Please read the Author's Note!
A/N: I've decided to try something radically new for this chapter, and hopefully the rest of the story: First person! =D I just found myself writing in first person in a notebook on my desk from the perspective of a character, and found it at least ten times more fun than third person! So from now on, every time it changes scenes with a "So-and-so" subtitle or whatever it is that I do, it'll change perspective to that character. And if it's two characters liked in the "Craig and Amelia" segments, it'll be in third. I think I may be getting ahead of myself with this, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
Anyway, please critique me on how this chapter flows, if at all.
Main thread: topic13668.html
Chapter 11: April Showers
April:
It’s kinda funny how rewarded one feels when helping others. It really is. Which is why my life revolves around helping people to cheat the system so that the homeless can at least have something to talk about. It’s so much fun to see police officers and other so-called authorities baffled at the sight of a perfectly legitimate-looking ID card. Some call it cheating, while I call it SAHP, a.k.a., Support for the Advancement of Homeless People.
I, myself, am creative and proactive enough in the city to make some kind of living. It’s usually hard for a gal in her late twenties to get by on her own, but I manage. I commandeered an old abandoned copy shop a few years ago to find that it still had working electricity that, for whatever reason, doesn’t show up on the grid, and some computers. I’d hit the jackpot of the whole damn city. Ever since, I’ve been using the copy shop’s machines to make fake Ids for little more than a dollar a pop, much to many peoples’ joy. Apparently, my work it the best in the field, so I’m seen as a Goddess among mortals, and rightly so.
The kinds of jobs that interest me the most, however, are the ones in which some random rich guy would come in after hearing about me through the underground grapevine. They know of my skills, and ask for me to “kill” them socially. A fall from grace, so to speak. I have a nice computer setup in the shop that can hack anything short of the pentagon, so I can go crazy with those kinds of jobs. I get the joy of falsifying police reports, DMV records, obituaries, and a gaggle of other fun little tidbits. Ah, the fun I have with those.
I was in the shop, working on my latest customer’s new driver’s license when I heard a knock at the front door. I was in the way back of the shop, beyond piles of boxes and copy machines, which a lone light shining down on my desk.
“It’s open!” I called, still staring down at the piece of plastic with my tools in hand. I blew some of my black hair out of my eyes to get a better look at it. Whoever it was, he opened the door, pushing dusty empty boxes and beer bottles out of the way. The bottles serve the same purpose as those bells that normal shopkeepers hang from their doors. It’s the same basic principle, though with a bit more hangovers involved.
“April! I need to talk to you!”
I knew that voice anywhere! I stopped what I was doing and began weaving between the ten-foot-tall boxes and copy machines in the room till I got to the front area. As I thought, Mr. Trench Coat was there to greet me.
“Craigy!” I yelled throwing my arms around that big old teddy bear, which I knew annoyed the hell out of him.
“Let go! I’m in a bit of a situation, here!” He yelled as he pushed me away.
Just to mess with him a bit more, I smiled slyly and said, “C’mon, tough guy, can’t you stand the touch of a lady? You’re still so young.”
He suddenly slammed his leg into one of the biggest empty boxes and sent it hurling past my head and into the wall behind me with a crash. It seriously would have hit me if I had just stepped to the side a little! “I’m serious, here! I’m asking for your help, and we have no time for your games!”
I just kind of stared at the guy in amazement before saying seriously, “Okay, fine. Tell me what you need, pal.”
He let out a sigh and said, “Sorry about that, really. It’s good to see you.”
“I thought so. Here, step into my office, and you can tell me all about your little situation.”
He didn’t even waste time telling me. He told me more than half of the tale by the time we got to the back room where I was working before. He told me about Amelia, her friends, her car, her dad, everything.
“So I took her to her friend’s house and went home to get some sleep before coming here,” Craig said to me, finishing up in a timely manner.
I sat at the end of the table opposite from him, my feet propped up on a nearby stool as I leaning back in my chair. The cigarette packet that I felt in my pocket gave me an urge to light up a smoke, but I managed to resist it. He, however, couldn’t hold it in as he took out his own packet.
“So, how do you want me to help?”
He lit his cigarette and said, “You remember the time when you helped my family ‘die?’”
“Yeah, why?” How could I forget? That was my first job of that kind.
“I want you to help Amelia in a different way. I just want to get that out in the open.”
“’Kay, what d’you want, then?”
He paused and put his cigarette on the table, as if he needed a moment to gather up the courage to say it. “I want her to live in the city.”
I smiled. “With who? Allen’s family? Jay’s? Yours? Or do you want her to start out fresh like the rest of us with her own shitty apartment to live in?”
“I don’t know yet, but…” he bent forward with his head sunk between his shoulders, “I just don’t want her to leave, okay? Can you promise me that much?”
