Chapter Three: Waking to a Scream

The next night I burned them.  

Every photo of Jonas I possessed, I ripped to pieces and threw into the fire I had going in our backyard fire-pit.  I watched every picture, note, drawing... everything that even related me to Jonas... I watched it burn.  I couldn't help but smile as I bent my head, feeling the heat of the flames against my scalp.

I still hadn't talked to anyone that could stop him.  I simply took to crying in my bed, clutching a pillow to my chest and rocking back and forth as the incident replayed over and over in my head.  It wouldn't go away.  It was like a phantom, always lurking, ready to pounce at the most inconvenient moments.

It had been a good five days since 'That Night'.  I was curled around my pillow at around seven 'o clock, sniffling every now and then, until I heard a loud buzz coming from my bedside table.  I glanced up to see my cell phone, vibrating so much it was making its way to the edge of the table.

I snatched up the piece of machinery and glanced at the caller I.D... and smiled.  I quickly pressed the phone to my ear.

"Hey, Simon." I said, the smirk in my voice.

"Nori!  Oh, dammit!  I thought you'd died or something!" I heard Simon's exasperated voice at the other end and was touched that he was so concerned.

"Is there something you needed?" I inquired, rolling onto my back casually, pulling my feet near my bum.

"Uh... sort of.  You see, that new horror movie just came out on the dollar theaters and I was turned down by my girlfriend--"

"Sure!  I'll come!  What time?" I asked with a chuckle.  I almost had forgotten Simon was dating someone.  I still didn't approve of her, told Simon again and again she'd break his heart.  Never listened.

"Now.  I'll pick you up, is that okay?" he asked.  I confirmed with a gleeful 'yeah!'.  I LOVED horror movies, much less with Simon.  I was stoked, the thoughts of the previous few nights washed out of my brain temporarily as I snapped the phone shut and catapulted from my bed to my bathroom to freshen up.

I quickly removed my old, tear-stained mascara and replacing it with a vibrant pink colour, as well as my eyeshadow.  I pressed a deep red lip-stick to my lips and wiped it almost professionally over them.

I threw my hair in a green and white striped beret and slipped on a pink sweater, buttoning it all the way down.

Hey... I liked my colours, okay?

I bolted down the steps, smiling at my mum who simply rolled her eyes.  "Be back by midnight." she murmured, looking back to her newspaper.  My father hummed merrily as he scrubbed at the dishes.  "Have fun, son!" he called happily.  I loved how my parent's gender roles were so... messed up.  It just made me smile when people saw my mum's arm around my dad's waist and his arm around her shoulders, how her dark hair was short and tussled, as if she didn't even bother doing anything to it that morning, and her baggy t-shirt was... well... a man's shirt.  As was her jeans.  My father, on the other hand, had form-fitting jeans and a yellow or white jacket thrown over his shoulders.

It was hilarious to look at all the strange looks my parents got.

I slipped out the door, hopping down the steps of the porch and walking to the end of the pathway, leaning against the mailbox as I waited for Simon.

It didn't exactly take him that long.  He pulled up in his old, beat-up Toyota, pushing the passenger's seat door open for me to hope in.

I had to admit, Simon was... really good looking.  He had light blond hair that he preferred to keep at a maintainable length, like my mum's.  He had a skinny, lithe frame but it was... muscular, at the same time.  His skin was pale.  Not sickly pale... more... stays-inside-all-the-time-staring-a-computer-screen sort of pale.  But he was handsome all the same.

I hopped into the seat, pulling the door shut after me.

"Thanks for inviting me." I said politely.

"Thanks for coming." he countered, bowing his head a little as he started the car.  He glanced over at me, lifting an eyebrow as he pulled out of his space.  Quickly, his eyes were on the road again.

"Are you okay?" he asked, risking another quick glance.

"Yeah..." I said with a genuine smile.  He sighed, shaking his head.  "I haven't seen you in five days.  Whatcha been up to?"

Then I froze.  I couldn't tell him the truth!  He'd start gushing about how sorry he was for me!  I don't know if I could stand that!  Then I decided to to one thing I'd never planned on doing to Simon.  I lied.

"Oh, well, I... well... I've been... at a program." I improvised, wincing.  That was just lame.

"Really?  What kind of program?" Simon asked, looking truly interested.

Dammit.  "Uh... well... I found this really cool place for people like me... you know?" I said with a small smile.

