer nodded, "Very well," he gave in, "You two stay with him at the nurse’s office."

I watched as he gave the ‘oh so revered’ hall pass to Selina, who smiled and thanked him while accepting the red colored slip of paper.

Once he left, however, she went right back to normal, swinging towards me with a triumphant look engraved onto her crystal blue eyes, “You’re welcome.”

"W-why did you do that? " I asked.

She shrugged, "I'm sorry," she looked offended, "Did you want to be stuck in this classroom looking like that one gothic freshman that nobody cares about?"

“I’m not gothic!” I hissed, “I was just thinking!”

I looked at Jason, who just shrugged, “Looked pretty gothic to me.”

"Let's go sick boy." Selina ordered, grabbing my arm and basically dragging me out of class. Once we were in the hallway, the questions started.

“Is this about the science project?” Jason asked from my right, both of us turning down the Fine Arts hallway. This part of the school was almost as colorful as the Language Hall, sporting various projects from woodworking classes, art classes, etc, all over the white walls of the building. On each piece was a student signature, a mark of pride over what they had created. At the end of the Fine Arts Hall was the nurse’s office.

I shook my head, “No, but I’m really sorry about that.”

He nodded, “Good, cause me and Selina fixed it anyway. I didn’t want you getting depressed over it.”

Huh. She’s way smarter than I thought.

Plus I wasn’t even depressed.

“So why were you depressed?” Selina asked from my left, “Though I guess I should get used to it from you two Drama Kings.”

I shrugged, ignoring that last part, “My sister is..uh.”

Selina stopped me right there, “Ugh, family drama is the worst.”

I sighed as we reached the nurse’s office.

Once Selina lied our way past the nurse, Mr. Koch, he made me lay down on a mattress behind a curtain.

Jason and Selina walked in, bringing in two chairs and placing them on either side of me. I frowned, “You guys don’t have to stay with me, you know.”

Jason smirked, producing his phone from his pocket, “I’d rather skip class...”

We sat/laid in silence for a little bit until Selina spoke.

“Okay this is getting too mushy.” She pointed out, leaning back into her chair, “Are you two always this dramatic?”

Jason glared at her, “We aren’t mushy. Nothing is even happening.”

Selina rolled her eyes, “That’s the point,” She pushed, “You two just sit in silence without talking like this is some duo of sadness.”

Me and Jason laughed.

“Well,” I said, “You’re a part of the group now so make that a trio.”

Selina made whining noises from her seat, “Oh, kill me now..”

We continued talking for another 15 minutes until Jason put away his phone, “Do you feel better now?” He asked, “You know, with whatever was going on with Sarah?”

I nodded, which was only a half lie.

Jason sighed, “Selina, could I talk to Damien for a second?” he asked.

Selina grunted, clearly annoyed, “Great,” she said, getting up, “More mush mush.”

I shot Jason a confused look as Selina disappeared behind the curtains.

Jason looked at me, “So spill.” He demanded.

“Dang it.” I thought, “Curse our no secret friendship.”

I breathed, “Nothing is here to spill.” I lied anyways.

His eyes narrowed, “I said spill.”

“My sister,” I started, giving up, “She’s involved in something- Something that she thinks would hurt me or whatever crap.”

Jason’s eyes widened, “Well that’s not what I was expecting to hear.”

I nodded, “Yea me either.. She told me to stay away from Energis. But I get the feeling she’s scared of something else..”

Jason slowly let out a “mhm” sounding noise, “Do you think Energis sabotaged the Synth Plant?”

Well I hadn’t thought of that one.

“Actually,” I thought for a minute, “That would make total sense.”

Jason smiled, as if he just won a point in Fight4Life, “Well, whatever is going on with your sister, I’m sure everything will be fine.”

I didn’t agree, but I nodded anyway.

Suddenly, the sound of the bell ringing filled the room.

Soon after, the curtains were flung open by Selina.

“Nurse says we gotta go now.”

She looked between the two of us, “Did I miss mush mush?” she asked.

I sighed, getting off of the mattress and heading out.

--

The school day was more or less normal after that with the exception of Sarah.