That was the second time that I’d seen him so desperate, and I was the only one to see it the first time, so it was a big thing. I usually wouldn’t have agreed to help Amelia, since I haven’t met her yet, but seeing him like that made me cave.
“Okay, I’ll se what I can do. Your ultimate goal is to keep her here, and away from her abusive dad, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You know, this’ll be a pretty involved job, and I have a bunch of others backed up on a list right now, so it’ll take awhile to get to yours.”
“Then put it at the top of the list. Then there shouldn’t be a problem.”
I hate it when he does that. I hopped up from my chair and strolled over to my desk. I really needed to clean that thing. I had jobs backed up to my ears, and had to add another deeply-involved one to the top of the dog pile. My desk was tame enough that day to let my hand sift through it to grab a blank sheet of paper before it started to nip at me. I jotted down at list and handed him the paper.
“Here’s a list of things you can do to help her out and I get everything ready.” I handed him the sheet and led him back to the front door. “Good luck, lover boy!”
He sighed with a hint of frustration in his voice and said, “April, if you weren’t helping her, then I probably would have killed you out of annoyance by now. Just throwing that out there.”
“Duly noted, buddy, now get outta here.” He hopped down the fire escape with that agility that he’d always had, and walked off down the alleyway in the rain. It was only until I went back inside and started up the computers that I noticed that he’d left his cigarette glowing in my ashtray.
Amelia:
Sadly, school started gain on Monday. Thanks to Jacky, I managed to get my homework from my locker and finish it before midnight Sunday night. I had some easy classes on Mondays, so it wasn’t all that hard to sit through that day. In fact, both two-hour periods went by so fast that I was surprised when lunch came rolling around. The cafeteria was a nice and familiar place. It had a white ceiling and tiled floors with skin-colored tables lined up perfectly in half a dozen lines. Everything there, from the buffet-style lunch line to the pillars that held up the ceiling, was smooth and fancy. I hated it. At our usual table, however, for the first time in days, I could sit down and talk normally to everyone.
“So, want to come over to my house after school today?” Sean asked Jacky.
“Sure, sounds fun,” she answered bluntly, which confused me, since I was planning on staying at her house for the next week or so. It would have felt weird to go up to her house as if I belonged there, because I don’t. Before I could say anything, they spoke again.
“So we’ll meet out by my Vespa after third period?” She asked.
“Sure.”
It ticks my off when people ignore me, so I spoke up. “Hey, Jacky, is it really okay if I go over to your house without you?”
She turned to me after taking a sip of milk from a carton, “I’ve already asked someone to take you home, so you won’t feel lonely.”
I looked over at Richard with a questioning look, expecting him to be the one. With a mouth full of food, he put up his hand in denial and shook his head.
“Okay, who is it?”
She said, “Just stop by the front gates after school. You’ll know it when you see it.”
So I did. I went to the front gates and waited for whoever was supposed to walk me home. It was raining, and everyone around me had either raincoats or umbrellas. God forbid their uniforms get soiled with clean rain water! But being there in the rain actually felt pretty good. The streaks of water made everyone around me look like silhouettes, but when I looked at myself, I could see clearly. All that was there was myself.
Since that person hadn’t shown up yet, however, I was starting to get made. Then, someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind. The tap was hard, and almost reminiscent of--
“Sup, rich girl?”
Craig.
I whirled around to meet him. He was smiling down on me, completely drenched in the rain. While nobody else could be seen in that rain, I could seen Craig clear as on a sunny day.
Craig:
“So, how’d you find the school again?” She asked me on the way to Jacky’s house.
I responded matter-of-factly, “How d’you think? I walked around until I found it again.”
She laughed. I think that it was the first time she didn’t hold back a laugh when I acted sarcastic. It made me feel relieved in a weird sort of way. That was when the silence ensued. That really sucked. It took me awhile to think of something, but I went ahead and said it once it came to mind.
“So, why do I have to walk you to your makeshift home, again?”
“Oh, uh, Jacky went over to Sean’s house for some reason.”
“You sound sad. Are you developing abandonment issues?”
“Heh. Now, I was just a bit surprised that she didn’t at least walk me to her house first… Wait a sec, how did she get ahold of you? There’s no way in hell that you have a cell phone.”
“A little bird told me.” Man, did I love doing that.
She pouted and said, “Seriously, tell me.”
“Fine. Jacky knows one or two people in the city. She might’ve expected to go over to Sean’s house one way or another, so she called someone. That someone called a friend of mine, and that friend told me.”
“Huh. I didn’t think that she knew anyone in the city besides you.”
“Yeah, well, we tend to get around.”
“Guess so.”
I don’t know why it was so hard to make a good, lasting conversation. It was raining, we were alone, it was a near-perfect setting for just about anything to talk about. I guess that nothing really needed to be said.
