Collide To The Sound Of Our Heartbeat.

Sydney’s Point of View
There was no answer.
It was freaking me out; they were always in – they were old and shit.
“Mom, Dad?” I called out again, my voice raising an octave higher as I panicked. I turned around, to see Gerard have a confused look on his face.
“What? Maybe they’re out…” he said, shrugging.
“Yeah, come on, get in, it’s windy and cold and shit out here,” April called from the other side of the doorway – they were all pretty much still standing outside because I was in the way a little. I moved off to the side, pointing to the door on the right into the living room, everyone traipsing in. I pulled Hannah to the side, my eyes wide.
“Hannie… What the fuck? What do I do?” I said in a whisper, my voice desperate and high.
“Hey, calm down, have you got their cell numbers or something?”
“Cell? They can’t even figure out how to use satellite, forget a cell!” I cried quietly, my eyes widening again. “We’re talking about my parents, don’t forget!”
“Right, yeah, sorry. I don’t know… bingo or something? Grocery shopping?” she suggested, her mind working frantically.
“My Dad never goes grocery shopping… Bingo… I don’t know. Is bingo on at this kind of time?”
She pulled out her cell, flipping it open to check the time.
“It’s seven. I guess so,” she said, shrugging. “I think they’ll be at bingo.”
“God, my parents are fucking old,” I grumbled, sighing. I was glad I had some sort of image in my head of where they would be.
My parents were quite old – around their mid seventies, and I worried about them a lot. They had gone through all the old people stuff – hip replacements, liver damages, kidney infections and almost everything else you could imagine. They were really fragile. I felt kind of bad for leaving them here while I was at College, but they pushed me to it, saying that I needed a decent education. It was also the right time to go, what with all the other things that happened to Hannie before. And, I suppose they have each other.
“Yeah… I’m gonna go through the liquor cabinet,” Hannie said, grinning, walking off towards the kitchen.
“Don’t take anything too expensive!” I called, smiling at her. My Mom would know we’d been here, with all the missing alcohol. We always thieved some.
I walked through into the living room, seeing everyone sitting around, eating some chips and sweets and stuff that they probably found in the cupboards. My Dad ‘hides’ stuff like that from Mom in the living room.

I sat on the couch in between Gee and Mikey, Gee watching everyone with an amused look as they ate their weight in chips, Mikey being one of them. He offered the bag to me, and I took a handful, as Gee stole some off me.
“Okay guys, we got whiskey, sherry, and some brandy, and I found some white wine in the fridge, but I think they’re gonna use that today… so we can’t have that, but there is some red wine on the rack,” Hannie said, walking in with the three bottles she mentioned, passing me the sherry, and handing the brandy to Sazzy. She sat on the floor next to Bob, opening the bottle and sipping from it, passing it to Bob after.
“So where’s our next stop after this?” Gerard asked, addressing the whole group.
“Well, we could stay here tonight…” I said, trailing off. I didn’t know what my parents would think of ten teens staying over.
“My place, Syd,” Hannie mumbled, shrugging. I looked over at her, my eyes wide.
“Hannah… you-”
“Out of town… it’s Christmas, remember,” she said, her eyes locking on mine. I read them, the almost scared but confident look in them. I nodded slowly, and Gee nudged me, but I ignored it.
“Are you sure?” I said my eyebrows creased in worry and slight sympathy. This was a big step for her. She nodded.
“…You two are weird,” Frank said, making Ani giggle.
“Shut up,” Gee said almost sternly, the smile on his face giving him away.
“We better leave now, then, if we’re gonna stay there… my ‘rents will be back soon,” I said, looking up at the big, brown clock on the wall.
My parent’s house was quite big, actually. They weren’t exactly short of money, to be honest. The living room was quite large in creams and browns, with a glass coffee table and chocolate coloured sofas. The kitchen was vast, with an island in the middle, the colour scheme in keeping with the one in the living room. In fact, the whole three-bedroom house was the same kind of colour scheme, apart from my bedroom. I decorated my own room.
“Alright… guys, clean up and stuff, we’d better leave before they come,” Gee said, and everyone did, stuffing the half-full packs of chips and boiled sweets away.
“Hey, can we finish the drinks?” Ani asked, as everyone looked around for their jackets or anything they might’ve left.
“Yeah, take them with us,” I said, brushing crumbs off my hands on my jeans, standing up.
“I’m just gonna go and write a note,” I mumbled, walking out and into the kitchen, grabbing a pen and finding a stack of post-it notes, writing out a quick note for my ‘rents.
OLDIES!
I missed you; I guess you were at bingo or somethin’. Ring me, I’ve got my phone. I’m still in town, so don’t stress it.
Love Syd xo