Every time I saw her in the hallway running to get papers from the teacher’s lounge or something she ignored me or tried to avoid me.

Eventually I stopped looking for her, since all I got was mad from it.

As me and Jason walked down the school’s main steps, Selina appeared at my side, seemingly materializing out of the masses of other kids gliding down the stairs to head home, “Hey guys!” She greeted, “Mind sharing what mush you talked about?”

Jason was about to protest but I stopped him.

“She is part of the group now.” I pointed out.

“Fine,” Jason huffed.

I told her what I told Jason, watching her smile change into a frown.

“This has gone too far.” She whispered.

“Que?” I quizzed, unsure if I had heard her correctly.

She shook her head, “Nothing...It’s just that..I have to go.”

I gave her a confused smile as we reached ground level, joining the crowds of kids splitting off into different sidewalks, Bikers trying to break through the ever present traffic on the street in front of us, and just regular New Yorkers passing by our school, “Yea..that’s what we’re doing now,” I gave her a confused look, “...going.”

Her expression didn’t change, “No- I mean I can’t walk with you guys today.”

Me and Jason stopped.

She looked at us, ‘Sorry.” She said, using the biker’s road intervention to cross the street.

We watched her disappear within the crowds of people before fading behind the lines of vehicles.

“Wow,” Jason marvelled, “Girls really are confusing.”

-

After I dropped Jason off at his house I continued down the street towards the Manhattan shopping area.

There was a store named Shine where my dad got his work clothes dry cleaned. I would do this when I got home at our local Bronze Shopping Center around my street, but the dry cleaning place down there got closed several years back.

I entered the shop, a man that worked there handed me Dad’s clothes as I reached the silver counter. They had seen me here so many times that they didn’t need to check anything. I just handed whoever was up front the money, and they would hand me whatever Dad got cleaned.

After that, I made a U-turn back to the apartment, making sure to dodge the Energis building on my way there although I still had no clue as to why.

As I was climbing the apartment steps, I saw my sister walking behind me.

I turned around as she reached me,

“Hey,” She greeted me.

I glared at her, still kind of mad but confused as to her behavior, “What are you doing here?” I asked.

She looked down, “Please don’t say it like that...you don’t unde-”

“What don’t I understand?!?” I yelled, having lost control at this point.

People walking by glanced at our direction but I didn’t care.

“Why can’t you just be straight with me?”

Sarah grabbed my arm, pulling me up the rest of the steps and opening our room number.

I didn’t fight her grip since I just wanted an answer.

She shut the door and locked it behind us.

The house smelled of chicken and rice from the oven.

“Wh-what are you doing?” I asked as she grabbed the dry cleaning out of my hands and tossed it on the living room couch.

“Come with me.” She ordered, heading into my room.

I followed her inside and closed the door. She was sitting on my bed, her hand rubbing her temples as I sat next to her. I unzipped my coat and placed it on my lap, waiting for her to speak.

“I know you must be confused right now.” She said, “But you have to trust me.”

I nodded, “I already do, but do you have to keep avoiding me? It seems unnecessary...”

She sighed, “Lo siento.” Sarah looked at me, “I’m just a little nervous about what’s happening right now.”

My eyes went from anger to concern, “Can you tell me anything other than that?”

She nodded, “Basically,” she folded her hands as she talked, putting the words together in her mind, “Energis was working on this project.”

I nodded, “How exciting.”

“The project isn’t safe right now, but since Jordan J’s greed outweighs his common sense, he wants to test it on humans now.”

I nodded again, “So are people going to like...get sick?”

“Doc D and I protested but he..” She paused, “He said he’d hurt everyone we cared about if we didn’t go through with it.”

I slowly started to put things together,

“Is that why Doc fired you?” I asked, “To try and keep you safe?”

This time Sarah nodded, “Yes.”

A moment of silence.

“Can you tell me why you were in the club room? And why were all the cabinets empty?” I pressed, trying to find out more before Sarah decided this was ‘too much’ for me.

Sarah shifted her gaze towards my window, “Even though Doc wanted me out of the picture, I kept trying to make the project safer..to limit the amount of casualties.”

