Push - Chapter Seven - By Lauren & Hattie
Chapter Seven
I crept up the stairs that led to the door of my house. I tried as quietly as possible to open and close the door, and although my mom was a deep sleeper, I couldn’t take any chances. I shut the door carefully behind me, locked it and padded quietly up the stairs to my room. When I got in my room, I climbed out of what I was wearing and into some pajamas and tucked myself in bed, not worrying about my hair or teeth, just wanting to make sure that I was in bed before mom woke up at 5 to get ready for the day-- and the job she applied for the minute she found out that dad would be gone for more than a month.
I eventually fell asleep, which took some effort. I kept thinking about Galena and my dream, and wondering if it wasn’t really a dream and if Galena had used her poltergeist powers to erase it all. I had to remember to ask Griffin if they were capable of that sort of thing tomorrow morning when I saw him next. I dreamed about absolutely nothing until later that morning, when the sun shone through my windows and woke me up. I rolled from my back to my stomach to look at my clock. Ten in the morning, which made sense since I hadn’t laid down until four in the morning.
I got up and poured myself a bowl of Frosted Flakes, realizing for the first time how strange it was to not hear my dad coming down the stairs to make sure I’d done my house work. I drowned the sugary brown cereal in whole milk - something my dad saved for himself, though I have no idea why - and stuck my spoon in it. I crunched on breakfast for a few minutes, then I went to the living room to watch 30 Minute Meals, but then I realized I didn’t have to cook dinner for a month, and I flipped through the channels before deciding on just plain morning cartoons.
The park is just down the street from my house, I remembered Griffin saying earlier that morning. I trudged back up the stairs to my room and pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans and a gray and white striped Henley. I laced my black Converse high tops over short white socks, and jogged down the stairs. After I shouted to my mom that I’m going to be out for a while, I slipped on my thick, dark green winter coat and went out the door into the cold winter day outside. I twisted left and right through the near-desolate winter streets, heading toward the park and wondering which house was Griffin’s. I slowly pulled my feet along the gray, hard asphalt. After walking up and down the cold street about 3 times, angelic white flakes began to dot the street. I could barely tell the minutes from the hours, and barely felt the muscle pain in my legs because of the numbing cold of the snowy day. I stopped in my tracks for a minute and looked at the pale gray winter sky, watery snowflakes dropping endlessly on my face. I looked down at my feet, melted snow seeping in through the sides of my sneakers and my socks. I wiped a few loose droplets of water from my face, flinching at the sudden touch of my cold hand against my slightly warmer cheek. I noticed also that the snow was creeping up to my shins, soaking my pants as well as my feet. My teeth began to chatter, but I hugged myself and kept pressing on up and down the street for no reason. I just felt safer knowing that Griffin was here somewhere... knowing that if something went wrong he would see it.
And he would see me.
My legs and arms ached with a merciless pain that swam through my body, a headache screaming and pulsing in my brain, but I kept pressing on. Three hours bled into four, which bled into five, and the minutes still began to tick by, as my long legs continued to trek up and down the near-deserted street, keeping time with a rhythm that I created in my mind. I hugged myself tighter, but finally the pain in my body became to much to bear, and cold tears slipped down my pale cheeks.I dropped to my knees in the cold snow of the January afternoon, closed my eyes and slumped forward. I lay there for a few seconds, but eventually pick myself up again to power through the silence of the winter back to my own house. I doubled over for a second, but when I finally regained my balance, my heart skipped a bet when I heard a click and a creak from a door opening from one of the houses in front of me and brought me to a standstill.
I looked toward the row of neat and tidy houses laid out in front of me and saw one towards the end of the road with the door open, a confused and slightly adorable Griffin peeking out, his black hair ruffled left and right like he’d just rolled out of bed.
“Cadence?” Griffin called down the road. “What are you doing?” I made my way to his house, taking it all in as I did so. The walkway up to his house was lined with black tar that was getting wet from the snow. The dark, bare tree off to the left of his house was covered in a thin layer of ice, the tips of which were pointing effortlessly to the snow-covered ground.
“I was taking a little walk and looking for you.” It came out more as a question than an answer, but he didn’t tease about it like he usually would have.
He rubbed his eyes and stepped out into the cold winter light, his voice tired and slightly angered, although I could tell he was trying to be as nice as possible to me. “Well, you’ve found me. What d’you need?” I could barely believe it was him speaking, his voice wasn’t as smart as it usually was. I guess, like he said, I was dumbing him up. The thought made me blush for a second.