"Japanese?" he asked, looking confused.

I shook my head.  "No... gay." I said with a nervous laugh.  "Oh!" he smiled and nodded.  "Talked to any interesting people?"

"Uh... yeah!  None of them are real keepers though.  You're the best friend I could have.  No one, I think, could really surpass you in awesomeness... so I didn't even bother trying to make new friends." I laughed again, more sincere this time.

"Aw!  Thanks!" Simon said with a chuckle.  I noticed we were nearing the theater.

"Yeah." I mumbled, rubbing my hands together.  "So... what about you?" I glanced over at the boy.  He, too, froze.  Just as I had.

"Uh... me and Carol had a fight." he muttered.  "She insisted that rats and mice were worthless and could most definitely used for testing her make-up." he rolled his eyes, his jaw clenched.  "I tried to convince her that testing on animals was wrong, then she just screamed at me how nothing else was dumb enough to get the same results.  I just..." he sighed, shaking his head.  "I just sorta lost it.  I screamed at her... really loud, about how any old rat is smarter than she is.  Then... she stormed off." he took a deep breath, obviously calming himself down.

I reached up to place a hand on his shoulder.  "I'm sorry, Simon.  I know how much that means to you.  Did you work it out?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow.  He hesitated before nodding.  "Yeah... I suppose." he murmured and I knew something else was wrong.  Had she dumped him?  No... she was too much of a mooch to dump him.  Carol knew Simon was much richer than the average person and took this to her advantage.  She'd stay in a loveless relationship for as long as she could, as long as her boyfriend just kept the presents coming.

I removed my hand, sighing.  The rest of the trip was silent.  Simon attempted conversation several times, but I just let it drop with a simple smile or a nod.  When we got there, I finally reacted to one of his conversation starters.

"So..." he said with a smirk, as if we hadn't just spent the remainder of our car ride not talking.  "How's your Jonas-Hunt going?"

I couldn't help but notice a small catch in his voice, which made me glance over at him with a strange look.  "Horrible.  I've given up."
Did he just look... happy?
"That's too bad!  I'm sorry!" Simon said sympathetically.  It SOUNDED real enough!  Was I just seeing and hearing things?

He got our tickets and I paid for the popcorn.  Soon, we were in our seats in the mostly empty theater.  I loved going to the dollar theaters.  No one was ever there, especially in the less popular movies.  I grinned as I popped a piece of popcorn in my mouth and the movie started.

It was a rather... frightening movie.  Mostly in the popping-out-in-unexpected-moments sort of way.  Not that that was bad.  Not at all.  I cried as the main character dropped to his knees... and died.

By the end of the movie, the entire box of popcorn was gone, kernels and all (anyone who knows Simon well knows that he likes to eat popcorn kernels.)

"Well!" he said with a breath, grinning over at me as I wiped my eyes.  "That was interesting!"
"You bet it was!" I said with a shaky laugh, shaky due to the amount of crying I had done.  Simon laughed as he helped me up and noticed the tear-marks.  "Touching?" he asked as he led us out, ignoring to let go of my hand, I noticed.

"Yeah." I said with a grin as he threw away the popcorn bin.  Suddenly, a sad look overcame his face and my brows furrowed as I caught up to become in pace, next to him,

"What's up?" I asked quietly as we left the theater.  He stopped suddenly, causing me to have to swing around to look at him.  He sighed heavily, wiping at his own eyes.

"I dumped Carol." he murmured.  My eyes widened at this.  "What?!" I exclaimed, truly surprised.  He shook his head.  "She's just... too much of a bitch!  I don't know if I can love someone who... who... doesn't care for animals at all!  She's commented on how animals seem like a lost cause to her.  Not only that, she's not even VEGETARIAN!  Whenever we go out, she orders all sorts of meat-filled dishes!  It's disgusting!"

He was ranting now, his eyes wild and tears streaking down his face.  Suddenly, he let out a sob and fell on me in a hug.

"I still miss her... or... at least the role she played in my life." he muttered, letting out another sob.

I smiled, rubbing his back comfortingly.  "It's okay.  I know how that feels." I murmured.

Poor dear.  But passion is one important thing that a relationship needs to have.  You can't have two opposite people with two opposite views on the world.  That just wouldn't do.

"Want to sleep at my place tonight?"