“The amount?” I thought, “How dangerous is this project?”

Sarah noticed my expression and stopped, “B-basically I have something that can help, so I'm on my way to Energis to talk to Doctor Diamond about it.”

I couldn’t hide my worry, “You said you have something that could help?” I asked, “Not like..solve the problem?”

She shook her head, “The problem can’t be solved unless the project is shut down, and Jordan wouldn’t do that even if pigs started to fly.”

“So no matter what you do, the test will end up.. killing.. somebody?” I clarified.

Sarah nodded, “There’s a...higher than acceptable chance of that happening.”

I slowly nodded, “I mean, I get why that’s bad, but why are you so worried about me?”

She looked back at me, “Because Jordan J threa-”

“That’s not why..” I accused, “You’re hiding something else about the project.”

Sarah went silent, “You don’t understand Damien...”

I don’t understand,

Why wouldn’t I understand?!

I checked my phone, slipping back on my coat and standing up, “I’m going to be late for practice.” I started towards my room’s doorway.

“W-wait!” Sarah shouted, standing up. I stopped, turning my head slightly.

“Te amo.” She said, eager for a response.

But I couldn’t give her one, so I just continued out of the door, ignoring her calls for me as I shut the apartment door.

-

To be honest, I wasn’t feeling like Taekwondo tonight. I wasn’t in the mood to be kicked around by other, older people. Instead, I found a semi-clean bench to sit on and called Jason. While I waited for him to pick up, Sarah’s words kept repeating in my mind.

…You don’t understand.

…You don’t understand.

…You don’t understand.

“What up?” Jason’s voice came from the phone, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Hey,” I said, “Wanna hang out?”

“Beats this place anytime. Where?”

I looked up at the darkening sky, “Uhh, how about Bob’s Bagels?”

“Umm, do you want to just pick up bagels and walk back? Sorry, I still have a paper to do, and I think there’s a pretty bad storm coming...like...really bad...I don’t even think a lot of cars are out.”

I sighed, glancing at the street in front of me and confirming his words, “Yeah that’s cool. I’ll pick you up. Bye.”

-

I tried to think of happy things while I walked through Manhattan. Not a lot of people were out near where I was walking, but that was probably because of the incoming storm.

I thought it was okay to say that me and Selina were officially friends, and that would always make me smile- though I didn’t know what caused her to walk out like that at school. It was bothering me, so I pulled out my phone and texted her.

You okay?-Me

…It didn’t take long for a reply,

Yea, sorry about earlier.- Selina

…

Np. Maybe we can hang out later this week?

…

Definitely! Gotta go now, ttyl.-

“Well at least everything seemed alright.” I thought, stopping at the intersection and making a left on Draxon. Just then my phone vibrated. I pulled it out once more only to see that I had run out of battery,

“Great.” I thought, the Cole’s Mansion now in sight. It was about a 30 minute walk from Jay's house to the intersection point.

I arrived at the mansion, making my way down the rich steps, through the rich yard, and stopping at the rich, wooden door. The house was three stories tall with quartz pillars supporting the front. Two rose bushes sat on either side of the door and a bronze colored welcome mat laid between them. It almost felt wrong to step on.

I rang the doorbell, waiting for Jason’s mom to answer.

The door opened to reveal Jason himself, already dressed and ready to go.

I waved, “Hola.”

He waved back, stepping out and shutting the door behind him, “Alright let’s go,” He said, showing me his English notebook, “The only way I could convince my parents to go is if I got some work done on the way!”

I looked at him as we reached the sidewalk, “You seem strangely happy with this.” I noticed.

He laughed, “It’s just cool I guess,” Jason shrugged, “ To see them caring about something I do for once.”

By the time we reached the intersection, it was basically pitch black outside and it had started to rain. We were surrounded by the typical huge skyscrapers of the city, one particularly large wooden scaffolding set up on the nearest building to our right. No construction workers seemed to be working on the building though, probably because of the storm or something.