I realized then that I had no idea why I’d wanted to find him so bad, and I didn’t do or say anything but fidget with my fingers and stare at Griffin for a few seconds. He was wearing black, baggy, plaid pajama bottoms and a semi-tight plain black shirt. “Well, uh. My parents aren’t here right now, so... Do you want to come inside for a bit?” I blinked in surprise, then nodded, shoving my hands in my coat pockets. He stopped out of the doorway leaving enough room for me to step inside, head bent. Before I could go all the way into his house, I brushed the loose snow from my pants and coat, took off my shoes and socks and sighed in the leisurely warm air that his house blanketed me in. I turned around and closed the door behind me, slumping against it for a minute.
And then I saw his house.
Parts of the wallpaper in the small living room where I then stood were peeling off of the wall onto a dirty wood floor with several scratches littering it, along with empty beer cans and broken glass. A small table in the kitchen that was dotted with holes was home to two mismatching plastic chairs that looked like they belonged to an elementary school. Yellow tile covered the floor of the kitchen, but was pulled up in some places to show a dirty brown surface that at that time, I didn’t really want to know what it was. I felt my heart scream in silent agony for the boy standing in front of me. Now that I knew what his house was like, he seemed like a stranger. “Well, uh. My parents aren’t here right now, so... Do you want to come inside for a bit?” If they were home, what would I have seen? I walked further into the house when I noticed Griffin looking at me quizzically.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, sticking his hands deep inside the pockets of his baggy pajama pants. I snapped back into reality after hearing his familiar voice, and sat down on the black leather couch that sat behind a red-brown wooden coffee table.
“Oh, nothing, just...” my words fell apart, and before I could piece them back together, Griffin interrupted me with, “Hey, listen, I’m just gonna clean up around the place a bit, you just... make yourself comfortable, okay?” I nodded to him and sprawled myself long across the couch, burying my head into the arm of the couch. I sat up for a minute, headache still pounding strong in my head, and unzipped my coat and took it off, only to lay back down and curl myself up in a tight, warm ball under my coat, which I used as a blanket.
“Cadence. Hey, Cadence, wake up!” My eyes slipped open when I woke up to a quiet Griffin whispering to me and shaking my shoulder to break me from my sleep. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling when I saw his face, and I sat upright and stretched. He backed up, and I surveyed the room, beer cans off the floor and not a shard of glass in sight. He cleaned up his place for me, I thought to myself. “Yes. Yes I did,” He joshed, smiling coyly at me. I smiled back and punched him lightly in the stomach. I noticed that he had changed out of his pajamas into a black shirt with a faded AC/DC logo on it over ripped faded blue jeans. His hair wasn’t as nappy as it was earlier, so I guessed he had brushed it, just not as well as he should have. “So,” he began, “Did you have any more dreams about Galena?”
I shook my head happily. “Nope, not a thought about her went through my mind about any of it. I just conked out, as my mom would say.” He laughed again, turning around and looking out the window as the snow continued to fall into a deep white blanket covering the ground.
“It’s beautiful...” I watched as the color in his eyes changed from blue to a deep teal, glittering with sheer joy. “Yeah.... it is....” I said to him, sighing and taking in the beauty that the sun created when it made the snow sparkle. I stood up next to him and we looked out the window for what seemed like forever. We looked at each other for a moment, and suddenly all time stopped. I looked at his eyes, which changed again from the teal to a bright green. We leaned in closer, and I could feel his hot breath on my face. My heart began to beat faster, and I could feel a cold sweat breaking out on my forehead. I could feel my face blush up, and right at the last moment, before our lips touched, I shied away, afraid of the consequence. I turned my head away and tucked my chin into my chest, pushing my hands into my jean pockets. I sat back down on the couch, my heart wrenching as I watched the look on his face turn into pure hurt, his eyes changing once again into a sad, dripping blue.
“So.....” I said, trying not to make things awkward. I spun a piece of my long brown hair with my finger, trying to think of what to say. I tried my hardest to slow down my heart, but every time I tried I would only miserably fail. “When did you say we were going to meet again? 3:30 AM?” I tried my hardest to make him laugh. “Or is that too early? Should we make it 3:45?” I smiled, trying desperately to make him do the same, which he did. He turned to face the large window in front of the house when he heard large black tires crunching over the freshly fallen snow, and I saw the blood run away from his face and his eyes change to a deep gray when someone stepped out of it and made their way towards the door.
