The Plan II
"You sure you can do this?" Asked Nate, lingering by the window as Abby began to leave the room. She had already opened the door, wood scraping the floor in a soothing manner. "Forgive me, but the stakes are pretty high." Behind him, an owl hooted and stumbled into a heavy flight, causing Nate to jump backwards.
"Please. I know what I'm doing." She shut the door, letting her continue her conversation in private.
"I know but-" Abby cut him off, ignoring Nate's answer. It didn't seem she was truly looking for an answer. She was looking up at the moon as she talked, an owl flying by in a spectacular show. One to paint on a fresh white canvas.
"You are sooo lucky that Kendra and Caroline are on a school trip. If you did this while they were here, I guarantee you would be digging so far into that fancy inheritance your children would be in debt. Not to the bank. To us." She placed her hands on her hips and sneered. It softened into a warmer smile as Nate smirked back. She laughed quietly so that Mother wouldn't hear. One of the perks of a lot of children, most of whom require privacy from some sort of trauma, is the soundproofing of the place. This was especially well done due to Lucus's hearing sensitivity.
"Luck," Nate flashed his signature smile, leaning his elbow on the windowsill and raising an eyebrow. "Or skill?" This earned him a bonk on the head. Nate fell back in a joking manner, closing his eyes. When he opened them back up, without need to adjust to the light of daytime, Abby was already gone.
Abby strode down the hallway confidently and comfortably. As she was informed, Lucus was indeed with mother, chatting up an awkward storm. They had just discussed the riveting topic of why the stock market is doing whatever it does and were now moving onto pineapple pizza. Lucus let out an exasperated sigh of relief when he heard Abby start towards them. She cut in with impressive skill, easily pulling herself into the topic. She quickly switched from pineapple pizza to something more realistic to discuss in a late night chat.
"Mom, sorry to bother you so late, buuuut" She batted her eyes in a puppy dog way. "I need an advance on my allowance." She held up her hand as mother opened her mouth to reject Abby and cut her off. "I know, this is my third time asking for money, but I promised my friends would go. I don't need much. Just, like twenty bucks." She paused as mother thought. Abby then remembered the task at hand and pretended to notice Lucus for the first time, as if suddenly struck by the fact that there was another in the room. "Speaking of an allowance, isn't Lucus banned from it? He is grounded, isn't he? What's he doing out here?" She let mother carry the rest of the conversation, as if she had been in charge of these decisions.
"Oh that's right. Lucus, you need to go to bed." She shuffled around some well worn pieces of paper, stacking them neatly in a pile. She then took off her metal rimmed glasses and set them down with a sigh. "I've certainly had my fair share of, what was it? Oh yes, pineapple pizza." She then coaxed Lucus towards the long hallway of bedrooms, and turned to Abby, seeming to have already forgotten about him. Perhaps through age. Nate was peeking through the window.
On Lucus's way out, he whispered a quick word of thanks to Abby and strode down as if he was headed for his room. He continued in a path that tilted slightly diagonal towards his bedroom until he counted seventeen steps. Just out of view for Mother. He then opened his door, quite loudly and made a show of going in via some earth trembling stomps. After shutting it, he tiptoed over to Abby's room, tapping the floor twice before opening it. They were soft ones that Lucus muffled using an article of laundry from his pocket. It was one of these night time thumps that you just ignore. Abby began to speak louder, leading up to the three second mark after the taps. She then spoke much louder in that one second, before returning back to her usual tempo and volume. In that very same moment, Lucus managed to slide through the doorway and shut it behind him.
Lucus managed to climb out the window silently. It was impressive, the speed at which a blind person can move to such perfection. It was almost graceful, how he jumped through. Lucus hit the ground with a small thud, then rolled to soften the fall. It was in a sort of awkward way, having not been able to witness others use this tactic, but it had the same result. Nate tapped his foot on the grass softly to tell Lucus he was there, before starting along the back of the house towards the road. They ducked under windows, Nate signaling when to hide. The area outside was calm and blissful. It was one that could only beg for a sigh of relief, regardless of the situation prior. It was a bit chilly, but they had their sweatshirts fully prepared for anything. Once they hit the main road, Lucus attempted to make some small talk.
"Soooo." He kicked a pebble as he walked, hands in pockets. "Where are you planning to go?" He nudged Nate, realizing he truly had no idea what Nate's intentions were this entire time. He shrugged.
"I'm not sure. I'll probably just accompany you to the hospital. Don't worry," Nate sneered, "I won't intrude upon your quality time with your girlfriend." Lucus pushed him forwards, holding in a laugh.
"She's not-" he paused, efforts coming out useless. "Forget about it. What I'm interested in," Lucus leaned closer to Nate, whispering in his ear. "Is you and Abby." He grinned mischievously, Nate backing away with a disgusted look on his face.
"Wait, hold on." He was sputtering, looking for words. "I don't- its not like that." Nate answered, locking in his final answer.
"You know I could hear you guys in the room…"
"You heard nothing and all you did was wrong." Nate pouted, crossing his arms. They stayed silent after that for a few minutes, walking peacefully Nate a few steps ahead of Lucus. It wasn't an awkward kind of pause, instead, it was one of mutual understanding. Lucus broke the silence eventually. It wasn't a sentence that sparked a new conversation, just one of finality.
"I wouldn't mind, you and Abby, I mean. You're kind of alright." They might have spoken a bit more over the rest of the walk, but it was forever overshadowed by the first conversation, sleeping peacefully in the back of their minds.