As we waited for the light to turn, the rain got worse, causing both of us to pull over our hoods. My mom didn’t want me to be out this late, but I needed this right now. Too much crazy stuff had happened today for me not to. As the rain came down though, it seemed increasingly obvious that we would head back soon.

Jason suddenly turned to me with a sly grin.

I tried to step back, knowing where this was going, but he had already lunged at me, pulling my hood down before I could react,

I laughed, rain falling like a blanket on my face.

I grinned as I turned towards where Jason was, the intent for revenge circling through my mind. Water was in my eye so I could barely make out his figure.

A large gust of wind passed between the two of us, sending shivers down my spine.

It was only with my hood down did I notice how cold it was getting.

“Hey!” I said, the voice of reason starting to take hold, “Maybe we should go back!”

Jason looked like he was holding out his phone for a picture.

I spat out some water, "Jason, c’mon," I laughed, lightning striking in the distance. “I’m being serious..”

SNAP.

CRACK!

Jason laughed as he took a picture of me, a huge flash of blue cascading across my eyes as I was blinded by a lightning strike that my instincts told me was way too close.

My smile faded.

Wait, was there something above us?

Something was above Jason..no..falling on top of him.

My eyes widened as I caught a glance at the approaching scaffolding,

“Jason, behind you!”

SMASH!

Too late.

Three thick and tall wooden beams from the scaffolding had been hit by lightning, each one tumbling down onto the sidewalk right where Jason had been standing. I rubbed my eyes, my vision returning to normal as I saw Jason’s withering form trapped under the pieces of lumber.

"Jason!" I yelled, forgetting Jason’s phone as it sailed into the haze of rain and sliding next to him.

His face was pressed against the concrete, masking heavy pain while his eyes were shut tight, “Ow.”

I stopped myself from panicking, my first instincts being to get Jason from under the beams.

“H-hold on!” I shouted through the crashing of water droplets, running next to a beam that had fallen horizontally onto Jason's lower back before gripping it firmly.

Using all my strength, I was able to lift the thing slowly, inch by inch, while an increasing amount of adrenaline began soaring through my veins.

I should’ve just stayed home.

I peered through the misty rain. The weather was getting worse by the minute and no one was around.

My heart beat increased as the rain fell harder.

And harder.

And harder.

I was starting to panic as I finally got the worst beam off.

The other two beams were on Jason’s sneakers, but he had wrenched himself out of those.

I looked around again, maybe hoping that some random people would come and help. That kind of thing wasn’t too uncommon in this city, but I didn’t see anybody.

No one...How could there be no one?

“Damien,” Jason said the words through tightly shut teeth, trying and failing to stand up, “Maybe this was a bad idea.”

I tried not to think about the obvious statement, also trying to ignore the sound of more thunder and more lightning while our clothes became soaked, “L-let’s just head back.”

Getting on all fours, I slung Jason’s arm around my shoulder and stood up.

Jason shook in pain as I brought him to his feet but was producing more heaves of annoyance than anything else. He had probably been injured, but I didn’t think he’d require an Emergency Room or anything like that.

He put all his weight on me, walking with a heavy limp as I slowly moved us towards a nearby bench.

I couldn’t help but notice the large, ripped hole at the bottom of Jay’s shirt, exposing an ugly purple bruise along with various smaller scrapes on his skin that were bleeding slightly.

I let Jason down at a steady pace.

“Wow it’s cold.” Jason mumbled, shivering.

Just then, I heard laughing from my left. I turned to see a couple walking down the sidewalk, making splashes in the puddles on the concrete caused by the rain.

Relieved, I ran towards them,

“Erm, Excuse me!” I yelled, grabbing the man’s shoulder. He retracted his arm. He looked only a bit younger than my sister, and the woman looked even younger than that.

I pointed at Jason, who was still leaning on the bench, “Could you guys help us for a minute?”

Maybe I could ask for a ride to Draxon.

The woman, the man’s partner, spoke up, “Um, I’m sorry, but..you don’t understand..”

What did I not understand?!

The man just gave me an apologetic look, and, grabbing the woman’s hand, quickly walked away.

I grunted in anger, pulling out my phone while hoping for a miracle.

It was still out.

WHOOSH!