“Oh, by the way, did you talk to the person you said could help?”
I’m an idiot. “Oh, yeah. She said that she’ll be able to help you.”
She looked at me with an annoyed look. “That’s already been established, hasn’t it?”
“Hey, don’t get testy. I’m not sure how she’ll help you out, but we just need to keep you here and away from your dad, right?”
She paused for a moment before saying, “Yeah, that’s what I want.”
“Convince me. You‘ll be leaving a lifestyle of wealth and comfort for one of lesser quality. I‘m not entirely convinced that you‘re ready for that.”
She quickly snatched the collar of my trench coat and pulled my face down to hers. She stared into my eyes with what I thought was enough determination to move the earth. Despite my surprise at her forcefulness, I smiled at her and grasped the hand that held onto me.
“Okay, I’m effectively convinced.” And I wasn’t lying.
“Good, because I’ll never go back home again… And, uh, thanks for giving me a good shouting-at the other night.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I sometimes go off and rant like that.”
“It’s okay. Sometimes we all could use a good reality check.”
“This is true.”
It took quite a ways of walking before I realized that I was still holding onto her hand. A small wave of embarrassment swept through me as I let my grip fall limp. I didn’t want to look like just some guy who wants to get close to her. That’d make me look really bad, and on the same level as her ex. Before I knew it, I found myself surprised at the fact that she didn’t let go of me. She faced straight ahead with a smile on her face. I, myself, smiled and squeezed back, our hands warmer than any other part of our rain-soaked bodies.
“You want to come in?” She asked me as she opened the door to Jacky’s house. She had gotten a house key from Tasha.
“You sure?” I asked, leaning one arm against the wall of the parch as casually as possible. “Is it okay with Jacky’s mom?”
“She said that I have every right to invite friends here, just like Jacky.” I’m amazed at the magnitude of Amelia’s change of environment over the past several days. “I think that Tasha’s at work, so we wouldn’t be bothering her.”
“If you insist, then,” I said as I walked in after her, putting my trench up on the coat rack as I did before. It smelled nice indoors during the rain, as it always does. The usual nice chill that I got from the rain soon melted away as the home’s warmth filled me to replace it. Apart from the pitter-patter of rain on the roof and windows, everything was warningly quiet. A deep feeling within me caused me to take a deep breath and let out a long sigh. Even indoors, the rain made everything feel pleasantly at home.
“Want something to drink?” She asked.
I just shook my head. We stood silent and dripping wet in the tiled entryway, both waiting for the other to say something. My mind raced at all of the possibilities that I could have done if I left it to instinct, but I left myself unfulfilled. To be honest, the only word that went into my head was, “opportunity.” No lights in the house had been lit, so I couldn’t really see her face as she quietly walked towards me. In the dim gray light of the house that filtered in from outside, I felt her fingers intertwine with mine. I smiled, she smiled back, and we stood there just like that until our clothes dried.
April:
The problem with the world is that most high school brats can never have serious conversations anymore. We either make everything sound like a joke, or shut up out of fear of looking bad. Apparently the “in” think nowadays is to never be serious. If you are, then you’re seen as a paranoid nerd with no capacity for humor. I’ve seen the next generation’s students at high schools “learning” about the various ways to run their lives, and their maturity leaves a little something to be desired.
The only serious kids, that I’ve seen anyway, are stereotypically called nerds, geeks, goths, or simply freaks. These kinds of people know what they’re doing most of the time. The smart ones will one day rule the lives of the jocks, the goths will get rich in fashion design or something along those lines, and the freaky artist kids will be able to live great lives while doing what they love.
I started researching Amelia’s school, and it’s a completely ordinary. According to the interweb, and the school’s site, the student body and faculty may as well be walking clichés. I also managed to find out that Amelia was an honor student in her sophomore year, and is now a junior. She transferred in the middle of her freshman year. I was presented with the beautiful chance to hack into her records and find out her reasons for her transfer, which I gladly did. She moved from another city, huh? Another cliché. I went and made a few calls and got a few professional stalkers to keep tabs on the girl and keep her safe. Those kinds of people are common in the city, but it can take a few extra bucks to make them keep their hands to themselves. When one of said stalkers told me that Craig went to Amelia’s friend’s house, I nearly doubled over laughing. So he’d started making out with her before I even got a chance to get intimate with the case, myself? What a sly, sly dog he was.
Blaine, the one who told me that info, happened to be one of my former rich clients who took an intentional fall from grace. A guy of relatively diminutive stature, though not as short as me, he used to work for some big trading company of a sort, in which he was a manager for. He couldn’t take the pressure, nor could he quit due to a contract that lasted another five years, so he had me socially “kill” him. I’m not too sure how he’s been fairing with his new lifestyle, but then again, I’m not paid to ask questions.
