Ch.10 Stuck

Raine

Why did I tell him that? Oh god, and now he's seen where I live. He knows I’m poor. I bet he thinks I’m gross now. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow, ok?” I turned around, unable to help my smile. “Okay!” He didn’t seem too bothered. Thank goodness. I don’t know why I told him that. It just felt like I could. I think we’ll be great friends. His bike roared to life, and he drove off. I watched until the neighborhood corner made him disappear. I smiled and turned back to my apartment. My smile faded as I realized where I have to go now. Suddenly the locks from my landlords doors began to rattle. Fear struck through me and I froze. I wanted to run to my door but he’d just come inside. It’s safer out here, right? The door swung open and out stepped my landlord in all his glory. Which is not a lot. “H-hello sir.” He grunted. “Thought I told you not to stutter boy.” He raised his hand and pointed, meanwhile his other fingers were wrapped around a beer can. “S-sorry.” I gasped. “I mean, sorry.” He looked mad, but then his eyes looked behind me. I turned and found my neighbor. She was so nice to me. We talk quite often actually. She’s like my best friend. I waved with a smile. Knees still shaking. “Hey Rina!” She put her hand up and then slapped her leg. A weird sort of wave. Rina was way older than me but she’s really beautiful. To describe her personality would be powerful. I’m glad I’m her friend. She has saved me quite a few times in certain incidents with our landlord. She’s not scared of him, but she’s so brave and everything I’m not. “Hey! Come over for some tea! I know it’s late but I wanna see you!” She yelled across, being sure to let him hear. “Sure thing! Be over in a sec!” She nodded and stayed on her porch, watching us, or, more specifically, him. I bowed my head to him and walked to my door. “If I hear that bike again, I’ll have to do something about it.” “Yes sir.” I escaped into my abode and shut the door. I leaned on it for a second, letting my racing heart beat calm itself, and then pushed off, walking to my bedroom so I can set my things down. I left everything but my phone and walked back out the door. When I made it to her house she came out her door squealing. “What? What’s wrong?” She inhaled and with a big smile exclaimed, “Who was that boy?” I suddenly turned pink and looked away. “Nobody! Let’s go inside.” She giggled and wrapped her arm around my neck, leading me inside. Her house always smelled like gingerbread for some reason. I’m definitely not complaining, it's one of my favorite smells. Kinda smells like Cayde-“So! Why were you on that guys bike, who is he, and why is he so hot?” “Rina! Stop!” “Alright, but tell me.” I sighed. “So, his name is Cayden Conri-“ she gasped. “Cayden Conri!?” “Yeah? You know him?” “Of course! Who doesn’t?” “What? What are you talking about?” She looked astonished. “You really don’t know?” “Know what?” Now I’m confused, what was she on about? “Oooh, I’m not gonna spoil it for you. You’ll find out.” I shook my head. What was that supposed to mean. “Anyway,” She continued. “What did he want?” “Mike? Our landlord? Oh, uh…” she stared at me until I could figure out what he wanted. What was he saying? “Nothing really, but complained about the noise from the bike. And my stuttering, but it’s not like I can help it.” “It was only here for like 2 minutes, seriously?” I shrugged. What can you do you know? I’m just really nervous for tomorrow. What are we gonna find. Will the boy even know that he did that? He might not remember. That would really cut any leads we had, what else can we lead on? We’d be stuck.