The wind started to pick up, making the rain feel harder as it slammed against my face. I looked back at Jason, who was currently trying to feel where he was hit on his body.

After realizing I wouldn’t think of anything before we froze to death, I decided that I would just walk Jason home through the storm.

I really should’ve just stayed home.

I helped Jason to his feet again,

“So, walking, huh?” He grunted while drawing to keep his lower back steady, “Fun.”

I shook my head, the wind and rain pouring down without stopping,

“Stop talking.” I ordered, “We’re going to get in so much trouble..”

It took what seemed like an hour to get there, but eventually, I reached Jason’s house.

I walked down his rich steps, my heart beat proving to be too loud for my ears. I walked through his rich yard, finally feeling the adrenaline subsiding from my body. Now, all concern had switched from survival of the storm, to survival of when Jason’s parents would inevitably call my parents.

Lastly, I stopped at his rich door, feeling my body begin to ease itself as I rang the doorbell a couple of times.

Once the door opened, my jaw dropped a little since it was not, in fact, Mr. or Mrs. Cole.

Instead, standing in all his rage, was my father.

“Dang dude…” Jason whispered from my left.

I gritted my teeth a little, “Stop talking..”

----

An Hour Later: Midnight

Jason’s first floor was kind of split up like quadrants. In the first there was the kitchen, the second was the living room, the third was just space, and the fourth was the door entrance.

Everyone, including me, was in the Living room.

And I mean, Everyone.

My Dad, mom, and sister were all on one couch, while Jason, Mr. Cole, and Mrs. Cole were on another.

Everyone had all been arguing with each other for like an hour. My real death lecture that I was expecting from my parents hadn’t even happened yet,

“Esperanza please,” Mrs.Cole said, “If Jason didn’t get himself hurt, your son would’ve never had to walk him here.”

Yea, but then I would’ve had to run home and endure the wrath of my parents when nobody else was around to suggest child services.

“I-I think we should just be focused on the storm.” Sarah announced, “Damien is fine anyways.”

“And plus,” My dad spoke, “Jason is the one who can barely walk right now. You heard the boy- scaffolding fell right on him!”

Mr. Cole coughed, “He’ll be fine Andre.”

Jason had cleaned out the scrapes, his mom had wrapped an elastic bandage around parts that were beginning to swell, and some weird cream stuff had been put on the bruise before all that too.

“Even if some of this was Jason’s fault somehow,” Mom started, “Damien was never supposed to be there in the first place.”

I looked down a little, knowing she was right.

“Well,” Mrs. Cole piped up, “I did blame your son entirely at first, but then again he did walk Jason back here so I can’t be too mad.”

Everyone gave a sort of okay to that, my parents just treating that one as a minor detail,

“Was anyone around?” Mrs. Cole asked, looking at me.

I guessed this meant I could speak now, since my parents also look intrigued by the question.

CRACK!

Lightning flashed past the upper wall’s window. I looked up to find that the rain, somehow, had gotten even worse since I was out there.

I slowly shook my head, feeling anger fill my voice, “Nope..nobody was around.”

A moment of silence passed between the adults, as if waiting for any more questions to emerge before the real stuff started. Jason didn’t say anything, cause there might as well have been no one around.

Once no one talked, I took a deep breath as I saw what I feared come to pass.

So began my parent’s lecture of yelling, which went on for about an hour with Jason’s parents yelling at him since they had nothing better to do.

School had decided that they still weren’t closing tomorrow, as I found out somewhere in between my dad threatening to stuff me through some garbage disposal and my mom threatening to use her infamous slipper. Both were just as dangerous in my opinion.

Once they were done yelling at me, I coughed,

“So uhm, are we heading back?”

Dad shook his head, now satisfied, “We had driven over here before the storm hit since you had been gone so long.” He glared at me, “But by the time we got here, the rain had already picked up and Jason’s parents were worried about where you two were as well.”

Mom picked up the question, “So when you arrived with Jason, we decided it best that we didn’t risk the storm, and we would just wait it out here.”

Sarah joined in, “Yeah..it’s already midnight so it's technically Tuesday.”

