-Chapter 18: A Castle on a Hill-
-Zeke-
*tap*
*tap*
*tap*
God damnit, not again.
I walk over to my window, and as expected, I see Kris, once again, standing there. This time, however, with a small pile of rocks.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" I yell down.
"Good morning to you, too, sleepyhead!" She called back
"It's 2:54 in the morning. What do you want?" I ask in annoyance.
"To hang out with my favorite edge lord, duh." She replied. "Now get down here, I brought cookies."
I facepalm.
"I'm coming down for the cookies!" I call one more time.
I heard a muffled, yet still loud, "Yay" as I shut the window.
I throw on a jacket but nothing else. I didn't expect her to stay long. Even then, if she did, I could always invite her inside.
I grab my sweater and walk down the stairs to see Kris sitting on the counter.
"Hey, Red." She chirped as if nothing was wrong.
"How'd you get in here?" I ask her.
She smiles.
"You're window was unlocked." She replied.
She slides the package of cookies over, and I take one out.
"Why are you even up?" I ask as I take a bite.
"Simple. I had three cups of coffee, and I can't sleep." She replied before getting down from the counter and sitting on the couch.
I follow her and sit next to her.
"We should do something tomorrow." She says the moment I sit down.
I look at her as if she was crazy.
"Tomorrow's a school day." I remind her.
"Since when do you care about school?" She said in a snarky tone.
"I don't." I snap back. "I thought you did, though."
"Yeah, I do." She said. "But I think we both need a chill day."
She looks at me with hope in her eyes.
I shrug. "Sure. I'm down. We can't stay here, though."
"We could go to my place." Kris offered. "It's not far from here. I need help painting my room anyway."
I can't paint for shit, but I agree to help her. School had taken a toll on us, so painting seemed like a nice thing to do.
"So, Red, hows Boston treating you?" Kris asked.
"I shrug. "It's ok, I guess. It isn't home."
Kris looked at the floor as if she was contemplating her next words carefully.
"You're thinking about it again, aren't you?" She asked in a cautious tone.
"What do you mean?" I ask, knowing damn well what she means.
"Celeste. What she did." Kris replied.
"It isn't something easily forgotten." I sigh.
"I know that much," Kris said, putting her arm around me in a quick side hug.
"I just wish there was more that I could've done," I say, guilt overwhelming me.
"You didn't know she would do anything that night," Kris said in an attempt to console me.
"Can we talk about something else?" I ask. "This is kinda bumming me out."
She pulled away from the hug, smiled, and nodded her head, and for the next couple hours, we talked about random things while snacking on the cookies.
————
-Kris-
The next day had finally rolled around, and Zeke and I are walking to my place of residence with a wagon in tow. Zeke got to pull it, while I had nothing. Yes, I let him do all the work; don't judge me.
"Where did you get this stuff anyway?" Zeke asked as he struggled to pull the wagon, which was full of spray paint and tape, down the street.
"Don't worry about it," I say as I walk next to him.
People should learn to keep their sheds locked.
"How much farther is this place?" Zeke asked again.
I laugh. His complaining is pretty funny.
"Why is your house so far away?" Zeke groaned.
"Calm down, Red. It's not too far away, and for the record, it isn't a house." I say.
"Apartment?" Zeke guessed.
"Nope!" I reply.
"Motor home?" He guessed again
"Holy fuck are you homeless or something?" Zeke asked, seemingly giving up.
I giggle. "Yeah, technically. I live in an orphanage."
"Well shit, I'm gonna shut up now, sorry about that," Zeke quickly.
"It's little Red chill. I thought everyone knew, though." I say, still laughing.
"Remember, Kris; I just got here a few months ago." He reminded me.
"Right," I say.
I had forgotten that he had only arrived back in March. By the way, we joke with each other; some would assume we'd known one another for years. It was nice having someone to rely on.