I crept up the stairs that led to the door of my house. I tried as quietly as possible to open and close the door, and although my mom was a deep sleeper, I couldn’t take any chances. I shut the door carefully behind me, locked it and padded quietly up the stairs to my room. When I got in my room, I climbed out of what I was wearing and into some pajamas and tucked myself in bed, not worrying about my hair or teeth, just wanting to make sure that I was in bed before mom woke up at 5 to get ready for the day-- and the job she applied for the minute she found out that dad would be gone for more than a month.
I eventually fell asleep, which took some effort. I kept thinking about Galena and my dream, and wondering if it wasn’t really a dream and if Galena had used her poltergeist powers to erase it all. I had to remember to ask Griffin if they were capable of that sort of thing tomorrow morning when I saw him next. I dreamed about absolutely nothing until later that morning, when the sun shone through my windows and woke me up. I rolled from my back to my stomach to look at my clock. Ten in the morning, which made sense since I hadn’t laid down until four in the morning.
I got up and poured myself a bowl of Frosted Flakes, realizing for the first time how strange it was to not hear my dad coming down the stairs to make sure I’d done my house work. I drowned the sugary brown cereal in whole milk - something my dad saved for himself, though I have no idea why - and stuck my spoon in it. I crunched on breakfast for a few minutes, then I went to the living room to watch 30 Minute Meals, but then I realized I didn’t have to cook dinner for a month, and I flipped through the channels before deciding on just plain morning cartoons.
The park is just down the street from my house, I remembered Griffin saying earlier that morning. I trudged back up the stairs to my room and pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans and a gray and white striped Henley. I laced my black Converse high tops over short white socks, and jogged down the stairs. After I shouted to my mom that I’m going to be out for a while, I slipped on my thick, dark green winter coat and went out the door into the cold winter day outside. I twisted left and right through the near-desolate winter streets, heading toward the park and wondering which house was Griffin’s. I slowly pulled my feet along the gray, hard asphalt. After walking up and down the cold street about 3 times, angelic white flakes began to dot the street. I could barely tell the minutes from the hours, and barely felt the muscle pain in my legs because of the numbing cold of the snowy day. I stopped in my tracks for a minute and looked at the pale gray winter sky, watery snowflakes dropping endlessly on my face. I looked down at my feet, melted snow seeping in through the sides of my sneakers and my socks. I wiped a few loose droplets of water from my face, flinching at the sudden touch of my cold hand against my slightly warmer cheek. I noticed also that the snow was creeping up to my shins, soaking my pants as well as my feet. My teeth began to chatter, but I hugged myself and kept pressing on up and down the street for no reason. I just felt safer knowing that Griffin was here somewhere... knowing that if something went wrong he would see it.
And he would see me.
My legs and arms ached with a merciless pain that swam through my body, a headache screaming and pulsing in my brain, but I kept pressing on. Three hours bled into four, which bled into five, and the minutes still began to tick by, as my long legs continued to trek up and down the near-deserted street, keeping time with a rhythm that I created in my mind. I hugged myself tighter, but finally the pain in my body became to much to bear, and cold tears slipped down my pale cheeks.I dropped to my knees in the cold snow of the January afternoon, closed my eyes and slumped forward. I lay there for a few seconds, but eventually pick myself up again to power through the silence of the winter back to my own house. I doubled over for a second, but when I finally regained my balance, my heart skipped a bet when I heard a click and a creak from a door opening from one of the houses in front of me and brought me to a standstill.
I looked toward the row of neat and tidy houses laid out in front of me and saw one towards the end of the road with the door open, a confused and slightly adorable Griffin peeking out, his black hair ruffled left and right like he’d just rolled out of bed.
“Cadence?” Griffin called down the road. “What are you doing?” I made my way to his house, taking it all in as I did so. The walkway up to his house was lined with black tar that was getting wet from the snow. The dark, bare tree off to the left of his house was covered in a thin layer of ice, the tips of which were pointing effortlessly to the snow-covered ground.
“I was taking a little walk and looking for you.” It came out more as a question than an answer, but he didn’t tease about it like he usually would have.
He rubbed his eyes and stepped out into the cold winter light, his voice tired and slightly angered, although I could tell he was trying to be as nice as possible to me. “Well, you’ve found me. What d’you need?” I could barely believe it was him speaking, his voice wasn’t as smart as it usually was. I guess, like he said, I was dumbing him up. The thought made me blush for a second.
