Friday, September 24 --> Saturday, September 25
“He’s asleep,” Travis said, looking a Paul. “I guess he did look a little tired today.” I pulled out onto the street and started driving to the address Charlotte gave me. It was only a couple minutes from the school, but there was a lot of traffic because of the game. Travis and I didn’t say anything to one another as I drove up the side street where Paul lived.
Travis and I checked the mailboxes, looking for number 301 on one of them. It was on the left side of the street with a light grey color on the shingles. The house had to be at least three stories with a tall chimney sticking out of the roof.
“Holy crap,” Travis muttered as I parked the car. “Paul’s freaking loaded!”
“Shh!” I exclaimed, covering his mouth. Truthfully I didn’t know that either. Paul never seemed to have the aura of a rich kid. I glanced back at the house and saw no signs of life from a family member or a pet.
Was he alone?
I got out of the car and went over to open the other door. Carefully reaching over, I unbuckled Paul and searched his pockets for a house key. It was in his right pocket with his phone and wallet.
“Where are you going?” Travis asked as I quietly picked him up on my back.
“I’m just taking him inside,” I said, walking towards the door. “I’ll be right back. Stay here and don’t take my car.”
Travis called after me, but I ignored him. There were three front steps and then a small wooden porch. There was another step level with the door. I strained my arm around to fit the key in the keyhole and unlock the door. Turning the knob, I pushed the door open and then stepped inside.
The mudroom was made with small with grey stone tiles and wooden cubbies on the left side. There was a small bench on the right and a closet directly across from the door. On the left, after the cubbies, the tiles were replaced with dark wooden floors. The kitchen was to the left, with a large island separating it from the dining table and the living room. There was a staircase on the far side of the room with two hallways going on either side of the stairs.
The left hallway had a bathroom and a room that looked like an office. The right hallway had a storage closet and an identical office room. They were connected with a hallway under the stairs. I started walking up the stairs to find Paul’s room.
The stairs were a little narrow, and weirdly put in. You walked up five of them, and then you would turn left and walk up anther two. Then turn left again and walk up the rest of the stairs. At the top of the stairs, there was a room directly to the right, but the door was closed so I assumed it wasn’t Paul’s room. To the left, there was a hallway, and another flight of stairs set up the same way to get to the third floor. Beyond the stairs, though, was the second room. The door was opened and I peered inside. There was a light switch to the right of the door, and shifted around to try and flick it on. It worked, and the room was dimly lit with four ceiling lights.
The walls were a shade of navy blue, and there were books and papers scattered everywhere on the floor. On the right wall was a bed with a bedside table and a window on either side. On the left side of the room was a chaotic desk. A closet was on the right side of the desk while a bathroom was on the left. Directly across from the door were built in bookshelves that were covered with books and other small trinkets.
It was clearly Paul’s room, so I went over to the bed and placed Paul on top of the sheets and comforter. I stretched my arms, and decided to head downstairs. I walked out the way I came, and went over to the car.
“Let’s go,” Travis said, getting excited to go to the party. I looked up at the dark house, frowning to myself. It didn’t sit well with me that Paul was alone.
“You can go to the party yourself,” I said to Travis.
“What?” Travis asked. “Aren’t you coming?”
“I think I’ll stay instead.”
“Dude! Come on! I just got my license and you know I’m not a good driver!”
“Just go slowly and you’ll be fine. If you pay attention and don’t stress out, you won’t die.” With that, I got out of the car and headed back inside. I locked the door, peeking out the window to make sure Travis was actually leaving. He got into the drivers seat and slowly backed out of the driveway. He then started heading down the street at no more than ten miles an hour. I snickered to myself, heading upstairs to Paul’s room.
There was a blanket on a chair in the corner of his room, so I took it and quietly lay down on the bed. I pulled the blanket over the two of us and closed my eyes to go to sleep.
Thud!
I groaned softly, opening my eyes and sitting up.
“Whasgoinon?” I asked, looking around. Paul was on the ground, staring at me for an explanation. “Sorry I crashed here. I hope you don’t mind.”
“You’re really something, aren’t you?” he asked, getting up. “Saying that without a care.”
“You’re bleeding!” I exclaimed, throwing the blanket off and going over to examine Paul. I gingerly touched his head where a large bump was forming around a cut. Paul winced and moved away from my hands.
