Wax

“You know that you’re my best friend right?” said the sad, quiet voice. It was dark, and the only other thing I could hear was the trickling of the rain. The air was crisp, and the wind was warm. I could feel my knees exposed, but my thighs were touching. My shoulders and upper chest were also free to the wind, as I observed the treacherous single, long piece of fabric I was wearing that spread from my shoulders and torso to my mid-thigh. The dress was easily visible upon my light skin.

My hand was laid over something warm, that moved and wrapped itself around my own hand. As my eyes adjusted, I could clearly see what was happening before me. I was sitting on cement steps, accompanied by Rex, who happened to be teary eyed, and crying silently. Our hands were entangled, and we were dressed in black.

“Rex… I am so sorry. But you don’t have to say that.” I managed a small smile, and squeezed his hand softly. He shook his head.

“You don’t understand how serious I am when I say that, Kiki. I love you so much; I don’t know what I would be doing right now, if you weren’t right here with me. You are my best friend, you always have been. I need you; please don’t leave, please stay with me.” He said, tears flowing fluently from his glistening eyes. I hugged him, and let him cry into my shoulder as he wrapped his arms around my neck. I looked around, trying not to cry.
In front of us, a sign was lit up by small spot lights on the ground, barely bright enough to display the written words; Connelly Funeral Home and Wake.

“Mom! Can you close the curtain? God, it’s too bright!” I complained, groggy from sleep, and waking up Tessa and Rex.

“Kiyann… You three have to get to school, you’ve got to wake up and get ready.” She spoke slowly, as if we were retarded.

Sometime throughout the night, Rex’s parents had kicked us out. They wanted to have some alone time, so we all left and went to my house, and crashed on my living room floor.

“Uh… No, actually. We don’t” I said, squinting at the light that seeped into the room from behind the windows. She paused, and stood still, a confused look planted on her face.

“Yes you do. It’s Tuesday, you know?” She asked. I, Tessa and Rex exchanged a glance, unaware of how to tell her. I turned back to her, and opened my mouth to give her the news. Behind me, I could hear Jet walk in, stirring his bowl of cereal in his hands; his usual breakfast.

“They canceled school for the rest of the week, cause of the snow. They’re saying we’re supposed to get a blizzard this week, so they canceled it ahead of time. Oh, they called this morning, but you were outside.” He interfered, completely indifferent and unfazed by what he had said. We looked at him in awe before turning back to my mom, monitoring her reaction.
She seemed to believe him, shrugged, and closed the curtain.

“Well in that case, thank you for the information Jet. And I can’t wait for our party.” She said, with a genuine smile, and left the room.

Jet continued to eat cereal, and watch cartoons as if nothing had happened. Rex laughed, and held his hand up for a high five. Jet accepted this gesture, and hit his hand with his own.

“Kid, I gotta say; that was boss.” He said, getting off the floor and stretching. Jet smiled at the compliment and then turned to me.

“But it’s gonna cost ya.” He smirked. I rolled my eyes.

I held the phone to my ear, and cleared my throat.

“Hello, yes this is Miss Frost. I would like to let you know ahead of time, that Jet won’t be in school this week.” I said, in the most mature voice I could. The secretary asked why, and I searched my mind for an answer.

“He has the flu. We haven’t had a doctor’s visit yet though; they’re all so booked … His symptoms? He’s throwing up, and coughing everywhere. He sneezes nearly every thirty seconds and he’s just so nostalgic. You know… I’m sure he can come, it’s only three days of school, and then two whole week’s right?” I said, used to this type of trick. I used to pull these phone calls for myself, when I didn’t want to go to school.

“What do you mean not to come? But we don’t have a doctor’s notice, and don’t want him to miss anymore school!” I said, sounding concerned, then continued, “Oh my, that’s so great of you. Thank you, thank you so much.” I said, hanging up, and slamming the phone down on the table.

Jet was looking at me grinning. Rex and Tessa were eating, and had no indifference toward what I had done; they’ve seen me do it before.

“You’re welcome butthead.” I said, rolling my eyes at his expression.

“It was good doing business with you, sister of mine. But I’m not done.” He replied, his amused expression turning into a solemn one. My eyebrows creased in confusion towards his sudden attitude change.

“Okay, what?” I asked, taking a sip of apple juice and awaiting his response. He exchanged a quick glance with Rex, whose face was blank and detached, I only got a small look before he put his head down and looked at his shoes, as Jet turned back to me, and swallowed hard.

“I want you to take me somewhere.”