I realized then that I had no idea why I’d wanted to find him so bad, and I didn’t do or say anything but fidget with my fingers and stare at Griffin for a few seconds. He was wearing black, baggy, plaid pajama bottoms and a semi-tight plain black shirt. “Well, uh. My parents aren’t here right now, so... Do you want to come inside for a bit?” I blinked in surprise, then nodded, shoving my hands in my coat pockets. He stopped out of the doorway leaving enough room for me to step inside, head bent. Before I could go all the way into his house, I brushed the loose snow from my pants and coat, took off my shoes and socks and sighed in the leisurely warm air that his house blanketed me in. I turned around and closed the door behind me, slumping against it for a minute.
And then I saw his house.
Parts of the wallpaper in the small living room where I then stood were peeling off of the wall onto a dirty wood floor with several scratches littering it, along with empty beer cans and broken glass. A small table in the kitchen that was dotted with holes was home to two mismatching plastic chairs that looked like they belonged to an elementary school. Yellow tile covered the floor of the kitchen, but was pulled up in some places to show a dirty brown surface that at that time, I didn’t really want to know what it was. I felt my heart scream in silent agony for the boy standing in front of me. Now that I knew what his house was like, he seemed like a stranger. “Well, uh. My parents aren’t here right now, so... Do you want to come inside for a bit?” If they were home, what would I have seen? I walked further into the house when I noticed Griffin looking at me quizzically.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, sticking his hands deep inside the pockets of his baggy pajama pants. I snapped back into reality after hearing his familiar voice, and sat down on the black leather couch that sat behind a red-brown wooden coffee table.
“Oh, nothing, just...” my words fell apart, and before I could piece them back together, Griffin interrupted me with, “Hey, listen, I’m just gonna clean up around the place a bit, you just... make yourself comfortable, okay?” I nodded to him and sprawled myself long across the couch, burying my head into the arm of the couch. I sat up for a minute, headache still pounding strong in my head, and unzipped my coat and took it off, only to lay back down and curl myself up in a tight, warm ball under my coat, which I used as a blanket.
“Cadence. Hey, Cadence, wake up!” My eyes slipped open when I woke up to a quiet Griffin whispering to me and shaking my shoulder to break me from my sleep. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling when I saw his face, and I sat upright and stretched. He backed up, and I surveyed the room, beer cans off the floor and not a shard of glass in sight. He cleaned up his place for me, I thought to myself. “Yes. Yes I did,” He joshed, smiling coyly at me. I smiled back and punched him lightly in the stomach. I noticed that he had changed out of his pajamas into a black shirt with a faded AC/DC logo on it over ripped faded blue jeans. His hair wasn’t as nappy as it was earlier, so I guessed he had brushed it, just not as well as he should have. “So,” he began, “Did you have any more dreams about Galena?”
I shook my head happily. “Nope, not a thought about her went through my mind about any of it. I just conked out, as my mom would say.” He laughed again, turning around and looking out the window as the snow continued to fall into a deep white blanket covering the ground.
“It’s beautiful...” I watched as the color in his eyes changed from blue to a deep teal, glittering with sheer joy. “Yeah.... it is....” I said to him, sighing and taking in the beauty that the sun created when it made the snow sparkle. I stood up next to him and we looked out the window for what seemed like forever. We looked at each other for a moment, and suddenly all time stopped. I looked at his eyes, which changed again from the teal to a bright green. We leaned in closer, and I could feel his hot breath on my face. My heart began to beat faster, and I could feel a cold sweat breaking out on my forehead. I could feel my face blush up, and right at the last moment, before our lips touched, I shied away, afraid of the consequence. I turned my head away and tucked my chin into my chest, pushing my hands into my jean pockets. I sat back down on the couch, my heart wrenching as I watched the look on his face turn into pure hurt, his eyes changing once again into a sad, dripping blue.
“So.....” I said, trying not to make things awkward. I spun a piece of my long brown hair with my finger, trying to think of what to say. I tried my hardest to slow down my heart, but every time I tried I would only miserably fail. “When did you say we were going to meet again? 3:30 AM?” I tried my hardest to make him laugh. “Or is that too early? Should we make it 3:45?” I smiled, trying desperately to make him do the same, which he did. He turned to face the large window in front of the house when he heard large black tires crunching over the freshly fallen snow, and I saw the blood run away from his face and his eyes change to a deep gray when someone stepped out of it and made their way towards the door.
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