Anna Et Romy

Mia dragged me down the street, cursing and muttering to herself and I started to question her sanity. She made me get dressed and demanded that we go over to his house and find out what the hell was wrong with him.

My sister went out with friends for the day and hopefully she wouldn't come home early like the last time. We stumbled into his neighborhood by my direction and went straight to his house.

"How are we going to kidnap him?" I asked worriedly, devising a plan all the while to free myself from her clutches in the manner of a wild coyote...by biting my arm free. No wait, too much blood, she'd notice. We crept up to his mansion standing behind shrubbery and peeking over. Mia had a crazed look in her eye.

"Okay, first off...GOSH DAMN his place is big! Second off, which room is his?" She asked, her eyes searching my face. "You would know wouldn't you?" She continued coyly. My face turned red as I pulled out my camera, ready to snap pictures of our raid. I wordlessly led her through a shrouded path to the back of his house where I assumed his room would be. The house seemed to be empty since there were no cars in the driveway or lights on in the house. My heart slammed in my chest as I swallowed nothing since my throat was dry. What if his mom caught us? What if...OH MY CLAUDE I REALLY AM A STALKER NOW. I panicked standing under his balcony, Mia at my side.

Their property was HUGE. The pool was like a smaller version of Hugh Hefners, complete with the grotto. I almost expected guard dogs to pop out of somewhere, but they didn't. I put my camera away, much to frightened to take any pictures now. Mia pulled her hair into a low bun at her neck. I looked at her incredulously.

"You're not going to CLIMB up are you?" I hissed yanking on her shirt. She threw me a dirty look.

"Uhm, nah...i'm not." She answered picking up a few pebbles off the ground. I laughed, shaking my head.

"Little problem with your ah, 'foolproof plan' casanova." I said chuckling. "I don't think he's gonna hear that." I didn't really explain Romy's problem and didn't feel like going into detail now. She'd find out eventually. Mia smiled defiantly.

"He's not going to hear the rock. He's going to SEE the colour." She said digging through her bag and coming up with flavored gum. I watched, mouth agape as she chewed a yellow piece and pulled it out of her mouth, wrapping it around the pebble. She did this with a few other colours, trying to hand them to me. I scrunched up my nose, disgusted and determined to purell my hands ASAP.

She took one wet gum covered rock and aimed it at his door, it landed, sticking to the glass with a THWACK. We waited in the silence of morning. Nothing happened. She grabbed two more and pitched them with an even LOUDER thwack. We heard the lock of a door click and we dove for the bushes, just in case it wasn't him. Breathing heavily and peering from over my glasses, I saw that it was him. He stepped out, wearing his boxers and a v- necked t-shirt. I swallowed, having the urge to just run home.

"Damn, he's even tastier than I remember up close." Mia said before emerging from the bushes. I followed watching her flail her arms at him.

"HEY! Down HERE!" She said putting her hands on her hips. Romy looked confused at first and then saw me, his face lighting up. Looking over his shoulder at the door, he put one finger up, motioning us to wait a second. He was happy to see me? Wow. I thought tossing the few gum covered pebbles I had left behind me. He came back out zipping some pants on and yanking a sweater on. Carefully closing the door behind him, he crawled over the balcony railing, grabbing onto the slanted ledge of the trellis by his window. He skillfully climbed down, jogging over to us.

To my surprise, he hugged me quickly, waving to MIa.

"WHY HAVEN'T YOU CALLED?" She asked clearly in his face. Romy stepped back as I patted his arm. I didn't want him to fall onto the pool covering. He pointed at his house and then looked to me.

'Parents won't let me out. No phone.' He signed. I nodded hugging myself. Mia turned to me.

"He's deaf? Why didn't you SAY anything!" She said to me with lips tight. I shrugged.

"No time to get mad." I said rationally. "We came to kidnap you since we figured your parents were holding you captive." I broke down for Romy. He nodded, steeling his jaw as he looked back at the house.

'Can L-U-X come?' He asked me. I nodded rapidly, my two braids slapping the side of my neck.

"Of course."
* * *
Mia, Romy, Lux and I ran out of the neighborhood out of breath and determined to get the hell away from there. We made it to my side of town and high fived each other.

"Romy and I used to sneak out all the time. But never like THIS!" Lux said in between breaths smiling. She had come out the same way Romy did shortly after we 'rescued' him. Now we stood in the city, eyes bright and skin slick with sweat from running. It was a cold day out, but the adrenaline rush was keeping us warm.