Tuesday came, and I found myself asking around about any infamous businessmen named Bernard. I asked if he’d ever made any shady deals or anything like that in the past. Nobody really said anything before I got to Blaine, who seemed to know everything about the guy. We were just talking on the street when I asked him.
“I used to work with him while I was in the company,” he said as he fiddled with his fingernails anxiously.
“Really, now?”
“He’s part of the reason why I wanted to leave the company. Whenever I’d get a leg up on the guy, he’d take me off to the side and issue silent threats. It was scary how much he loved to have authority in the company. That was about two years ago, I think.”
Now where have I heard that before? “Really, Blaine, thanks for this info. It’ll help me a lot in my current job.” I slipped my notebook into my jacket to keep it out of the rain.
“No problem, April, but…”
“Yeah?”
“Is it okay if I stop following her?”
“If you want. Why?”
“I keep having some… I don’t know. Violent urges towards her. I keep thinking to myself, if I can just get at Bernard’s daughter, then--”
“I thought that the businessman Blaine was legally dead?” I looked at him with half-closed, almost disappointed eyes.
He stuttered, “Y-yeah, you’re right… I may not like it, but I’ll keep watching her for you. I need a bit more cash for food, anyway.”
“Keep her safe. Follow her everywhere during the day… Just remember that it’s Bernard that threatened Blaine the businessman. Blaine the businessman and Bernard the businessman are completely different from Blaine the poor guy and Amelia the high school student.”
And with that, I struck gold on the first leg of this job.
Craig and Amelia:
“No, seriously, have you ever had a girlfriend before?” Amelia asked him with a laugh. The house was effectively lit, a warm fire was blazing in the fireplace, and the two of them sat side by side on couch with a blanket draped around them. Underneath the blanket, their hands laid clasped together.
“I did-- once, and that’s it,” Craig said, holding up his free index finger to indicate the number.
“Just one?”
“Yep.”
“Really?”
What, you expected me to be some kinda playboy?”
“No, it’s just…”
“What?” He smiled and squeezed her hand under the blanket as if to egg her on.
“Well,” she hesitated, “You’re not really… the worst-looking person I’ve met.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah.”
“Meaning…?”
She sighed with a defeated smile, “Okay, you’re pretty good-looking. Aside from your teeth, you look a bit above average.”
“What’s wrong with my teeth?”
“They’re gunky and yellow. It’s all because you smoke.”
“Fine, I’ll brush my teeth a big better.”
“You mean you do already?”
“Yeah.”
“With what? Rainwater?”
“Pretty much.”
“Jeez, go into the bathroom, open up a new toothbrush, and don’t stop until your gums bleed!”
“But that’ll hurt!”
Amelia started to nudge him off of the couch, “Just shut up and go bleed!”
He threw the blanket off with a laugh and said, “Fine, then, I will.”
“Fine”
“Fine.” Craig thought to himself as he walked towards the bathroom, ‘Man, this feels like a freakin’ sitcom!’ Despite the horrible thought, he smiled.
Amelia waited until he was inside of the bathroom before playfully plopping herself down on the couch, her arms and legs stretching in every direction. The fire let out a cackle as she put on a happy smile and giggled like a little girl, pulling in her knees to her chest to contain the great feeling inside her.
In the bathroom, Craig stared blankly at the red toothbrush in his hand. He glared at it, put some toothpaste on it, wetted it, and stared at it again. In a couple of minutes of brushing and stopping and brushing, Craig spat a light red gob into the sink. “Ow…” He took a glass of water and rinsed his mouth out at least a dozen times until his gums stopped bleeding. When he tugged on his cheek to look at his chompers, the only major difference was that much of the gunk between his teeth was gone, but the light yellow color was still there.
Craig found himself licking at the fronts of his teeth as if his tongue was wondering why they were so clean. “Hey,” he said as he walked back into the living room. “That really hurt.”
Amelia laughed a little and plopped down on the couch again after seeing him, “Wow, so you actually brushed till you bled?”
“It really didn’t take that much.” He went around to the other side of the couch and sat down. Amelia rested her head next to his leg, looking up at him fondly. He smiled down at her and ran his fingers through her dirty blond hair. “Comfortable?”
She sat up on the cushions and draped her arms loosely around Craig’s shoulders. “Very.”
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A/N: Man, that was seriously one of the most fun chapters I've written thus far. I hope that you guys liked the first person switching and stuff. Hopefully it wasn't too confusing... Anyway, critique me on what I did wrong, since I know that I did some things wrong, I just need someone to point them all out for me...
In other news, the next chapter will be the last one until December, for I'll be participating in the NaNoWriMo with a different story all throughout November. If you don't know what NaNoWriMo is already, then Google it. :XD Thanks for reading!