“It hurts,” he said. “I’ll just wash it and wrap a bandage on it.”
“Come on,” I said, grabbing his wrist and walking into his bathroom. “I’ll be gentle. Where do you keep the bandages?” Paul opened the mirror and I glanced at the few things he kept in there. A box of Band-Aids, some unopened toothbrushes and a few other things. The First-Aid Kit wasn’t in there, so he went over to the small closet and looked inside. There were towels, extra toilet paper, and the First-Aid Kit. He took it out and handed it to me.
“So are you going to tell me why you stayed over my house instead of going to the party?” he asked as I started tending to his wounded head.
“Well,” I started, “last night you fell asleep before we left the school. You were really that tired?” he nodded once. “After we got here, I took your key out of your pocket and I let myself inside. I brought you to your room on my back, and after making sure you were alright, I went back outside. I don’t know why I wanted to stay, but I guess it felt wrong to leave you alone. So I gave Travis permission to drive my car to join the others while I stayed here with you.”
“You’re so stupid,” he sighed when I finished wrapping the bandage around his head. “I’m usually always alone. My parents are always overseas working for the company with my brother who will inherit the company.”
“Your parents own a company?” I asked. If they did own a company, that would explain why he had such a huge house. “What company?”
“It a real estate business,” he explained, staring in the mirror. “It’s really popular in Europe these days, so that’s where they are. Since my brother is out of college, he went with them to learn the ropes. I was not seen as a good inheritor so I’m basically non-existent. And after-” he stopped, and I looked at him. He seemed to be thinking about something while looking at the white tiles on his floor. “I mean, right before freshmen year something happened. Father won’t even talk to me while Mother just calls to make sure I’m still alive. Only my brother, Scott, still cares about me.”
I didn’t know what to say at times like this, so I just stayed quiet. I didn’t want to say something stupid and make him upset. Paul turned around and smiled at me.
“I’m fine being alone. I don’t really get scared of things like that. I know how to take pretty good care of myself, and Aunty comes by every so often to check on me.” He took a deep breath. “Come on. I’ll make us some breakfast.”
The two of us headed downstairs, and Paul went over to the refrigerator. I sat at one of the stools at the island, and Paul started preparing bacons, eggs and toast. He wanted to know something about me, but there wasn’t anything particularly special about me. It was just nice to casually talk to him.
Paul snorted. “Yeah. The only person who knows everything about me is probably Jack Calaway.”
“Jack Calaway?” I repeated. “Where have I heard that name before?”
Paul looked at the ceiling for a moment and then went over to a bookcase in the corner of the living room part of the large area. He shuffled around, trying to find something. He came back over to the island holding a photo album. It was a little rough around the edges, but it looked like the pictures were still intact. He flipped to the section with him and Jack.
“That’s Jack,” he said, pointed at him in the pictures. “And that’s me.” Jack had sleek dirty blond hair and cold blue eyes. He looked like one of those very outgoing and very energetic type kids. I flipped through another page of pictures, and Paul cringed at how cute he looked in most of the pictures.
“The eggs,” I said, pointing at the stove.
“Ahh!” he exclaimed, running over and pulling the pan off the heat. I flipped the page again and smiled. I saw Jack, Paul and one other boy at the beach lying on a towel. Their hands were behind their heads and they wore sunglasses that were too big for them. All of them were grinning from ear to ear. The boy I didn’t know seemed a little older, and had darker hair than Paul. I assumed it was his brother.
“You look so cute in this one!” I exclaimed, turning the album so he could see.
“You’ve seen enough!” he called when I put the album down. “Close it and never speak of those pictures to anyone else!”
“Ok, ok,” I chuckled. “Just one more page?”
He glared at me, but turned back to tend to breakfast. I turned the page, and saw there were pictures of Paul and Jack starting what looked like preschool. There was another picture of them, but there was another boy with them. It wasn’t Paul’s brother, and I squinted at the picture.
Light caramel hair and deep chestnut eyes.
I started panicking, looking at the other couple pictures. The same boy was with Paul and Jack.
“You saw them?” Paul concluded. I looked up to meet his gaze.
“Have we… met before?” I asked.
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