'What now?' Romy signed. 'When mom find out she will kill us. We better have fun now.' He signed jokingly. I threw my hands up in the air.

"The world is our oyster!" I said laughing. Mia put her finger up.

"Uh, actually only this part of town..." She noted. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever you know what I mean."

We finally decided on hitting the Guggenheim museum to catch one of those artsy shows that Lux insisted on seeing before she died. We bought tickets and crept into the hall, since it had already started. Sitting in the far back corner so we didn't disturb anyone, we watched amusedly as a man in spandex twisted and writhed on the floor in an odd form of choreography.

Mia and Lux who sat next to each other had tears streaming down their faces since they were laughing so hard. Romy on the other hand, merely watched intently. He noticed me looking at him and put his hand out for me to hold. My hand wobbled as I placed mine in his. He smiled, going back to watching the performance.

Were we going out or something?

When it was finished we all left the hall going to view the photographs on display due to my begging. We ended up splitting off in twos. Lux and Mia who became fast friends stumbled off following the tail of a hot security guard whole Romy and I inspected photos.

'Your pictures are better.' Romy signed winking at me. I swatted his arm.

"You're just saying that." I said trying not to smile. He pushed my glasses up my nose.

'You caught me.' He joked, walking away. My mouth hung open as his back turned to me.

"Hey!" I hollered chasing after him.
* * *
By the time we left the museum, it was afternoon and we were all hungry so we stopped by Earls job to grab a sandwich. The place was empty because of the time of day and Earl sat on the counter with Romy's bass, tweaking at it.

"Did it break again?" I asked Romy as we strolled in. He nodded shrugging.

'I got it long time ago.' He signed. Earl looked up, his eyes bright as he saw all of us.

"Mates! Romy! Lux baby you're all here!" He said carefully placing the bass behind the counter. Romy and Earl knuckle touched. "What happened to you?" He asked Romy. Lux pulled her hair back with a butterfly clip.

"Our mother went berserk and wouldn't let us out of the house after she got Romy's test results." Earl looked from Lux to Romy. I looked from Romy to Lux to Earl.

"Well, shit..." Earl cursed scratching at the scruffle of a beard on his chin. "I...I thought that it would take more time for that to develop."

Test results? Developing?

Romy leaned against the counter, sadly looking at the ground. He wasn't in school anymore...so what other 'test' could they be talking about? I opened my mouth to ask, but Earl clapped his hands scaring all of us.

"Well, let's not dwell on not so great news. Who's' hungry? It's on the house!" He said shakily putting his apron on. I was dying to ask someone, ANYONE. But decided that this might be a bad time. We sat at a round table and told Earl what we wanted. Be fore leaving to go back to the kitchen, Earl kneeled down beside me.

"Can you tell your sister that i'll call her back as soon as possible? I've been busy as hell." He said low enough so the others couldn't hear. Earl looked tired, purple marks of bags under his eyes. I nodded, patting his shoulder.

"I will, don't worry." He moved closer lowering his voice even more.

"Don't worry about Romy, he's a fighter. We won't let it take over." He said standing up, pushing Romy's head gently and leaving. My throat felt tight as I swallowed. What the HELL was going on?

And why didn't Romy tell me?

When the food was brought out we ate slowly, just talking about everything, except what NEEDED to be talked about. Romy was as happy as could be, but I could see beyond that. He was worried. And tired. Mia asked question after question about how it felt to be a rock star and what it was like being on tour. With Lux and my help, we were able to explain. When we were finished Romy took all of our plates to the back so he could talk with Earl for a moment.

Mia looked after him, sighing and bringing her cup of peach tea to her lips. Her green eyes clouded in the steam.

"What..." I started slowly pushing a small pile of crumbs around. "What is wrong with Romy exactly?" I asked avoiding Lux and Mia's eyes. Lux put the cup down as Mia rested her head on the table. She bit her lip, tears forming behind her eyes.

"You know, our mother doesn't approve of Romy's playing bass and being in a band. He threatened to leave if she forced him to quit." A woman and her baby entered breaking the silence after. "I don't know what I would do without Romy. So I begged her to understand. And she did. But when Romy started to get sick, she became even more protective of him. She only wants whats best."

I listened attentively as Mia excused herself to go to the restroom. I guessed that she really didn't have to go, but the situation was too heavy for her bubbly personality.

"He was going to get a cochlear implant." Lux admitted drawing circles on the table with her finger. I thought back remembering an interview I saw on the morning news about a woman who got one and could now hear things.

"But..." I continued. Lux exhaled.

