Page 94 of Wandering in Darkness
“The weirdest thing happened,” Felix says.
My eyebrows are already on the rise. “Yeah?”
“I tucked Grayson inonthe couch, but then this morning… he was gone. Do you think he ran away?” He’s trying his absolute hardest to look shocked by this turn of events, like he really thinks Grayson just popped up and went home at two in the morning. It’s enough to make me want to dunk his head in the toilet that I just flushed.
“I bet it was your joke about staring at Lane’s body that made him flee,” I say.
Felix rubs his chin all dramatic-like. “You think? Hmm… I’m not so sure.”
“He seemed pretty spooked.”
Of course Grayson chooses that very moment to swing open the door to the bedroom I’d stayed in, and Felix’s head snaps around so damn fast that I decide he really does need to get bullied. It doesn’t help when he slowly turns back around wearing the most irritating grin.
“Wow. That’s soweeeeeird.He fell asleep on the couch… and then he emerged… fromyourbed. Magic.”
“I’m going to bully you so hard if you don’t stop smiling like that,” I threaten.
He’s smiling even harder now. “I can’t. Cal, this is just how my face is permanently stuck. Like it won’t stop! After all the time we’ve spent together, you had no idea this is what my face naturally looks like?”
I grab him in a headlock and start into the bathroom. “You’re going in the toilet.”
“Cal, no! I just thought it was fun that he went in there to borrow some clothes! That’s all it was, I’m sure! Lane! Lane, help! Cal is being mean to me!”
“Did you deserve it?” Lane calls back.
“Absolutely not! I am the definition of an innocent angel.”
“I told you not to say anything about Grayson being in his room. And did you listen?”
“I tried! I tried so hard. I was like, I’m not going to say it, I’m not going to say it. And then there I was standing outside of the bathroom waiting for him to come out so I could definitely not say it, but the instant he opened that door it just like… vomited out of my mouth.”
I pick him up, which isn’t hard at all with his stature. And then I carry him through the house, past the table where Antonioand Lane sit, and deposit him onto the front porch. Then I shut and lock the door before he can weasel his way back in.
Before I even make it to the dining room table, he’s standing in front of the window with that grin on his face.
“No one’s going to miss him, right?” I ask.
“He does make me laugh, but he also leads me into life-or-death situations,” Antonio says thoughtfully.
“I’m going to make pancakes. Chocolate chip ones,” I call loudly. That sure wipes the smile off Felix’s face.
“No! Cal, please let me in! I’ll be good! I won’t say another thing, I promise,” Felix whines as he hugs the window, face pressed against it. “Cal, you know I love pancakes. And you know I love chocolate chips. Please?”
“Not another word?”
“I promise. And if I break my promise, I’ll let you have one stroke of Lane’s pecs.”
I stare at the window while I question which part ofanyof that was supposed to be a good incentive. Pretending I heard none of that, I grudgingly let him in, and he rushes forward and hugs me as I drag him off to the kitchen. “You better uphold your promise.” I open up the bag of chocolate chips and fling one at his mouth. He catches it like a dog.
“I will. You’re such a good boy,” he says as he pats my head and then hurries off to the table to patiently wait to be served.
Grayson comes in and smiles at me. “Do you need help? I feel like everyone else is just sitting at the table holding their knives and forks.”
“They’re evil like that.”
He chuckles. “What can I do?”
“Nothing. Grab your knife and fork and wait impatiently like the rest.”