I smiled absently, “Cool, a sleepover.”

Sarah caught this, shaking her head as a smile came over her.

Suddenly her smile faded, “Hey Damien, Necesitamos hablar.”

I sighed, getting up and walking with her to a secluded corner of the mansion.

Once we were alone she spoke up, “I blame myself for what happened,” She started, “If I hadn’t made you so mad none-”

I stopped her with a slow and hesitating hug. It was a little cheesy for me, but it was better than performing the ‘it’s okay I don’t really care and it was kind of my fault too’ speech.

“Yo también te amo” I admitted, pulling away, “But I’m still mad at you… and you still suck.”

She smiled big, “Thanks Damien.” She breathed.

I grabbed her hand, fiddling with it like when I was little, “So did you do what you needed to do?” I asked, “Everything’s alright now, right?”

She made a squirming sound that I didn’t like

“C’mon Sarahhh..” I extended her name out in annoyance.

“Well,” She scratched her head awkwardly, looking up, “About that...”

I rolled my eyes, “What did you do?” I asked.

“I need to go to Europe.”

My heart skipped a beat, my hands dropping, “Europe? Why do you need to go to Europe?”

She grew quiet.

“Right right- I don’t understand.” I mimicked, dropping her hand.

She looked at me and sighed, “The tests are being held in Paris, and Doc D is apparently already there.”

I turned back around, “Oh.” I said, “W-when are you planning to leave?”

She rubbed her temples, “Tomorrow. The airport says the storm should calm down by then.”

My eyes widened as I began to protest, “Wha-No!”

Sarah stopped me, “I have to go,” She said, “You know that.”

I did, but I still didn’t want her to.

“Do Mom and Dad know?” I asked.

She nodded, “Yes, but they only think I’m trying to get my internship back.”

I smiled a bit, happy that she told me and not them. Although that was probably a bad thing.

“Well be careful,” I ordered, “And when you get back we can get bagels.”

She laughed, “Will do Hermano.”

-

The weather predicted the storm to end later in the morning, so the sleepover was official. It wasn’t the first time our families had done this, since we were so close, but it would be the first time under these particular circumstances.

I was more than okay with that since we could basically stay up for however late we wanted.

I was in the Cole’s second movie room on the third floor at the moment. Jason and I had thrown blankets on the floor in front of the movie projector and set up bowls of Popcorn on black TV-trays. I was laying on my side of the room, scrolling through movies with a remote while Jason was off to get more popcorn. Jason could move better now, but it evidently still hurt, and guilt over what had happened was starting to settle in on me.

We hadn’t really talked about what happened yet, but we could later.

I heard the door open and got up, expecting to find Jason, but instead found Dad.

“Yo.” He said plainly.

I coughed, “What’s up?”

He nodded towards the door, “Your mom wants you to change into some night clothes in case you fall asleep in here. Ask Jay for some.”

I sighed, walking towards the door, “What are you guys gonna do?” I asked, stopping at the doorway. Dad shrugged, “Talk, probably.” He said, the light of the projector glistening against his umber brown skin.

I shook my head, “Adults are so boring...” I pointed out, making him laugh.

“Your sister used to say that when she was your age.” He remembered.

I smiled, “Wonder what happened to her.”

He laughed again before pushing me out of the door, “She became an adult.”

Before I left I felt Dad’s hand gripping my shoulder, “And Damien,”

I turned to him, “Yeah?”

“I don’t know what’s going on between you and your sister, but make sure to give her some space if she needs it, okay?”

I nodded, “Okay Dad.”

-

I walked through the kitchen only to be stopped by Jason.

“Where are you going?” He asked, just finishing his bowl of snacks.

I grabbed some of his popcorn and tossed it in my mouth, “I have to steal some more of your clothes.” I said, mouth full, “Apparently.”

He shook his head, “Not without me.” He noted, “I hate when you take my stuff and then bring it to your house so that I never find it again.”

“Wow,” I whistled, walking towards the large, grand wooden staircase next to the door. Jason was limping to keep up,

“I guess you better hurry then.” I laughed.

He grunted as we headed upstairs.