"But since he plays in a band...without earplugs...he got noise overflow. It started with a lot of headaches and now, its pretty much impossible for him to get the implants. His ears are damaged and now its affecting his brain." I cradled my head in my hands, staring at her fingers.

"So he's not okay." I said absently. Lux set her jaw holding back tears as Romy came up to us grinning. Mia came back at the same time.

'Mom called. I ignored.' He signed, his face growing serious as he saw our somber presences. 'Whats wrong?'

I shook my head smiling weakly. "Nothing. Let's blow this joint." I said pulling my coat on and looking at the ground so he wouldn't see the lone tear roll down my cheek.
* * *
Mia had to split eventually to help her mother set up for a gallery exhibit, so it was just Lux, Romy and I. I kept checking my phone to make sure my sister didn't call, but she did text.

'Staying in Jersey for the night, they surprised me. Be careful, don't do anything stupid. Lock the doors.' I smiled extremely happy that I didn't have to worry about my sister on my tail all night.

'Okay.' I texted back looking at Romy who pointed at things with his sister.

"You guys act like you've never been to the big city before." I said laughing at Lux who gazed at a giant McDonalds sign that was lit up.

"We've been everywhere because of the band, but I only saw these things from behind the glass of the bus windows." I pulled out my camera, framing Romy and his sister in the center and pressed the button.

Romy's cheeks were rosy as little puffs of cold air blew from his nose like dragon smoke. He smiled at me crossing his arms and staring to the sky.

"Do you guys want to come back to my house?" I asked shivering.
* * *
Romy and Lux bustled into my apartment, eager to escape the cold.

"Boy mom is going to have a FIT when she gets a hold of us." Lux giggled handing her dainty pink jacket to me. Romy checked his phone again.

'17 missed calls.' he said tossing his phone on my couch. I was a bit worried now, what if his parents blame me?

"Maybe you should call? Just so they know you're safe?" I suggested ushering them into the family room. Everest chirped happily bouncing back and forth across the stick he was perched on.

"OHHH! you have a birdie! How cute! Mom never let us have pets." Lux squealed going up to my cage and peering inside. Lux and Romy were like aliens...everything was new to them. An experience normal to others was an adventure in their world.

'Have any good movies?' Romy asked me signing and looking through our cases on the shelves. I had the sudden urge to kiss him again and tell him everything was going to be okay. but his sister was here and no way was that happening.

"Pick anything you want." I said watching him pull out 'My Bloody Valentine.' My sister was a huge horror movie fan and insisted on having all of them. I wasn't such a big fan myself, but if Romy wanted to watch one, I would.

Lux crashed on the couch and looked up at me with big eyes.

"So Anna..." She started laying her head on a plush pillow. I had a bad feeling about what she was about to ask next.

"Yes..." i answered going over to the kitchen sink and warming my hands up with hot water.

"CANWEPLEASESTAYHERE?" She asked. Romy pulled another movie off the shelf and pressed the on button on the T.V.. I stared at Lux.

"My sister would MURDER ME." I said shaking my head and going to the fridge for some water. Lux followed.

"I can't go home! Its like a mausoleum in there! Besides, my parents are already pissed. I promise I won't tell them we were here. I mean it's not like Romy could say anything anyway." She rambled on clasping her hands together. I put up a hand wearily.

"Fine. But you've gotta be out of here by morning." I said sitting on the couch beside her, setting my glass on the table. Romy had Toy Story 3 playing with subtitles and sat down beside me. I snuggled up close, feeling his warmth. I didn't want him to go. Anywhere for that matter. I couldn't even pay attention to the movie when he put his arm around me. It was worth the risk, I thought, even if my sister did find out...it was worth it.

By the time the movie had finished. Lux and I had dozed off, drool everywhere as Romy shook us awake. Romy had taken my glasses off and now put them back on so I could see my way to my room. Lux took up the whole sofa now and had a blanket wrapped over her as she snored.

Romy put a finger over his mouth telling me to keep quiet as we tip toed past her. He led me to my dark room and to my bathroom. I was so groggy, I couldn't even walk straight.

'Time for pajama's.' He signed winking. I couldn't help but laugh as I closed the bathroom door in his face, I yanked my shirt over my head and hopped out of my jeans, slipping into my matching flannel set PJ's. I came back out to find Romy standing at my door patiently waiting.

'Just wanted to make sure you okay.' He signed yawning and getting ready to leave the room. I grabbed his wrist, shakily pulling him towards me. I couldn't take watching him leave. I wanted him to be okay. I wanted him to be with me.

"No, don't go." I said in the low light.